Giving up the lottery - how do you do it?

all_hours

postingalwaysposting wrote:

see i never do that :rotfl: if i win on a scratch card then i keep the money and i either win money ie if i brought 1 and won £2 i have won £1 or i break even ie brought 1 won £1 not lost/won anything but my mum is different if she wins £1-£5 she will buy other cards and then loses everything :rolleyes:

That's I what I tend to do. If I get 3 numbers on the main lottery I use some for the next draw and buy a couple of cards. If I win anything on the cards I'll buy another until I've lost.

elisebutt65

Kantankrus_Mare wrote:

Dont waste your money on the main lottery. Do the irish!!

We got three numbers up 2 weeks ago and won almost £500 !! Ok we have been playing it for a year or so with only one number wins (which pay £6) to date but the odds are just so much better!!

How do you do the Irish lottery??? Do you have to go in a bookies to do it???

I wouldn't know what to do in a bookies - never been in one in my life - they always look fairly scary places to me - LOL

Joe_Bloggs

I once got four numbers. You would think that this was 46 times harder than getting three numbers. I got £39. It is a waste of your money!
J_B.(Don't worry about the 2012 Olympics as they are going on my coucil tax bill.)

*zippy*

I stopped doing the lottery years ago, I don't even understand it now, all those different games. I used to put the same numbers on every week, they then brought in the lucky dip, so I had to have one of those as well incase fate decided I was going to win. They then brought in the wednesday draw so I felt I had to put the numbers on then just in case, so I decided to stop completely. I have never seen the lottery numbers since, have no idea if my numbers ever came up so it doesn't worry me.

I don't notice it so much now, but when it first came out everyone used to say seriously "when I win the lottery....." think the reality of the odds may have kicked in over the years

tesuhoha

What made me stop is this. My oh told me that the chances of winning were equal to driiving from kent to bristol and being able to pick out one centimetre of the road from all the others in the entire distance. Its a three hour journey doing about 90 all the way. Your chances of winning the lottery are less than that. Even if you bought one ticket a week you would save £54 over the year and be £54 richer.

lynzpower

We used to play, a line each Wednesday, saturday and sometimes those "odd" midweek days they have started doing. OH als used to buy the odd scratchcard even though he thought i didnt know about it

Up till I joined up here Ive been doing lottery religeously since it started, I even have the ticket from the 1st ever lottery draw all those yrs ago.
How much have I won in all that time? A tenner. Once.

We toyed with the idea of sticking it in a jar, till i twigged on :idea: while we were overdrawn, we were using DEBT to pay for lottery, so saving it in a jar is a bit dumb.

As it is my dad plays it a lot, he has about 10 lines himself plus is in a work syndicate, he can spend the money, i know if he wins big we will get a slice

lotto-dreamer

I had to join in this thread - I've been a bit obsessed with winning the lottery until I found MSE website and forums and have decided there is a better way to get one's finances in order!

It gives me hope though to think my numbers might just come up - I only ever take lucky dips or random numbers (couldn't bear the thought of keeping to same numbers, not doing them and that's the day they come up :eek: )

Since becoming a bit more savvy from scouring these forums and Martins tips though I do not spend as much as I used to on the lottery -

Lynzpower - hope you're feeling better today. You've given me lots of inspiration in your posts.:T

dudleyboy

The way I managed to give up the lottery was by not having set numbers and actually ignoring that it even existed.

I used to play the main draw every Saturday, and the odd Wednesday draw, with my set numbers, and not once did they come up in any combination. Like most people I just concluded it was a waste of money and a bit of a swizz.

Now, if i find myself in a lotto retailer on a Saturday, and it occurs to me that the draw is that evening, and i'm "feeling lucky" then I might just buy one ticket and give it a go... but i only buy a lucky dip. I don't look at the numbers before the draw, I check them online afterwards, and if I don't win the ticket goes straight in the bin never to be seen again. A few weeks go by and I may give it another go, if it occurs to me, or I may not...

By doing this I reckon i've probably "won" about £600 by NOT playing it. It doesn't sound like much but the odds of "winning" are far better.

chloe99_2

the thing is - everyone must know that bookies/casinos/lottery/slot machines etc are in business because statistically they take a lot more in stakes than what they will ever pay out in winnings - it's not chance or coincidence, the odds and prizes are set by very clever mathematical people. It stands to reason that the chances are that YOU personally are lining the pockets of the corporation owners and that individually, or even collectively - everyone on this board as a group, is paying them a lot more than they're ever likely to pay you. They really want you to buy into the whole lottery "millionaire" lifestyle thing so that the public will keep on paying for their gigantic yachts and skiiing holidays etc. So the way I see it is, what's the point??? I'd rather keep the money for myself or give the whole of it directly to charity.

BrokeBrunette

I've had to join in this thread too. I can't stop playing the lottery. I've thought about it but that's as far as I've got

I know the odds of winning are astronomical but it's my bit of mental hope that one day I may be lucky. I've cut down the number of lines but still play the same two lines every Saturday, with one lucky dip on a Wednesday. I know that's £3 a week I could use elsewhere but I don't go out and I don't drink or smoke so I class that as my bit of pleasure money. All my other money goes on bills and the kids etc.

Someone has to win, and I guess I'm just hoping that it might be me one day