https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Wed, 06 May 2026 07:23:07 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery/page/2#post-173259 Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:53:21 +0000 Scarlet 173259@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>All I can think of is house house house. When we finally figure out where our next jobs are and we can settle down, I would buy a house with a garden. I can't even think past that, what I would do with the rest of the money. Except for buying a quilted Chanel bag. I am sorry, but I would definitely do that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery/page/2#post-173251 Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:02:05 +0000 Mac 173251@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>NO WAY, Claudia! What a happy story! I am especially delighted that it seems like he's made a relatively wise decision with his winnings (I mean, who knows what is going on in real estate prices, etc., but buying his own service centre seems like a prudent and thoughtful choice). I read that most lottery winners end up just blowing their money and end up where they started out, financially, within a decade. This guy sounds like he won't be in that position.</p> <p>I'd imagine that a lot of men would dream of treating themselves to a fancy car. Instead of this thread referring to Balenciaga, Hermes and Chanel, I'd think a men's thread would contain many references to Ferrari, Jaguar and Aston Martin. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery/page/2#post-173221 Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:56:51 +0000 Claudia 173221@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>True story: the owner of the service station/car repair where I bring my car won the $1,000,000 scratch-off lottery a couple of months ago. He had rented the facility. In a few weeks he will be moving the business to a new location that he bought outright with the winnings.</p> <p>There you go! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery/page/2#post-173203 Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:36:19 +0000 Mac 173203@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This has been both fun and fascinating to read. I wonder how a group of males would be similar/ different to us in their answers... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-160130 Sat, 22 May 2010 13:39:06 +0000 Debora 160130@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hee hee. I just showed my husband the links to my dream apartments and he wants to buy the first one. Now I have him dreaming, too! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-160030 Sat, 22 May 2010 04:49:40 +0000 Mac 160030@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, and see if Belstaff would consider custom-making me a pair of their delicious boots, with calves wide enough to accommodate my hearty legs. </p> <p><a href="http://www.designer-shoes.org.uk/images/Belstaff%20Black%20Leather%20Trailmaster%2055%20Boots.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.designer-shoes.org......0Boots.jpg</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-157263 Sun, 16 May 2010 08:36:16 +0000 Mac 157263@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>-First $100,000: give to charity. It's too easy to say, "I'll give later" and keep saying that 'til the end of my life. I'd give it right away (5 x $20,000 donations).</p> <p>- Second $100,000: house stuff. Renovating basement and kitchen; energy-efficient washer &amp; dryer; replace rotted front porch and back deck; landscaping garden; any remaining money on art &amp; furniture. Happily, I have no mortgage.</p> <p>-Third $100,000: play money! Some fantastic trips: South America, Galapagos, South Africa, visiting orangutans in Borneo and Chimps in Gombe. Classes: tennis, oenology, skiing, Spanish, cooking, investing. Fitness trainer twice/ week. Personal stylist twice every year: not just shopping but also going through closet and figuring out what no longer works. Find and buy the watch of my dreams.</p> <p>- Remaining $700,000: invest and, hopefully, some day figure out a business I'd like to start and run. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-157143 Sun, 16 May 2010 00:11:03 +0000 Katiepea 157143@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, this is just a lovely thread! </p> <p>Firstly, I would establish a scholarship in my mother's name to financially assist young women from rural areas wishing to study commerce at the University mum gained her degree from. (My mum won scholarships which enabled her to go to university. As such, I think it would be a fitting tribute to her to be able to do the same for some other young women.)</p> <p>Then, with the remaining money I would pay off my mortgage in full; do some further renovations to finish off my house (it's nearly there, but just requires a few finishing touches); buy a "new" second hand car (mid range family car about one year old - I can't stand the thought of depreciation with a brand new car, even if I did win that much money!); I would take my boys on another overseas holiday to visit family in England again; in a year's time go on a separate trip with boys to Europe and they year after that, a separate trip to America. </p> <p>With the left over money I would put that aside for my children's future. Then, after all of that, I may splurge and buy myself a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes or a Valentino handbag.... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-157075 Sat, 15 May 2010 18:05:44 +0000 Dawn 157075@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think I would end up funding a couple of years travelling and returning to school to do a PhD, and donate half of it to the World Health Organisation and Kiva. I think there are much better things which could be done with money than spending it on material goods but I would also buy a new mountain bike and a new Mini Cooper S. I would then put the remaining money into a saving fund and use it as a support base for starting my career. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-157073 Sat, 15 May 2010 17:59:55 +0000 Maya 157073@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>1) Pay off loans</p> <p>2) Get out of the country.</p> <p>I have always wanted to live abroad without any kind of deadline by which I must return to the US. I want the assumption to be that it is a permanent move. But it's extremely difficult to do unless you have a reason (other than "because I feel like"), usually either work or marriage. I have not chosen a field that is conducive to relocation and I'm not pinning my hopes on marrying someone foreign, so I just don't know how to make my way in.</p> <p>If I had the money, I would just get up and leave. I'd have enough saved to rent an apartment and live comfortably for a while as I get to know people and make contacts. I would most likely move to the place I studied in in France and work at a cafe there. What better place to meet new people! And who knows, maybe I *would* meet someone there and marry him! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-157071 Sat, 15 May 2010 17:55:23 +0000 Beth 157071@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'd pay off the mortgage and invest the rest. Possibly go back to school: either vet school for large animals or a degree in architectural history. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-157064 Sat, 15 May 2010 17:38:03 +0000 Laura 157064@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Take a year off and write my novel. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156978 Sat, 15 May 2010 11:53:57 +0000 Mac 156978@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ladies... I could seriously read these answers all day. Questions like this are the sort of things that my friends and I discuss, debate, and brainstorm over 4-hour dinners. Thanks so much for playing along!<br /> Isabel: I love your honesty and self-knowledge. You definitely wouldn't be one of those (many) lottery winners who was broke within 2 years.<br /> Pregnantmom: how cool it must have been to win the lottery! Your jaw must have hit the floor when you saw that you had the winning numbers.<br /> Claudia: I'd want to please visit and help out with the horses one long weekend : )<br /> Marianna: when I received an inheritance, that's exactly what I did. Now I own a wonderful little house and no matter what else goes wrong in my life, it gives me a heavenly feeling of security.<br /> Debora: I'm a huge Manhattan fan, too; I'm always scanning NYC real estate, just like you. Maybe between your million and my million, we could do a co-share of a pied a terre? : )<br /> Louise: ahhh, time with Angie! Then you would LOOK like a million, too.<br /> Theresa: You make me grin with your well-plotted budget... so very thorough!<br /> Kristine: a new sofa is such a delightful luxury. Bought the one I'm sitting on about 15 years ago - fresh out of grad school - and I love it still.<br /> Marianne: I know; isn't it shocking how a million dollars is not enough to quit jobs and buy real estate in NYC and London? When I was younger, I thought that if I had a million dollars, I'd basically be able to live like a princess for the rest of my life.<br /> Tyler: Birken: yum! What colour?<br /> Elizabeth: I dream of going to the Galapagos, too. I want to see those strange beasts in person, instead of on National Geographic TV! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156951 Sat, 15 May 2010 06:43:05 +0000 Elizabeth 156951@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Fun thread!</p> <p>I would take a vacation to the Galapagos with my best friend, buy a Subaru Impreza, buy new furniture (hello Room and Board!), and go to medical school. Then I'd save/invest the rest for a future home. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156948 Sat, 15 May 2010 05:37:30 +0000 Mellllls 156948@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Definitely involve a house. We are from the East Coast and our jobs necessitate working in urban centers so needless to say a house where we end up settling may even cost upward to a million. I'd probably use 500-750k for the house and be willing to finance the rest because it would be worth it for a nice house without a long commute. I'd invest 150k as a nest egg and I'd start a scholarship fund at my alma mater. </p> <p>Normally I'd say I'd plan an elaborate vacation with some but having just planned (and paid for) my honeymoon I'm not sure what I'd want to do to top it </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156947 Sat, 15 May 2010 05:34:50 +0000 taylor 156947@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Pay off my house, my childrens homes:)</p> <p>Then I would open and fund a safe shelter for women and chidren.</p> <p>Oh, I would get that Birken bag too:) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156944 Sat, 15 May 2010 05:27:41 +0000 marianne 156944@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Unfortunately, a million is not enough to quite our jobs, buy an apartment in Manhattan, another one in London, and for me to go get a phd in classics.<br /> I think I would probably dump it into kids' education funds and use the rest for the house upgrade... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156864 Fri, 14 May 2010 22:54:00 +0000 Kristine 156864@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Pay off our house (or actually move to a slightly bigger one, ours is tiny!)<br /> Buy a modest but nice car, $10,000-15,000 or so?<br /> But a new couch, we've never had one<br /> Take a nice trip (but probably still relatively modest)<br /> Invest the rest, probably keep working at least part-time for a while to let it build up </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156852 Fri, 14 May 2010 22:33:18 +0000 Theresa 156852@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What a fabulous thread!</p> <p>I would firstly buy the house I'm currently renting - I love it! That would be around 1/3 of the money if it were on the open market, but seeing as I may have to sweeten the deal to convince the owners to sell, i would expect to use up to $500K on it.