Say you won the lottery..

[AnaKhouri]

I would load up Khan's savings account, lend some to my dad and put some away for my nephews and any children my brother-in-law may eventually have.

I'd pay off my car next. We have to move again in 3-4 years when Husband completes his postdoc, so I would put some away for the new house. I want a small house with lots of land for horses and dogs and chickens and a huge vegetable garden and a couple beehives. And maybe a small orchard. And a tree house for Khan.

And we'd travel every year for 3-4 weeks, alternating between destinations in the US and overseas. I wouldn't buy lots of stuff (well, maybe a couple more RenFaire dresses) but would use it to gain experience and memories.

[Sliceanddice]

you know i complete forgot something form my usual lottery dream.

I would find some land out of a major town maybe even in a mountain town here and build a boardings school for kids who have the possibility to do wonders if they had the support and teachers who are truely passionate bout their work.

but i think if i did something like that it wouldn't be right away more like a slowly planned idea.

[chrislb]

I would get a very nice car and would tour the country with my woman. show her my hometown, let her meet my family. then buy a big chunk of land in fairview so we could build her dream house with her blueprints. I would get her her own personal chiropracter to have on call 24/7. also a 2 week cruise to alaska and some deep sea fishing up there while i am there. spend a couple of months in canada, BC most likely. Oktoberfest in Germany definitely and make it a tour all over there while i'm there. northern italy, switzerland, austria, england,ireland. probably by train as it seems easier and i would get to see more of the countryside. then once i got home, i would start building a personal library that would make the biggest one in the world jealous i would also get the fastest computer in the world so i can keep up with the latest stuff on cs. would also send a nice fat check to cs just to make sure the site stays as awesome as ever. after my own financial security has been secured properly, i would set up my own make a wish foundation. anybody could write me to ask for money for their own needs or wants and i would decide if they are truly deserving to get it. i am certain that i would get a large number of letters i could post here for everyones entertainment. i might even go to a con for the first time to see if it is as fun as they say it is.

[Sunsetsky]

After bills, a car, and a house I would use some of the money for my wedding. But since I'm cheap I wouldn't be spending a stupid amount for a wedding. Then I would use some of the money for our honeymoon. We both want to go to Germany for Oktoberfest. After that...I have no idea. Maybe have a kid.

[It shouldn't]

I would have the most luxurious pigeon loft ever build and totally expand the pigeon rescue/sanctuary.

I would donate to the local animal rescue groups, set up scholarships, help the homeless and food banks.

Then go on an Alaska cruise

[Zellie Crescent]

I would buy all the Gackt merch I could get my hands on. (yes even the stuff from his Malice Mizer days) What can I say he's hot, a singer/actor/model, yeah I'd go on a spending spree for his stuff. I'm eyeing an official YFC tour iphone cover right now on ebay. Then I'd buy a small house to put it all in, then adopt a dog from a nearby shelter. Maybe get a frog too.


Just a small, sad update: I didn't win the iPhone cover.

[Der Cute]

Build a brand new computer. The FASTEST best computer I could.
Purchase/build some kind of server rack.
Purchase new servers. Heck, the HP 585 - 3U servers with a few drive bays of ISCSI and RAID.
And a CAL for Server 2008 for 10 people.
Build up AD and a Print Server, File Server, DC and backup.
(all this is for a house, you know).
And somehow spiff up the home theater and hook it up to the servers.

New cars for both me and hunny. He gets a Lotus, and I get a Harley, lessons and a new BMW sports car. (stay off the road, dammit)

Find a project truck for my friend C, after I get him a home, and let him go wild with the truck. (give him 10K for parts and doodles and stuff)

Travel to Europe for 6 mos. Come home, rest a bit, then go to Mexico and South America. Rest smore and then get Africa/Egypt/Middle East out of the way.

Start up a business, a laundromat I think. Create a Scholarship fund for people with Epilepsy. Have fiber optic directly to the business, and do a Wi-Fi for customers thing. And set up my own servers there and see what I can do with remote control of the wash machines. (they're pretty cool now)

Donate on a regular basis to the local cat/dog pound.

In the new house, build up a kitty tree/jungle/walkway for the kitties.

Go shopping in Manhattan with my girl Y, and spend OODLES of money.

ETA: In the huge backyard we have for the house, build a good sized greenhouse and garden. I lurve my berry patches!

[NorthernZel]

What would I do, what would I do...

Well, first of all, I would do the "obvious stuff" (pay all debts, fill Lil'Zel's savings account etc.).

Then I'd hire a contractor to do a total overhaul on our apartment (seriously - several rooms, including the kitchen and bathroom, literralely need to be demolished and re-built, Extreme Makeover-style!) and set in new furniture, kitchen hardware, electronics and other funny stuff.
Meanwhile this goes on I, Mr. Zel and Lil'Zel would spend a couple of weeks, maybe even a whole month, at some fancy hotel resort somewhere...

