by Hope
Winning the Lottery…Boy, wouldn’t that be great! Do you ever lie around and dream of all the things you would do if you won millions of dollars? I know, I do, especially when the billboards shout it in your face that the winnings are over over $200 million. Even the kids have started making “plans” with their fortunes.
So as a fun school activity this week we gambled! I went and bought a couple scratch off tickets for each child and we played the game. But even more important then the fun “dream” discussions we had, and hopeful anxiousness as they would scratch off their ticket, were the discussions on chance, and percentages, odds and valuation.
It was so good to hear the thought out discussion as the kids discussed what else could have been with the $10 we spent on the tickets rather than “flushing it down the drain.” It didn’t quite work out since we ended up $20 ahead in winnings when one $3 scratch off won $30. But I was proud that the kids all decided to share the earnings and get a treat rather than reinvest and take a chance of losing it.
We finished off the excursion with verbal math problems throughout the day on chance and odds. They had a blast and what a fun way to do “school” this week as we review all our computation rules as we get ready to dive into Geometry for the year!
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
Hi Hope, fun lesson! Can’t wait to see your updated debt payoff/budget this week to reflect all the recent changes
I read a great book awhile back about people who won the lottery…..and how most of them end up bankrupt within 10 years because they never learned how to manage their finances and so continue to make the same mistakes but on a much grander scale. Dave Ramsey calls the lottery a tax on the poor and people who can’t do math. 🙂 As you homeschool, do you ever work on financial literacy with your kids? Dave Ramsey, Suze Ormon, Jean Chaztky, etc?
Hey Teri,
I’ve read that too, not the book but the results of lottery winners. Yes, we do alot with money. History Buff actually completed Dave Ramsey’s teen financial course last year as part of his schooling. And all the kids have savings accounts with the twins having their checking. They all working on budgeting and savings goals.
I am determined that they will be very money conscious and aware of “adult” things, way more than me.
I purchase scratch off tickets for the office at Christmas. It’s so much fun as a group to do the scratch offs and laugh and joke about them. That being said, I’m fully on board with Dave Ramsey’s theory and I have never purchased a ticket outside of that occasion nor do we gamble in Vegas =)
First off, Crackin’, I love your name. I’ve only purchased the scratch offs on learning occasions as well. And while I did “gamble” when I was in Vegas years ago. I put $20 cash in my pocket and said when that was gone, that was all. I stuck to it and enjoyed learning about the different games. But am definitely not a gambler.
The best was when my just-turned-18-year-old son went to the casino and lost his hard earned $20 in about 5 minutes….that was the end of gambling for him!
Yes, Den, that was totally me.