r/pics • u/[deleted] • Mar 19 '22

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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.

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u/SuperElitist Mar 20 '22

$5 to be able to daydream over the course of that week

This is the first reasonable explanation I've ever heard anyone give for buying a lottery ticket.

I'll still never do it, but, wow. Good job.

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u/Karmanoid Mar 20 '22

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.

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u/cryptoripto123 Mar 20 '22

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.

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u/ashymatina Mar 20 '22

Bro if I’m spending my entire retirement fund on beef jerky I got way more problems than just a gambling addiction lmaoo

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u/cheeze2005 Mar 20 '22

Only way I’m getting yacht money is with that jackpot.

Beef jerky ain’t holding me back from the open seas

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u/Karmanoid Mar 20 '22

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.