Those who've won big on the lottery, what is it like?

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snake_in_my_boot1@reddit

Not me but I know a someone who won 7.5k on a scratch card. Not a huge amount but they openly admit they were abit of waster when younger. Booze, drugs and going no where in life. States the win turned their life around. Paid for driving lessons & first car and give them motivation to "do better in life"

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Hairy_Silver6571@reddit

Won 500 on a card someone in work gave me on my birthday. I gave her 50 quid and spent the rest on our summer holiday lol

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JLB_cleanshirt@reddit

I think everyone should be given £10k when they get to 18, to help them start out on their own. Surely they would pay enough taxes in the next 40+ years to cover it.

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OutlandishnessWide33@reddit

Ye the gov probably would do this, but just for immigrants

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Lower_Discussion4897@reddit

That's a great result, I was expecting a different outcome.

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snake_in_my_boot1@reddit

Me too the first time they told me. Now every time I hear the story I'm reminded it doesn't take millions to change your life for the better, just some perspective and courage to change direction.

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SleepFlower80@reddit

I won £180k a few years ago. My heart was going like the clappers. It was very surreal. I checked it first thing in the morning, when I saw the email, and called my mum and dad immediately. I think if I won the jackpot, I’d have a heart attack.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Oh wow congrats! I think I'd be the same. 180k even though isn't the jackpot is still a life changing amount of money.

Did you do it online? Did you get the usual email to say you won and to log in to check the amount? I always wonder how they'd announce a big win.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

Is it though?

Until you said that, I'd not considered the matter but would £180,000 really change anyone's life?

Don't get me wrong, it would be very nice but you could not retire on it (unless maybe you are in your 60s already). It won't buy a house, although it might make a big dent in the mortgage.

You could buy a nice car and take an exotic holiday in the Bahamas, and drink champagne in place of prosecco, so £180,000 is definitely life-enhancing, but perhaps you would just be doing the same things you do now, only better, rather than having a completely new lifestyle.

Still, if the lottery gods are reading this, it would be nice to find out. My numbers are...

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Hairy_Silver6571@reddit

It would clear my mortgage and set my pension up. That's more than enough.

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SleepFlower80@reddit

It certainly helped me. I was able to pay off a big chunk of my mortgage, save another big chunk and allowed myself £20k to have fun with. Yeah, I still have to work but it helped me become mortgage free and gave me a nice safety net for when I started my business. It made my life a lot easier.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

Glad to hear it.

But that is what I was getting at (and have been massively downvoted for). Paying off the mortgage is life-enhancing not life-changing.

Allowing you to start your own business, well, that is life-changing, so I was wrong.

All the best!

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SleepFlower80@reddit

You don’t know what someone’s mortgage payments are, though. Not having that payment every month might be life-changing for a lot of people. You don’t need to win millions and millions for a win to change your life for the better in some way.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

I drew a distinction between life-enhancing (ie making life better) and life-changing (making life different).

Of course £180,000 will make your life better, no-one doubts that.

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decisionisgoaround@reddit

How does it become better without changing it? It has literally, by definition, "changed" to something better, and is "different" than it would have been.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

It is a question of degree, like switching to smashed avocado on toast rather than just a bigger box of Cornflakes, or a better house rather than simply paying off the mortgage and staying in the old house. But yes, in a literal sense you are right.

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CuriousPalpitation23@reddit

I think you need to accept that 180k is life changing for the majority of people on this planet.

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T4Y-D-W@reddit

You obviously don't have a mortgage. My balance is £180k at 5.2% interest. I'd have to pay off something like £300k over 35 years of my mortgage (not exact math, no). So not only would 180k winnings save me £1150 a month on my mortgage, but also the extra £120k odd in extra payments to cover interest over the term of my mortgage. Given that the average lifetime income in the UK is less than £1m it's a huge amount of extra money not just to have won, but to not have to pay later. It works out at more than 30% of all lifetime earnings for the average person. That's absolutely life changing.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

The whole thing boils down to a disagreement over what life-changing means. If you pay off your mortgage, your life would be better, of course it would.

But I'd call that life-enhancing (ie a better life) rather than life-changing because you'd still be living in the same home, perhaps driving a newer car and holidaying in a better hotel, but fundamentally living the same life at a slightly higher standard.

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crazyDiamnd67@reddit

Life enhancing is still changing your life? No?

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TheRadishBros@reddit

Paying a mortgage is clearly life changing?

