stupid problem

magentadreamer

How many tickets are you buying? If it was me I'd buy one ticket and put the rest into a savings account and watch your money add up. Aim for something you'd really like even if it's something small and silly it doesn't matter - at least this way you'll get something out of the money you were spending on lottery tickets.

lynzpower

me & OH used to spend 4 a week, one on weds & sats each. FOr over a year neither of us won anything. My dad is in a syndicate and spends 20 a week ( he can afford it BTW) and wins nothing

OUr genius idea was to buy a premium bond with each pound we saved. We didnt bother in the end as we have 100 that weve won nothing on, so we paid off debts with it instead. Premium bonds are good, if you dont win anything you get your money back! You do need 100 quid tho to start them off so have a piggy bank for a few weeks, then youll have enough.

you have probably more chance of winning on a p bond than lottery ( thats guess BTW) and you can always get youre money back .

You say you are convinced the next one will be your big win- but has this paid off- how many times has been your big win!

Look after the pennies as they say & the pounds will look after themselves

Seaxwyn

Hi wewillclearthis,

When the lottery was launched in 1994 I heard one of the politicians who had brought it in describe the lottery as "a tax on stupidity".

When I see people queueing up for tickets I feel angry that they are being duped into paying yet more tax when their chances of a big win are so small as to be almost non-existent.

Far better to put your money and your energy into something that has a prospect of a real return.

Prudent

Try our competitions board if you would like the thrill of winning. You will not win big amounts of cash, as with a lottery win, but if you are persistant you will win. They are free to enter and we have a friendly and welcoming forum community. We keep a track of our winnings and they really add up. Have a look at some of the signatures on the board. I started wanting to win back the costs of my annual internet in January and I am now at nearly 10 times that amount with no financially outlay.

rog2

Hi wwct,

When the Lottery started, we set up a family syndicate - seven of us @ £1 each = 7 lines - a perm from 7 numbers that meant if 3 numbers came up, we would get a minimum of £40. Went very well, initially, and we had a few wins in the first two years, with the largest being £750.00. Not bad for a £1 a week outlay.
Then, as happens, people started to 'miss' payments, or 'drift away'
altogether, and I, as the organiser, ended up making up any shortfall.
Then the Wednesday draw was introduced - as it used the same numbers, there was 'no-way' that we could not do it, since Sod's Law dictates that our numbers would have come up the first time we didn't do it. The Wednesday draw was soon followed by the introduction of 'Thunderball'.
By this time I was the only one contributing to the original 'syndicate' and, with a couple of 'lucky dips' and the 'thunderball' draw - I was spending £20 - £25, EVERY WEEK, on the Lottery - even developing panic symptons if I couldn't get to a lottery machine before 7.30 pm on the day of the draw.
Needless to say, I was not winning anything, over than the odd £10, until, one day I went into Tesco and asked them to check my ticket - the poor girl at the machine almost had a siezure and ran off to fetch the manager. There was a queue forming behind me - everyone was looking at me, and, when the girl eventually came back, with a manager, it turned out that I had won the princely sum of £560.00!
That evening, i calculated, roughly, that I had, over the years, paid in about£15,000, to the lottery, since it started, and received, in prizes, no more than £1,500.
I still do the occasional 'lucky dip' and I don't begrudge anyone who has a flutter - I just don't see the Lottery in the same light anymore.

eamon

I spend £2 per week on the lottery (Wed & Sat). In the 13 years since the lottery was launched my biggest win has been £49. Most weeks I struggle to get 1 number never mind 3. I play online £8 every 4 weeks. It used to be £10 and I'd use the change to buy scratch cards. What a waste.
All the other posters are correct the odds of winning the jackpot are huge something like 14,000,000 to 1. But once you start its a hard habit to break. Fortunately I can do simple maths and have avoided the multiple lines scenario. I have friends who spend loads 10 lines per draw etc. Its difficult to get across the difference between doubling your chances of winning from the reality of reducing the odds from 14,000,000 - 13,999,999 to 1.

Never mind though, this week its my turn to win!!

yours

Eamon

ZTD

I've broken even with the lottery - entered none, won none, lost none.

I did however, manage to win £50 on £4 worth of premium bonds.