I wouldn't skip working alltogether, but I'd probably take a year's "sabbatical" while I take some university classes in economy, after that I'd take a part-time work so it fits with Lil'Zel's kindergarten/school schedule.

Of course, a shopping spree (including a new wardrobe, a top-of-the-top computer network/media center) will be required, like we'll also take a few vacation trips. I and Mr Zel have been married for over a year, but haven't been on honeymoon yet. We would LOVE to spend a weekend by ourselves in Prague.

The rest? Um, that would be invested in some way or other. Luckily, over here if some one hits The Big One on the National Lottery, the Lottery themselves offer free financial advice by an independent banking expert.

[Elspeth]

After the debts and whatnot

Build the house on my parents property.

New truck and trailer for my parents and send them off to Disney World for 6 months a year.

Trip to England to see a soccer game in every Premium League stadium. Go to the World Cup for both Soccer and Rugby. Go to New Zealand to see an All Black Game.

Investment most of it. Set up college funds for my nephews.

And the best gaming rigs we can get.

[Jester]

Say you won an insane amount of money from a (real) lottery, enough that you never have to worry about working again

Some of us might still want to work. Believe it or not, I would probably still work, though probably less hard and less often. But since I love my job, why WOULDN'T I work?

I'm assuming everyone here would pay of their debts (loans, mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards) so I don't want to hear about that.

You know what they say about assuming, right? Hehehehe.....and though you didn't want to hear about these things, so many people posted them anyway....

What would be the first things you'd do (assuming the sky is the limit ).

Sky's the limit, huh? Stupidly huge lottery, huh? Oh, I have some ideas, for sure.

What would YOU do for YOU.

Oh, but of course. I would of course get my parents set up, and I am sure I would do various things for various relatives and friends. But what indulgences would I lavish on myself?

Oh, my. The following are things I have considered. Not saying I would do them all (other than the cars and the homes), but I would do many of them.

The FIRST thing I would do after the mundane stuff is buy cars. Oh, I would have fun, as I have so many cars I love. That could be an entirely different thread in itself. But the very first two I would buy would be a black Porsche 911 Turbo (or some variation thereof), my favorite car of all time, and a cherry red 1970 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible....my father's car that he had till some loony tune rear-ended it in the late Seventies.

Some may find this one creepy, but I would almost definitely spend some money on a private investigator (or similar website) to find out where the hell my ex-fiance is now. Even if I didn't follow up on it in any way, I've always wondered what happened to her.

I might spend a season following around some of my teams, not just for their home games, but away as well: the Arizona State Sun Devil football team, the Oakland Raiders, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Phoenix Suns. Alternatively, I might spend a football season trying to see at least one game in every one of the 31 stadiums in the league, or part of the baseball season doing the same in baseball parks.

On more than one occasion, I would go party in a large, full bar....and buy the entire bar a round!

I would eat sushi in Japan. Oh yes, I would. For a week or two.

I would take some culinary classes. I am remarkably talented in the kitchen....and completely untrained, other than the very short training I got when I was 16 and starting a job as a short order cook in a family restaurant.

I would travel around to a lot of the more wonderful food places I've seen on Man vs. Food and other shows sampling their fare. Yummy!

I would, of course, travel. Rio. Romania (family history). Ireland (pubs, food, and Irish girls). The Tour de France. (Why else would I ever go to France?) Spain (the wine and the Running of the Bulls). Italy (it's Italy). The Greek Isles. (Duh.) Rio. (Yes, again. Hey, it's RIO.) Japan (food and fun). Poland (family and world history). Russia (family and czar history)...but in the summer. I hate cold!) Germany for Octoberfest....and more beer! Brewery tours everywhere! Australia. New Zealand. Prague. Amsterdam. Costa Rica. Argentina. Various Caribbean islands. Rum distillery tours! Jamaica. Hawaii. Honduras. Guatemala.

I would secure a home both in Key West and Phoenix, so I could always go home to either of my two favorite places.

I would seriously consider hiring a professional hit man to deal with some of the less desirable people I have met in my life. No, not annoying customers. The really horrible people I have met. The ones who really should not be on this planet anymore. You know the type. I don't need to name names....they know who they are. But there are at least two of them out there.....

I would make a large donation to my alma mater just so my name would be on something there. Alternatively, if ASU would not comply, I would make a large donation to a bar in the area, for the same reason. It would, of course, have to be a Sun Devil-friendly bar, as opposed to one that supports the dreaded Wildcats.

I would hire a personal trainer to kick my ass on a daily basis so that I did not have the chance to be the lazy shit I so often am. Of course, the personal trainer would have to be a hot-ass woman. If I'm going to have my ass kicked, I am going to want to get some visual enjoyment out of it!

I would go to an Olympic Games, just for the experience.