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garethy12@reddit

Even a mortgage payment is life changing, it means you can still be relatively young and debt free, which is a massive deal because it gives you all the freedom in the world. It doesn’t have to be millions to be life changing.

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garethy12@reddit

Good for you! Honestly if that’s not life changing I don’t know what is.

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SleepFlower80@reddit

Thank you! :-)

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crazyDiamnd67@reddit

Always this again.

I had a debate not that long ago with people trying to say 1million isn’t life changing 😂

180k is definitely life changing for a hell of a lot of people.

180k is massive chunk or all of your mortgage paid off or a massive fast forward into your pension or investment accounts.

The weight that would be lifted for most people with a 180k lump sum out of nowhere is most definitely life changing

And the people that tend to say otherwise are all the Reddit software devs earning 300k a year working 2 hours a day from home.

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Lammtarra95@reddit

I wish.

Do you know what happens when you pay off your mortgage? Nothing. Nothing happens. Not even a congratulatory email from the building society.

Sure you've got a couple of hundred quid available to spend each month but lifestyle inflation (and actual inflation) will soon take care of that.

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TheDettiEskimo@reddit

It would pay off my house and leave me £85k to play with which would be lovely.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Definitely life changing. Pay off a big wack of your mortgage, live comfortably and you could afford to work, not for money but for enjoyment. I would definitely change my job to something I would enjoy more that pays less. Gives you a bit more financial freedom.

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Sackyhap@reddit

I think you’re confusing “life changing” with solve all my problems and allow me to live a life of luxury. Removing the weight of debt off your shoulders is life changing. Having a large emergency fund is life changing.

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slade364@reddit

Poor take IMO. Median salary in the UK is what, approx 35k, for full time workers? That'd around 27k Net with a 5% pension contribution and no student loan.

So 180k is 6.5 years total earnings, just handed to you.

It's life changing for the average person.

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Sharkaithegreat@reddit

It won't buy a house, although it might make a big dent in the mortgage.

Yes it will

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ruminmytummy@reddit

£180k can buy a house in plenty of places in the UK.

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Wellidrivea190e@reddit

£180k would be life changing for us, we’d be able to put it into a much bigger house/forever home for circa £400k and still pay the same mortgage rate that we do now.

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2Nothraki2Ded@reddit

180k compounded at 5% over 35 years gives you a million quid.

At 10 years you are making 14k a year
At 20 years you are making 23k a year
At 30 years you are making 40k a year

The average mortgage in the UK is 183k. There is absolutely no way that winning 180k isn't life changing, if you can be responsible with it. If you aren't then you could fritter it away in weeks.

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JLB_cleanshirt@reddit

180k would mean that I could easily afford at least one year off work, pay all debts and then chill out on a nice beach somewhere while I consider my next move. Also, 180k would buy two houses if you are willing to move up north.

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bright_sorbet1@reddit

It would change my life - I can't see a way of ever getting on the housing market, 180k would easily change that.

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bright_sorbet1@reddit

It would change my life - I can't see a way of ever getting on the housing market, 180k would easily change that.

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garethy12@reddit

180k is defo life changing, you can pay off most debts with that if you have any, have a solid emergency fund, replace that 20 year old shitbox of a car with a decent car that’s a few years old, and still have a solid amount left for a down payment for a house. Life changing imo doesnt mean you never have to work again, it just means it’s enough to change your life… it’s in the saying really.

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SleepFlower80@reddit

Thanks! Oh, I agree :-) I was very grateful for the win lol.

Yes, I always played online. Same email, nothing fancy or any big announcements. It was when I logged in instead of the usual “£0.60” in the little amount box, it said “£180,000”. Shat myself. I thought, “I need my glasses on”. Sent screenshots to my parents who both confirmed my eyes weren’t playing tricks.

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equaz0r@reddit

Do you have a redacted copy of the screenshot somewhere you can share just so I can see what it looks like and pretend it’s me :D

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Joshthenosh77@reddit

You do not get a normal email for the jack pot

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BenjiTheSausage@reddit

Interesting, always wondered how that worked

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MDK1980@reddit

Ah good to know (just in case, you never know). Had loads of those emails, and every time I see it in the morning, I'm like "oh shit, this is it!" - and my balance is £2.40...

Out of interest, did you play the same numbers?

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SleepFlower80@reddit

Yes, always played the same numbers for years and years. Most I won before was a hundred quid or something. Lots of lucky dips and whatnot.

