If you won the lottery....

[lifesaver]

Right now in Texas the lottery is like 70 million or something, and I will be winning it tonight, so I have been planning on what to do with my winnings. What would you do if you won the lottery, say after taxes, $30 million?

Me: Buy new cars for everyone in the family first. Then set my mom up in a graden home in River Oaks. Create a trust account for her, so she didnt have to work unless she wanted to and could live on the intrest, like $6,000 a month.

I'd buy my sister and brother in law a house and get my sister a nanny so she wouldnt be so stressed out with a new kid. Give them some cash. Also set up a college fund for the kid. But the kid is still gonna work in college as a condition of getting the cash.

Oldest sister, pay off her debts and set up a phat retirement fund for her, cause thats all she stresses about.

For me, I'd buy some land out in Grey Forest, on Scenic Loop road, and build a really nice ranch house. I'd also build a house in Houston, so I could be near the family.

make a huge dontaion to the university. Love to have a building named after me. Also a scholarship set up there. AND NOT ONE FOR THE FU*KING KIDS TO HAVE TO HAVE A 4.0 AND 300 HOURS. It would be for ehte average joe/jane who work and bust ass to pull the 2.0 - 3.0. I'd make a nice endowment to the fraternity.

Then I'd have a hella party for 300 of my closest friends/co-workers. At the country club by school. Have Robert Earl Keen play, Reckless Kelly and OAR. Catered by Rudy's, and I'd have crazy door prizes, where everyone would leave with something, DVD player, TV, motorcycle, trip, car would be the big prize. Would be awesome.

The rest I'd invest and lock away to live off the interest. I think I'd take a year or two off, then go to a school where I could blatently buy my way in and get my masters somewhere.


Hey as a lifeguard ya have a lot of time to just sit and think. I passed the tiem by spending $$ I didnt have. lol.

Soo.... What would you do with that kind of cash?

[carnation]

OOooh...buy a big enough house for our whole family--now that AGDAlum revealed on GC today how little the house is!

I'd be so much in shock that I'd put the rest in savings while we thought long and hard. We'd definitely put away enough so that the kids wouldn't have to worry about college. We'd also do what we could to make life comfortable for Mr. Carnation's parents.

Charitywise, we would support several groups that help improve communities worldwide and hardly use any of their donations for administration, like Common Hope in Guatemala.

I can't even imagine what we'd do beyond that. I can't even imagine having one million.

[LeslieAGD]

I would buy a house and new car.

I would pay all my (biological) sister's debts and give my parents plenty of money to do more renovations to our house.

I would give a sizable chunk to the AGD Foundation for Diabetes Research.

I would buy a new house for my chapter and make rent really cheap, like $100 a month or something.

I would set up a scholarship for Sorority and Fraternity secondary education majors.

I would take an extended vacation through Spain, Italy, Greece, and the Caribbean.

And, once I start teaching, I would donate money to my school for new technology, etc.

[queequek]

Wow ...

I will donate a huge chunk of money for renovation of our house.
I will fund everyone in our house to visit my homeland, just to see how the "exotic place" look like. Bali for spring break does sound good, doesn't it?
I will buy some things for myself, such as new BMW.
I will ask my parents how much money they need, just in case they need some early retirement.
I will travel all across the world, visiting SO many places.
I will give my lovely sister another chunk of money, because I love her.
I will deposit a huge chunk of the money on the bank, for future funding (kids, old days).

If I have a million dollars ....

[TaraHopeful]

Man good question....If I won the lottery...hmmm

I'd probably buy a beautiful new house for my mother and then i'd buy a quarter horse ranch in Colorado. I think i'd probably buy a vacation house in Figi or Bali. Then, i'd give a buncha money to my brother (none for the step siblings....they don't deserve a penny). If I was in a sorority, I'd send money to my chapter and also give money to any chapters that were in dire need of funding. The rest i would probably let sit in a bank account and earn a lot of interest so that my kids, my grandkids, greatgrandkids, and their children could go to a wonderful college. A woman can dream can't she? Sigh.

[pbpck]

1. INVEST-give a large portion to my father to invest for me in futures, etc.

2. Hire another live in maid for my parents and grandparents. I miss Stella...and not cleaning my own dishes and clothes!

3. Fly SigmaChiCard out to California.

4. Spend a summer with my relatives that live in Japan.

5. Pay for all my UC Regents bills in advance for the rest of my educational period.

6. Buy a lovely condo in La Jolla for my parents (after I finish college there of course!)

7. Buy myself a 2 tone black/silver V6 sports package fully loaded 4runner.

8. Distribute blankets, groceries, and a list of shelters for all the homeless in downtown LA periodically, as well as funding a program to facilitate a job hunt for each individual.

9. Scout local cafes, clubs, etc finding undiscovered talent and help fund them to success.

10. Sponsor tons of kids in some far off place for "just a dollar a day."

11. Go back and give a million dollars each to my high school Spanish teacher, my Cross Country Coach (also my math teacher), and my grade school principal. They didn't get nearly the salary they deserved for having such a profoud impact on my life.

12. Buy a cross trainer to put in my apt. so I could stop paying for a gym membership since that's the only machine I really use!

13. Buy my father the Carrera he's been telling me he's getting "as soon as I graduate." Oh, and a CD burner so he can make his own CD's...he finds this idea absolutely marvelous. Yeah, I have an amusing human as the patron of my household.

14. And of course the olbigatory shopping spree, blowing a few bucks at J.Crew, REI, Crombie and Nordstrom.

That's all I can think of...my life has been pretty blessed and I have experinced much of what I have desired.