If I won a really stupid amount of money, I would try to buy the Oakland Raiders from Al Davis so that I could then hire someone who knew how to run a fucking football team, so that my favorite team could return to their rightful place atop the NFL. And I would also do something ridiculously awesome for the fan base, especially the Black Hole crazies. And I would pour all kinds of money and effort into finally getting Ken Stabler and Jack Tatum into the Hall of Fame where they both belong, damn it.

I would build something similar to the old Atlantic Shores down here, which was awesome and is gone: a clothing optional pier with a pool and a bar where people could just hang out, drink, have fun, and avoid tan lines.

I would DEFINITELY have season tickets to Arizona State home football games. Which, honestly, I will buy for myself anyway once I move back to Phoenix, lottery or not.

I would fly to New York City and spend a day getting some seriously nice threads. I don't dress up often, and this wouldn't change, but it IS nice to have some nice clothes for when you want to. People are often shocked at how well I clean up....with a good budget for it, it would be awesome!

I would buy Michael Jackson's home, that Neverland monstrosity, and burn it to the ground. (Oh, wait...that's not for me....that's for all the parents who didn't get paid off, and all the children who were there, payoff or not.)

Shockingly to most people, I would keep my truck, and just get the repairs it needs to make it even more awesome than it is. NOT that I wouldn't get other cars....see the first thing I said here. I just love my truck a lot!

[protege]

I know what I'd be doing. That is, I'd pay off the house, car, and get the MG finished. Oh, and I'd invest my cash carefully, so I'd never have to work again. My last day at work would be telling my boss to go fuck himself, and *blasting* "Take This Job and Shove It"

Of course, I'd have to get some toys. By that, I mean some sports cars--a Ferrari 330GT, a 'Blower' Bentley (one of those big 8-litre jobs from the 1930s ), a 1950s GM "fishbowl" bus (the CS tour bus!), to name a few. Of course, I'd have to find a place big enough to store that lot...so I'd be buying back my grandmother's farm, rehabbing her carriage house for a proper workshop. While I'm at it, the tiny workshop I once spent many nights in...will be rebuilt to house my model car and train collections.

But, I'll have to do some traveling. I don't plan on doing all of Europe. Maybe the UK to see the remains of a certain sports car factory, Norway, were my dad's side of the family came from, Ireland, Germany, Italy (no, I *don't* plan on reenacting the Italian Job!) After that, it's off to Hawaii, Australia, and maybe a couple of safaris in Africa.

[Magpie]

Ok, so there's the obvious - church, set up RRSP's (no kids, so no RESP's), pay off SIL's student debt if she'd take it.

I can't say I'd quit work, because I'd finish this degree. I'd probably still TA if the option came open. But that's that then. We might buy a house - there's some really nice ones near us, but the houses in our neighbourhood are really expensive. But there's only two of us, so a house is kind of out of the question. Jackdaw could use some toys. He wants hand planes, and a work bench.

I'd definitely keep myself in bus passes for the rest of my life, because I'm lazy that way. Maybe take the train out West, I've heard it's very nice in the observation cars as it goes through the prairies. We can visit various relatives that way too.

I'd consider funding an opera for SIL, but I really can't see her appreciating having a role bought for her, even if it meant she got to play Queen of the Night. Actually, I might switch music teachers away from her, to someone who has a more regular schedule for me. (I see her on weekends, occasionally for lessons).

Oh, I'd buy a surger!

Seriously though, you already said I don't need to work, so what is there left for me to wonder about? I'd never have to eat store-bought food again, you mean I get to dream beyond that?

[tacohuman]

I sent you a PM, but heck, Anmar is an interesting guy and proud of what he does .. cave rescue.

I am sure that Anmar would be more than happy to give you a hand setting it all up. He even suckered me into volunteering to be a rescue training dummy [well they have to lug me in and then lug me out ... as practice in body extraction =)] some time I am in his area and he is running a class =)

i just saw the pm. thanks for the info! i'm always interested in seeing how fellow cavers gear themselves out. i tend to be pretty hard on my gear, so it seems like i'm always replacing something.

[Mytical]

I use to say not much with me would change, and for the most part that is true. I prefer a simple life. However, I think I would buy a place near Atlanta, GA..hire a driver for one week out of a year (cause no way I would drive in that insanity), and get an eternal membership to D*C. Fly down once a year, do D*C, and then come back up and live my 'simple life'. Only the place would have to be pretty big, cause I'd open it up (free of charge unless somebody destroys, damages, etc) to those on DP or CS that wanted.

[crazylegs]

Things I would do

• Buy a house
• Buy a new car (probably a VW Passat if I could fit into it)
• Buy my sister a house
• Pay for me to get a Paramedic Science degree

Then spend my time working as a paramedic - I would be financially stable for the rest of my life, still have a semi decent wage coming in and use the lottery money for the nice things in life (holidays etc)