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Cheap_Answer5746@reddit

Hope you got some new underwear

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copypastespecialist@reddit

nice :)

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snayp80@reddit

Congrats! Where did you win it? Lotto?

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SleepFlower80@reddit

Thanks! Yes, the lotto. It was one of those trickle down ones. The jackpot hadn’t been won for ages so, because no one got all 6 numbers, it rolled down and I won more than I would have on a normal draw.

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TheRealGriff@reddit

How did the pay out work? Did you have to provide proof of anything? Did it just transfer to your bank like withdrawing smaller winnings from the site? Congratulations on the win!

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snayp80@reddit

Love it man. You are a really lucky one!

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Alternative-Bid-3746@reddit

my wife says i won the lottery when i met her.... go to tell you ...def having less fun than i use to..

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Jonlang_@reddit

I worked with a guy whose wife won on that Set for Life game where you get something like £10k per month for 30 years. I haven’t seen him since.

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Brilliant_Canary_692@reddit

I'd actually prefer winning that to winning the big lottery.

It feels more manageable

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MysteriousSherbet478@reddit

£3.6m. I’d rather win the big fuck off £130m rollover.

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slim_tack_@reddit

God forbid what £10k would get you in 30 years. Probably a can of Fanta.

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JLB_cleanshirt@reddit

Toodaloo mutherfookas!

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iamphoton_@reddit

Definitely not a huge amount, but a few months ago, I won 800£ from a random draw I almost didn’t enter. I was playing casually on Lottoland, nothing serious, just a ticket here and there when the mood hit. One night I bought a ticket for one of their smaller European lotteries while half-watching Netflix. Didn’t even think twice about it. A couple of days later, I got an email saying I had won. Thought it was some promo spam at first. Logged in, double-checked the numbers, and yes, I actually won. I won at a good moment as I ended up paying of some debts I was stressing about.

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KingPing43@reddit

Not lottery but I won ~£250k on a sports bet (got insanely luck with an acca)

I used £200k to put down a deposit on a house in the outskirts of London and the rest on a big holiday and a nice car.

Life before and after isn’t much different except we have much better financial security now, and live in a house I probably wouldn’t have able to afford, but it’s just a 3 bed semi, not a mansion.

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campionmusic51@reddit

owning a house of any sort in this era is fucking huge. i don’t care if it’s a shack. moving from rental to rental is the fucking worst.

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Flaky_Rest_5231@reddit

I always dream of winning but don't play. Winning 200k would set me up to be financially free

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Flaky_Rest_5231@reddit

I always dream of winning but I don't play

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aegontargs@reddit

wow what was the acca out of curiosity? did the betting company make a fuss over paying out? great to see that you used the winnings sensibly and invest in a house.

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KingPing43@reddit

It was a football acca, was 26th Feb 2022, I got 10 results correct including a few surprise results, I remember for certain one was Newcastle winning away at Brentford (I’m a Newcastle fan)

I also threw a few draws in there to get the odds up, seem to remember I had Man U drawing a game they were decent favourites for.

Bet365 paid out fine. I remember my bank did call me a couple of days after questioning it.

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Flowerofthesouth88@reddit

Why did The bank called you? And what happened after?

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KingPing43@reddit

They wanted to know why I’d received such a large amount. So I told them and that was pretty much it. I dont know if they contacted the bookie independently to verify it, never heard another peep.

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Nezell@reddit

I one got 8k in a work paycheck. I got a promotion and then had my wage backdated about 6 months, giving me that amount. I went to the bank to withdraw a couple of grand to give to my dad for what I owed him, and I had to prove where the money came from by showing them my wage slip and explaining the wage being backdated. They said that because my account has never seen a deposit like that previously, that it flags as suspicious.

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xsorr@reddit

Wow thats good that they paid out fine. I knew someone who would about 4k ish (by calculation) - hes been betting all his life, so I assume he knows his shit.

We went to scan the ticket and the system automatically tried to pay out 700ish. He argued that the payout odds were incorrect, then went up 1-2k after adjustments.. cashier told us to come back tomorrow where the manager can help, which they finally boosted to 4k, but still not the full amount!

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That-Caterpillar-301@reddit

Someone from my schools mum and dad won, they told everyone. Got a new house, a new car, new toys, fancy clothes.

