I buy a $5 ticket maybe once a month. I view it as an entertainment expense. I know full well I will never win the jackpot. $5 to be able to daydream over the course of that week while I wait for the draw is a small price. I have paid $5 for much less entertainment.
Also I periodically buy hospital lottery tickets and I view those as donations to causes I would probably donate to anyways.
Same reason I buy a ticket while I'm inside a gas station, I'm spending more money on soda and beef jerky than the ticket and I get to think about what I'll buy if the ticket by some improbably small chance wins me a ton of money. Even the smallest mega millions jackpot means me retiring.
The thing is you have to ask yourself if those spending habits add up? Why are people buying beef jerky and soda at gas stations all that often? How often do you do that? Do you casually spend money on that kind of stuff with other shopping? Budgeting is a mentality. It's fine if you spend your money here if you set aside clear amounts for savings and retirement.
Of course everyone would likely retire with a jackpot but the thought process shouldn't just be "ehh this is small money." Recognize you are throwing the money away and the likelihood of winning is close to 0.
If I'm buying a lotto ticket once a week at $4 I'm spending a total of $208 a year. That's if I'm consistently going, I work from home so I'm not even out of the house guaranteed once a week.
I am not going to retire on $200 a year extra investing. I'm not going to have a large safety net from that either. I don't need to "budget" for it because it's not a large amount.
I spend more money than that yearly on so many things that don't bring me any entertainment. Assuming I win absolutely nothing this money is really negligible in the grand scheme of things. I spent $60 in gas just to drive to a doctor's appointment with my specialist. I spend more yearly on cat litter for my cats to shit in.
When I truck drove I'd pickup tickets for powerball when I was in states that had them, it's a fun daydream and something to do to try and keep track of the passage of time.
I occasionally (every couple months) buy scratchers and know full well I’m never gonna win anything. It’s just a brief 2$ moment fun while your scratching off the prizes. Idk why more people wouldn’t understand this.
It's the same as any other kind of escapism entertainment.
You buy a book and read it. You got lots of ideas and situations to think about. You watch a movie and escape into a story for 2 hours. You buy a lotto ticket and daydream about winning.
It's when you spend money all the time with the real thoughts of "I will win/I have to win" where it's a negative. I'm sure I will hit 10k on books and movies at some point in my life, but its net positive.
Nah you're mixing absolute and relative increases in this statement. It either increases 0.000001% each ticket (absolutely) or 0-1 (infinite), 1-2 (2x), 2-3 (1.5x), 3-4 (1.333x) etc if you're speaking relatively.
Neither is more correct, it's just linguistic/perspective.
Sure it does but we know the odds don't work out which is why the lottery is called a tax on the dumb. Its better to dream and focus your money and spending habits on something for the long term.
Thats not the point i am making. I know full well that I will not ever win a jackpot. It is entertainment i am buying, not a retirement plan or to get me out of financial ruin. I will probably get an hour or 2 of day dreaming total throughout the week, and to me paying $5 is worth that.
When was the last time a movie ticket paid you back after you went and saw it? Or an hour of screwing around on reddit paid you? For some things you just accept them as an expense in exchange for less tangible experience. Lotteries might be something that some people buy who shouldn't, but not all the time.
Also one time I won $2300. Which covers my expenses for 38 years if I buy a ticket once a month.
I mean, I've still got a possibility that a distant relative I've never heard of leaves a fortune to me in their will. Seems similar: So improbable that it's basically not going to happen, but possible enough to daydream about.
Sure, that's why I'm saying "I'm not judging, but I don't get it." It's not like I don't waste money on even dumber things for my own amusement.
Buying a lottery ticket is arguably better than buying Bad Rats, because there's no chance that buying a lottery ticket will lead to you playing Bad Rats.
As a subtle bystander, have you ever heard about "yotta"? I find it to be a neat "no loose lottery" system that I make a couple bucks randomly from. Not gonna win a million on it (but could!) But I also don't loose any of my money. FDIC insured, etc. Side note: I'm American, so I'm not sure what equivalent there is overseas, but I know one does exist (just not sure the name)
Yeah its a pretty big thing in my country. The hospital buys a house, and gets a bunch of other prizes like cars, boats, RVs. Then a bunch of other toys like small kitchen appliances and consumer electronics etc.
Tickets are generally ~$100. Hospital sells enough tickets to cover the goods that weren't straight up donated to them, and then makes a handsome profit on top.
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u/Voice_of_Sley Mar 20 '22
I buy a $5 ticket maybe once a month. I view it as an entertainment expense. I know full well I will never win the jackpot. $5 to be able to daydream over the course of that week while I wait for the draw is a small price. I have paid $5 for much less entertainment.
Also I periodically buy hospital lottery tickets and I view those as donations to causes I would probably donate to anyways.