Originally posted on Money with Merne’s Facebook Page on December 14, 2016:
Do you play the lottery? Confession: now that there are machines in Wawa and we don’t have to talk to a person (who would clearly see what lottery amateurs we are) we’ve started buying tickets. It certainly is exciting and fun to wish and hope and think about what we’d do with such a large sum of money. We are very clear that we are NOT counting on winning to provide for retirement though. We’re still saving via many other avenues. We stick to a budget of $10 a week on tickets and track that expense in our spreadsheet. It’s basically another sunk cost but I know we can afford it. I worry about people spending hundreds of dollars a month on tickets INSTEAD of saving for their future. And if you’re playing the lottery to change your life, know that YOU have the most power to change your life!