However their downfall was telling everyone - all of a sudden friends and family are hammering their door down for hand outs at all hours of the day and being pretty nasty when they didn’t hand out money to every Tom, dick and Harry.

They ended up moving away for 6 months for a break from it all and not telling anyone where they had gone. They did come back but it ruined many family relationships and friendships for them. They did an article in a crap magazine saying they wish they could go back to the life they had before they won!

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GeologistSure5569@reddit

One time i literally only won $300 and the woman in line behind me became visibly enraged and declared that she gives her winnings to other people. Obviously thought I was supposed to give her something. Like lady it’s $300 dollars wth

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savvymcsavvington@reddit

It's weird how lots of people can't help themselves telling everyone they won a lot of money, little to zero benefits to it other than shitty clout

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Aargh_a_ghost@reddit

If I ever won big I’d get my brother, daughter and her mum and move far away and not talk to my family again, they’re already money hungry, I dread to think how entitled they’d be if I won the jackpot on the lottery

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very_unconsciously@reddit

I got an email telling me I had good news from the National Lottery. When I excitedly checked my account, I discovered that I had won an incredible £2.60. I celebrated by purchasing myself a miniature chocolate bar. The remaining £0.61 I invested.

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Horror_Cress_3998@reddit

DUDE.

Literally 2-days ago I played the lottery and was told if you win, you’d get an email saying you’ve won something and you had to log in to check.

Well, there I go buying 5 lines for the 183m lotto jackpot and I wake up to an email ‘you’ve won a prize’.

Now there’s a key piece of information to make known, that being: I didn’t know you could win on individual numbers, I thought you either won the prize in totality or nothing - I literally called my Dad before logging in and told him ‘I think we’ve made it’

Yeah, not fun at all

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WhosGonCarryTheBoats@reddit

I wonder if it sends the same good news email when winning the jackpot as the £2.60 winnings

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SMD_Mods@reddit

Source being a reddit comment on another post from someone claiming to work for the national lottery, it’s a different email

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WhosGonCarryTheBoats@reddit

"Hey, you've won 100mil on the euromillions. Please call lotto to confirm."

Me: places into the junk folder.

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bluequest7@reddit

haha I know it's like a punch to the nuts. You get same email from premium bonds to find you've won the lowest £25.

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Significant_Tower_84@reddit

It's abit surreal really, one minute you can't afford things, the next you can. I tried to stay grounded and not let the money define me, turns out I couldn't help myself though and ended up walking into Miller and Carter waving my £100 around like I was rockafella.

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Suspicious_Tap_1919@reddit

You flash bastard. Next you'll be bragging you got a dessert

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RiverBiscuitss@reddit

🤣 😆😆😆😆

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Inseeable@reddit

Come back to this comment, and I will tell you what it is like tomorrow morning after I have won the Euromillions.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Results are up now. I didn't win. Looks like another rollover. Sorry mate

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Icy_Conversation_541@reddit

Come back tomorrow morning, I'll let you know what it's like to win the Quadruple Rollover.

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RefrigeratorWide144@reddit

Won £10million on the Lotto at the beginning of this year. I didn’t have a lot growing up so I’ve always been frugal.

Upgraded from a 3-bed to a 4-bed
Paid off my mum’s mortgage
Bought my wife and I nice new cars
Went on holiday for a month to visit family in Australia
Set up a property portfolio for reasonably priced student lettings

Spent around £2million on all of the above. Rest of it sits in an instant access ISA and we live extremely comfortably off the interest it accrues.

Only people I told about the real amount were my wife and my mum. Everyone else thinks I won £1million, because I had to explain the new house and cars somehow 😂

The main difference is not stressing about the cost of living, and having all of the time in the world to spend with my wife and daughter. It also feels great knowing that my daughter will be set for life (although I still plan on teaching her how to be responsible with her finances, and encourage her to study hard and get a good job).

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martin_81@reddit

For anyone wondering if we really have a lottery winner in our midst you can check past lottery results online https://www.lottery.co.uk/lotto/results/archive-2024 . Nobody 10 million at the beginning of this year.

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Chode-Devourer@reddit

You can say whatever you want on Reddit.

I earn £10m a year.

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Icy_Conversation_541@reddit

You earn £10m a yeah, right

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TheRealGriff@reddit

Seems a reasonable post, he could also have slightly obscured the date/amount to prevent doxxing him self.

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WheresMyAbs98@reddit

It was a weird lie. He’s recently wrote complaining about the cost of daycare.