[aephi alum]

1. Pay off my house ($30M could buy a lot more house, but I like my neighborhood too much )
2. Pass some $$$ along to my parents and my in-laws - maybe as a trust, as lifesaver suggested, to duck those nasty gift taxes
3. Make some improvements to my house
4. Replace my car
5. Make some donations to charity
6. Take a nice long vacation with my husband
7. Invest the rest; some will become a college fund for my hypothetical future children

[damasa]

There are so many things I would do...

I would donate money to my university and also set up some kind of scholarship that would be available to those less than perfect students.

I would donate money to various charity programs that I support, including a program that I used to participate in that helps people with cancer (mainly kids) similar to Dance Marathon, only without the dance, or marathon, um, so it isn't all that similar, but they both help the children!

I would take care of my parents, set them up with a nice house on a good chunk of land somewhere in northern Wisconsin.

I'd pay for my younger sister's college education and I'd set up a college fund for my youngest sister.

I'd help out my relatives if they needed something, or maybe just throw them some money for the heck of it.

I'd buy my fraternty a new house and charge like $1.00 for rent, crafty tax purposes and whatnot..haha

If I had any left, which I assume I would, I would set some money away for the rest of my undergrad studies and for my graduate studies. I'd buy a nice car, a bike, and a nice condo down by the lake. If I had more than that, I'd buy a nice house somewhere close, and a nice cabin in northern Wisconsin, fully loaded with all the toys (dirtbikes, jet skis, etc.).

And If I still had money left, I'd put it into varous investments, possibly opening a business or two, or three, maybe jumping into some business partnerships or something like that.

[Tom Earp]

Since I do not need much Space!

1. Build a new Fraternity House for My Chapter!

2. Build a new International Headquarters

3. Endow the LXA Educational Foundation

4. Set up Scholarship Funds for LXA and Pittsburg State U.

5. Not work for myself but the betterment of the Greek World

6. Donate to the Charitys that I have worked with over the years and some new ones

7. Have some one come in to clean up for me

8. Have a national meeting of Greek Chat Members to get to gether to finally meet each other. You are the World

[Peaches-n-Cream]

1. I would have to be revived.
2. Pay off my bills and those of my family.
3. Donate a portion to my church.
4. Return to school and further my education.
5. Buy a big house with a pool and a car.
6. Do the same for my mother and sisters.
7. Donate to my alma maters and establish scholarships.
8. Help out other family members and friends.

A few years ago the New York State Lotto had an enourmous $45 million lottery. It turned out that a woman from my high school won $15 million of it. She was 22 or 23 at the time and was all over the news for about a week. I have no idea what she did with all that money.

[RubberSoul]

Hmmmm, 70 million, huh? Well I would automatically invest half of it and pretend I never saw it.

Then I would immediately go buy myself a couple of new cars.....probably a big old SUV like a Lexus LX 470 or a Land Cruiser, and then also a fun car like a little Audi or BMW or something. Mr. Soul would get something too, who knows what, he already has an SUV and a '71 Vette.

We would definitely buy the dream house, or build it. 5 or 6 bedrooms, 6 1/2 or 7 baths, finished basement with rec room, gym, etc. 1st floor master suite with his and hers dressing rooms, gigantic bathroom, the works.

I'd have another baby or 2.

I would give my aunt and her family some money, maybe 3 or 4 hundred Gs. She is my only close, living relative that actually would need it.

We would buy a golf course/driving range and Mr. Soul would quit his job and run it.

We would join Crystal Downs Country Club in Frankfort, Michigan.

We would buy a lakefront property near Crystal Downs and raze the existing house....build a dream vacation home, all rustic with exposed logs and beams, etc.

Buy a hell of a boat and a couple of jetskis.

Indulge in a crazy shopping spree.....clothes, jewelry, etc.

Completely decorate and furnish the new place, and indulge the kids. Inground pool, multi-level deck with hot tub.

I can't think of anything else now, but I'm sure I could if that check were in my hand.

[KSig RC]

I would buy a small-ish country club, and play more golf than I'd previously thought possible.

I would purchase the Boston Beer Works across from Fenway, and like 15 good season tickets (full package) - Good beers, good buddies 82 times a year.

I'd pay my way into a med school I didn't belong at, then bust my ass to graduate on time and in the top quarter.

Other than that - I think I'd spend every damn cent of it, saving a small bit for later in life (kids' college, retirement) and keep working every day until I retired. Being a sessile rich guy doesn't sound very cool.

[jonsagara]

Give my parents $10 million and tell them to retire.

[APhi]

Good post. My boyfriend and I have actually talked about this. Hey... A girl can dream can't she.

*First order of business is me and my boyfriend's student loans and credit card debt.
* Next we buy a couple of dream cars. He wants a BMW M3, Black, swapped for an M5 engine with a full body kit. (He's put a little thought into that one!)
* I've always been more realistic with my dream cars and I just wanted a Jetta VR6 or a Subaru Impreza WRX Sport Wagon... I could probably come up with something better though.
* Then you'd really have to blow a little just having fun.. New wardrobe, dream vacation (a week at the Bellagio in Vegas, a hut on a white sand beach in Thailand...)
* Next I would have to kick a little money over to the family. It's only fair... they spent a lot of money raising me and putting me through college.
* After that we'd get more practical. Build a great house with a huge yard for the dog and invest whatever's left over.

[FuzzieAlum]

-Pay off my credit cards
-Buy a Mini Cooper
-Buy my chapter a house
-Give Nationals a chunk of change
-Invest a whole bunch
-Do something for my parents and sister, but I'm not sure what they'd want