Very odd thing to do.

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thatstoomuch_man@reddit

I mean his story seems reasonable

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cannontd@reddit

How did you deposit £8 million in an ISA that had a £20k per year limit? 🤣

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TheTimmyKay@reddit

Open multiple

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Sister_Ray_@reddit

Expect a visit from the taxman lol

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TheTimmyKay@reddit

Yes and you'd still pay, it's not illegal to have multiple isas across different banks.

If you had all your money in 1 bank at that amount your mad cause if the bank goes under you get like max 80k

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haywire-ES@reddit

HMRC hate this one simple trick

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RefrigeratorWide144@reddit

I meant high interest instant access saver, edited to correct myself.

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Ok_Garden_4874@reddit

Do the Lotto organisation tell public the people who won the lottery? If so, is it mandatory? How do you make sure you remain anonymouse?

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pb-86@reddit

Very sensible way of ensuring your money stays and you don't end up like some of the stories you hear where lottery winners are back at their old job. Did you have a financial advisor who guided you with this? And out of curiosity what kind of interest does that level of money make?

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RefrigeratorWide144@reddit

Even without living frugally, it’s enough money to live off when it’s put to use correctly.

Camelot provided a financial adviser and I still use them.

Typically around £200k a year after tax.

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Remarkable-Echo6391@reddit

I don’t think you pay tax on winnings in the UK. They do in the US

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ooh_bit_of_bush@reddit

Not on the winnings themselves, but income from interest is taxable after a certain threshold.

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Remarkable-Echo6391@reddit

Ah right ok. I’ll remember that for when I win the lottery 😂

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ooh_bit_of_bush@reddit

Lol there's a reason I can't remember what the threshold is....I'll never have to know 😭

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savvymcsavvington@reddit

Damn you must be getting taxed to the tits on those interest accounts

Did your financial advisor recommend investing in anything like stocks, property, etc to diversify?

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TreadingThoughts@reddit

That's a pretty bad financial advisor if true tbf...

What you want to do is open multiple accounts across a number of banks (the FCFS protection is only 85K if the bank goes bust).

Then it's also a good idea to open a stocks and shares and invest to diversify. Not have it all resting on the UK economy/interest rates.

Then also max out ISA and Pension allowances yearly in order to make your returns as tax free as possible.

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savvymcsavvington@reddit

Ya it does sound really lazy and inefficient to just dump it in savings accounts

Aren't gilts better and if you do it right, no tax?

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TreadingThoughts@reddit

I've never bought gilts directly but you can. It's not the most accessible.

You either pay tax on interest on tax or capital gains on returns on gilts and other bonds, depending on what you buy. So you're paying tax anyway.

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pb-86@reddit

Fascinating to hear the actual figures, thanks for sharing.

I recently found out someone I've known for a few years won a similar amount 15-20 years ago, and used the money to buy a nice beach front house and several holiday homes and lives off the income from interest and renting them out. I've never asked any questions about it but I have been curious about what numbers you can bring in with a decent win.

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Technical_Ad4162@reddit

Sounds great! Good for you. How far do you manage your property portfolio yourself? I can’t imagine managing student lettings is easy.

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BenjiTheSausage@reddit

That's awesome, I think I'd do the same, I'd lie about the amount I won if I won big.

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Milky_Finger@reddit

This is literally exactly what I would do, except my mum's mortgage is already paid off. I'd go visit my brother and his family in Australia, sell my 1-bed flat and go straight to a 4-bed house in a nice area, and buy myself and my gf a nice car. She'd probably be my fiance not long after that!

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yesIwearAcape@reddit

My EX won, quite big… six digits.

I seen her in a Mercedes AMG GT 2023 model and owns her own home now.

Her AMG can suck it though, i’m still the best ride she ever had. Toxic? Whatever….

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rss941@reddit

Get over it

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thehealingprocess@reddit

Ooft

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bobaboo42@reddit

OF - if I were doing it I'd be inclined to say I'd won the lottery 🤣

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jack_da_lad@reddit

I’ put £2 in a fruit machine and won £20 with a gamble for £50 won the £50 bought a pint and some food felt like a king that day, still gutted i didnt gamble for the £100 tho that machine was destined to pay out .

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EducationFit4589@reddit

i won $50k on a scratchy and i hired a catering service to make me and my family dinner, the next week lol. was about $1k for all the food and had a tonne of leftovers. was so cool to have so much fancy food to choose from.

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BodybuilderOne8527@reddit

I agree with you. But let’s be real, my first plan would probably be to buy a castle and name it "Hogwarts” Staying grounded might take a bit longer.

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Adventurous_Miss@reddit

I've seen those winner stories too. It’s cool to see how differently people handle their wins, whether it’s keeping it low-key or going all out.

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iamphoton_@reddit

Those stories are always so inspiring. Winning a jackpot really does seem like it could turn your whole life around but staying grounded sounds key.

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jumperred1@reddit

While I haven’t hit a big jackpot myself, I’ve read stories about winners who say it’s life-changing in every way. Before winning, life might feel routine or financially limited, but after, it’s like having this sudden freedom to dream bigger. Of course, it also comes with new responsibilities, like managing the money wisely and dealing with unexpected attention. A lot of winners talk about the importance of staying grounded and having a plan for the winnings. I’ve been playing on platforms like Lottoland, and I like reading their stories about jackpot winners. Some people keep their lives low-key, while others go all out with travel, gifts, or new homes.

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Loonytrix@reddit

Fantastic... my £2.76 covered a jug of milk....

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cansasansapansa@reddit

What a lovely, pre-industrial life you live, though! Jug of milk - splendid!

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Loonytrix@reddit

Rustic and less complicated... perfection

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Ok_Garden_4874@reddit

I only won £1 from a £1 scratch card. Didn't cash it unfortunately as I lost the card.

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bluejeansseltzer@reddit

You're gonna get only shitposts in reply to this btw

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Why?

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t3hOutlaw@reddit

How many big winning lottery winners do you think are browsing this subreddit right now?

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Zestyclose_Key_6964@reddit

Me, I won £10 when they first launched it. I’m not saying it was life changing but it certainly enabled me to pursue a different path to my peasant friends at the time.

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HappyDrive1@reddit

Well it's not like theyll be working.

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SilasMarner77@reddit

I’m an aspiring lottery winner if that counts.

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HypedUpJackal@reddit

I was only 6 numbers away!

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Entire-Wash-5755@reddit

And me

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

You have celebs on Reddit so I imagine some lottery winners would be here and it doesn't have to be mega jackpot winners, even a few hundred thousand is life changing.

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blind_disparity@reddit

As a proportion of the population, big lottery winners are a miniscule number.

Many big lottery winners spend all the money fast and fail to make sensible investment, leaving them financially worse off than before. They then lose their possessions as they can't afford the ongoing costs. This may be because people who frequently buy lottery tickets are often people with poor financial management skills.

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mas-sive@reddit

Most celebs are getting paid to be on Reddit

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Aargh_a_ghost@reddit

Hang on…time to call my agent

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bluejeansseltzer@reddit

A) this is a Brit sub so everyone will be making jokes about how they won £20/£50/£100 and found themselves buying loose leaf tea and shopping in Waitrose, and B) how many big UK lottery winners do you think browse sub regularly enough to see this question.

I'm pretty sure there are blogs, vlogs, and probably even books written by big lottery winners and their lives. You'd probably be better off searching for those.

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adamneigeroc@reddit

‘Put the heating on’ or ‘buy a full tank of fuel’ are the usual side splitting replies when someone posts asking what would you do if you won the lottery

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st1ckygusset@reddit

jUsT sPaT mY tEa OuT

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non-hyphenated_@reddit

Fluffy. It's fluffy like a big marshmallow

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st1ckygusset@reddit

That's what I've come in here for

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MOXYDOSS@reddit

Know a guy who won 9 million. He feels short changed because he didn't make it to 10 million. He still plays the euro lottery because he's really jealous of those 100 + winners.

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turdinabox@reddit

Yup...this is my family member exactly. Still doing lottery tickets. Not giving any away because they don't have enough. It's like gollum isn't it!

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Wow, some people will never be happy

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codemonkeh87@reddit

This is so stupid honestly. If someone handed me 9 million I'm pretty sure I could turn that into 10 easily. Getting that first 1 million is the hardest bit.

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toysoldier96@reddit

Lord I've seen what you've done for others

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turdinabox@reddit

A family member of mine won and is now a money grabbing prick who only cares about money for themselves. Really gross. They just worry about how much money they haven't got now and keep doing more lottery tickets because its not enough.

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Technical_Ad4162@reddit

What did they win?

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turdinabox@reddit

7 figures

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TheTritagonistTurian@reddit

My friends mum dated a guy who won the lotto twice, not millions, but like 500k and then maybe 700k, that sort of ball park figure.

He owned a women’s hairdressers before he won, packed that in and just lived a life of calm and ease afterwards.

He did at one point buy a pretty impressive boat which once he sold was shortly after on the news as the new owner had crashed it.

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Successful-Hair3635@reddit

I once knew a couple (through work) who won over £100,000.

Most of that went into completely paying their mortgage off. And they had a fancy holiday sitting on the beach at some luxurious tropical resort.

Anyhow, hedonic adaptation kicked in. Before the win, they'd moan a lot about being tight for money, though they seemed to be doing well enough.

Once the novelty of a mortgage-free life had worn off, they went right back to moaning about the cost of everything.

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alexanderldn@reddit

I won £2.80 in the euromillions. Everyone tried to pretend that they weren’t impressed but deep down I knew they were just jealous of my new lifestyle having that much more money than before.

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finbm@reddit

I was in the same class with a guy called Max (not his real name) from Nursery to the end of six form; both of are mums had worked worked in are primary school as TA's. When I was 14, Max's grandparents won BIG on the national lottery. I actually cant remember the exact amount, but I know it was in the tens of millions. Obviously my mum had to tell me. They ended up moving from a coucil flat to huge house in luton. I remember talking to some of are mutual friends, and they had described his as new house as being absolelutly massive and completely empty. The craziest thing is, is that he managed to keep it secret from everyone at are secondary school.

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Yakujaprime@reddit

All that to live in Luton.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

I'm not sure I could decorate a big house. Would definitely need a designers help. Amazing he kept it a secret!

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Normal-Contract-933@reddit

I spent 5 quid and won 7 the other week so I bought some beers with my buddy and drank them that evening. Really great. Hope this helps.

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TreadingThoughts@reddit

That's a net loss after buying the beers right? 😂

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No-Affect-5065@reddit

I just won £10 with 4 numbers on euros, wish it was the jackpot though 🥲

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jack5624@reddit

Not me but I know of a few of people who won a decent amount the lottery:

First guy worked as a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, he won £250,000 in the late 90’s, I think he was around 30ish. He actually bought the restaurant he worked at and has been running it ever since. It is now one of the best reviewed restaurants in the town. He is also just a really great guy.
Second person was a woman in her 50’s at my shooting club, she won £100,000 as part of a syndicate at work. She was already fairly rich so, I don’t think it actually affected her much.
Last person I don’t know but my Dad does. He grew up relatively poor and won over £1m in the early 2000’s. I don’t know much about him but I know he was too scared to spend the money and had it sitting in an account for the first 3 months.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

I feel like we need to be friends. You know lucky people!

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jack5624@reddit

Sadly it’s never me though 😂

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dannydyerbolical@reddit

There was a lad who worked in a bar in the town I live in who won maybe 250k or something, think he blasted the lot on partying and cocaine. Last I heard he was back living with his folks and owed some rather unsavory characters a fair bit of cash.

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jt1413@reddit

My childhood friends parents won the jackpot. Nice, normal family. Dad was dead in 3 years after gambling and drinking away all the money (apart from the million pound house and a small retirement pot his mum had wisely set up) and my friend didn't have a dad aged 14 onwards.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

That's so sad. He must have had some inner demons. Glad his mum was able to do some good with the money at least

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jt1413@reddit

I guess you never know what people are going through behind closed doors, but his wife said he'd never really gambled a day in his life apart from the odd lottery ticket. He also was never a big drinker either, so she was so shocked when he went downhill so fast into vices he'd never really had before.

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pb-86@reddit

A friend of mine grew up with Frances Connelly's daughter (won £115,000,000 on the euro millions and has given half of it away). Apparently one of the few people not changed by the money - always was a nice person, and the win just amplified the fact.

Always like it when good things happen to good people

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Grenadefisherman@reddit

I had an unexpected windfall last Friday of 4 numbers and a lucky star on the Euromillions and was pretty disgusted with £73 odd.

I have reinvested into tonight’s draw.

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Ouch only £73. That's a shame!

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Grenadefisherman@reddit

It stung but dare to dream and all that….

….. “It could be yooooooooooooou”.

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Slugmum1@reddit

OK quick story time - not me but I went on a stag do a few years ago with a group of guys. After the first night out we were back at the hotel bar as it was 24 hours. I was sat having a beer with a couple of the other guys (some were still out, some had gone to bed)... It must have been around 5am. Anyway, one of the guys told me that he recently won Thunderball (around £1m). I had no reason not to believe him, but it only happened a few weeks before the stag do. (It was neither his or my stag do, we were both just attendees). I asked him about the night he won and what happened. He told me it was a saturday night and he was at home with his missus. They checked the results late in the evening (couple hours after the draw) and he said that they were in disbelief. One was sat on the end of the bed and the other on one of the chairs in the bedroom & they had the draw results on the TV screen on pause. Every 10 minutes for about an hour, one would say to the other “just double check those numbers again please” and they would each take it in turns to glance at the ticket, then to check against the TV screen, along with checking the ticket date and the draw date. Anyway, back to the stag do, there was only one other guy who knew about the win, one of his close friends. I swore myself to secrecy for the fact that it was literally no-one elses business. He proceeded to show me some pictures of the guy from Camelot who attended his house with a clipboard to officiate the win. He declined to go public with his win... & the camelot guy suggested several aspects of wealth protection etc.

For a while he didn’t know what to do with the money.... The first thing he bought was a £40k car, think Jag/Land Rover (not sure which model), but after he’d bought it, he didnt have a driveway to put the car on, so then him and the missus decided they needed a driveway to be able to put the car on.

I kind of lost touch with him after that but after checking facebook perhaps 2-3 years later (we were supposed to go on a night out, but covid) I noticed that he had split up with the missus he was with at the time of the Thunderball win..

Money changes people. People with money still have problems, they just have better problems to deal with than poor people.

The stag do was 2018

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Ok-North9004@reddit (OP)

Great story, thanks! I guess money doesn't fix everything!

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Mr__Skeet@reddit

A neighbour won the million maker prize last year on a ticket he had been carrying around in his work overalls for two months. Genuinely true story, he now only works a couple of days a week (for his sanity), drives a brand new Land Rover Defender and has spent the last year having a massive extension done to his bungalow.

Very quiet bloke in his 60s, couldn’t have happened to a nicer chap. From what I gather he’s sorted his sons out financially, hopefully goes on to enjoy a very happy retirement. He looks happy but also strikes me as the type of fella who wouldn’t want any fuss or any major changes to his everyday life.

If you go on the Lottery website you can see the active unclaimed prizes, it tells you the area the tickets were purchased in and what the prize. Imagine the thought of a winning ticket being sat in someone unassuming person’s kitchen drawer right now, 180 days from purchase and it becomes void…

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Brickworkse@reddit

In some ways, I'd rather not know. I found a scratch card the other day that I'd won a tenner on and never claimed. It was from a couple of years ago and I couldn't claim it. Really annoyed me but if it had been millions, I can't imagine what I'd have done...

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Mr__Skeet@reddit

A major advantage of buying lottery tickets on the app is that this can’t happen

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No_Statistician_2549@reddit

A guy a used to work with was school friends , with someone who won a million on the lottery like 10-15 years ago . I’ve done some work at his house . He’s one of the most boring people I’ve ever met . He drives average but nice cars and has a half decent house .

My mate said it didn’t change him at all and that he was always that miserable 😂

Seemed like it was wasted on him tbf , but I imagine he’s earning a fair bit off the interest as he doesn’t work and doesn’t seem to spend it . Maybe just happy with the financial security 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

No different really, £50 isn’t really that much money, it was helpful though

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Mario_911@reddit

I know a 20 year old who won £1m on a scratch card. He worked in the local Spar. Continued to work for a while and drove a very flash car. I think he's off travelling the world now.

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mellonians@reddit

I knew full well it would change me so I never cashed the cheque. I framed it and it sat on the wall in the toilet until my house burned down. Remembrance Sunday 2011.

It started when I bought a scratch card. I enjoyed scratching off every bit of silver and leaving the numbers until last. This was a time when scratch cards were much more simple - Not the crazy mind maths exercise they are now. I revealed the monetary amounts in turn and matched 3. Two pounds was the total prize once I added it all up. I excitedly went to the shop to claim my winnings and they gave me the news that as the shop has been robbed after I bought my scratch card it had to be sent off to Camelot for verification. About 6 weeks later I got a national lottery cheque. I remember looking in awe at it. The values written in words. Actual words. £Zero zero zero zero zero zero zero two 00

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