</p> <p>Then, I would buy a new car - mine has a few issues and this would be the only chance I would have to buy a new one. $30K</p> <p>Definitely put a big chunk aside for each girl for when the are older and also a chunk invested for me. $500K</p> <p>So that leaves about $170K... </p> <p>I would probably give the girls dad some of that to help reduce his debts so he could take a lesser paying job and be happy - and if he's happier the girls would be happier and so would I... Maybe the $70K...</p> <p>I would actually give my two littlest brothers some too - they both told me if they ever win lotto they would buy me a new car, so I'd probably give them $25K each.</p> <p>So then I'm left with $50K - some would go into accessible savings ($5-10K), the rest would be spent travelling - I'd take that 2 month trip to Italy and fly home via Seattle so I could go shopping with Angie.</p> <p>Now, of course this will never happen because I never buy lottery tickets LOL </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156760 Fri, 14 May 2010 17:40:19 +0000 Louise 156760@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Pay off debts,<br /> Buy house with walk in wardrobe,<br /> Visit Angie in Seattle and go shopping,<br /> Get the turbo fixed on my car! x </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156752 Fri, 14 May 2010 17:30:44 +0000 Isabel 156752@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>WARNING : I am very practical and pragmatic. I would invest it for a couple of years or more so that it would grow and then maybe it would throw off enough in capital gains or interest so that my husband could take a job he loves. Or not take a job. </p> <p>I don't need to live big. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156700 Fri, 14 May 2010 16:02:21 +0000 marianna 156700@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'd buy myself a nice condo or house... I never want to have a rent/mortgage payment again! I'd furnish it beautifully.</p> <p>I'd buy some fabulous clothes.</p> <p>Then, I'd save the rest/use it to live on. Who knows when I'll find a job? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156687 Fri, 14 May 2010 15:28:31 +0000 JuliaInGermany 156687@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My husband actually won the lottery three years ago. Not a million or even near it, but a chunk of unexpected money. We paid a part of our mortgage but apart from that we were quite at a loss what to do. I realized that I am not into possessions. </p> <p>My husband bought himself some new gadget for his camera and I bought a new mattress for our bed. Hahaha. We thougth about buying a new car for me, but my 12 year old Volkswagen still does its job, so why spend the money? </p> <p>So most of the money is still in the bank. It's acutally good to know that if the car breaks down, the washing machine dies, or the roof leaks we'd have the money to repair or replace things. </p> <p>If we'd win a million dollars perhaps we'd buy a house with 2 more bedrooms and a small garden (and a gardener). I'd like to have a sewing/crafting/hobby room. Though I really love our apartment and don't want to move out. Perhaps we could buy the apartment next door and connect the two. Now that would be very nice! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156682 Fri, 14 May 2010 15:15:36 +0000 Debora 156682@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I would buy an apartment or brownstone on the upper west side of Manhattan to use as a pied-a-terre. It would be wonderful to be able to pop into the city whenever we wanted to for shows, shopping, or museum visits.</p> <p>For $1,000,000, we could probably get a one bedroom on Central Park West such as this:<br /> <a href="http://www.prudentialelliman.com/Listings.aspx?ListingID=1231740&#038;rentalperiod=&#038;SearchType=apartments&#038;Region=NYC" rel="nofollow">http://www.prudentialelliman.c.....Region=NYC</a></p> <p>or a two bedroom such as this:<br /> <a href="http://www.prudentialelliman.com/Listings.aspx?ListingID=1246742&#038;rentalperiod=&#038;SearchType=apartments&#038;Region=NYC" rel="nofollow">http://www.prudentialelliman.c.....Region=NYC</a></p> <p>Thanks for the fun topic, Mac! I love to peruse the NYC real estate sites, but this is the first time I've been able to do so with so much money in my pocket! We can only dream! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156675 Fri, 14 May 2010 14:48:17 +0000 Claudia 156675@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>First, I'd pay off my children's college loans in full.</p> <p>Then I'd love to be around horses again: I'd buy some pasture land, near a state owned forest/park with trails (although riding wouldn't be important, just taking care of and being near the horses would be enough), and have a small stable with some rescue horses and a tiny cottage house to live in with my dogs. Heaven. Sigh. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156673 Fri, 14 May 2010 14:45:59 +0000 Mac 156673@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Pay off debt - SO SMART, Chewy. If only every American, Canadian, Greek, Brit, etc. had this as a goal...</p> <p>"Buy an even smaller house" I love this! Is your current house larger than you'd wish, Angie? </p> <p>It's such fun to read the variety of ways we'd spend our millions! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156653 Fri, 14 May 2010 14:20:03 +0000 Angie 156653@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>We'd start another company. Buy an even smaller house. </p> <p>And throw in a Prada and Chanel bag pour moi. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156640 Fri, 14 May 2010 13:39:11 +0000 chewyspaghetti 156640@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>We'd pay off debt, buy a new, bigger house house and invest the rest of the money so that we could remain independently wealthy for the rest of our lives. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156632 Fri, 14 May 2010 12:46:55 +0000 Mac 156632@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I love reading all your answers; so much fun! Sarah - a doc about Thrifting sounds excellent! I'd definitely pay to watch it. And, if you need an expert with experience in production, you could hire Marianna to help.</p> <p>Dusty: everyone I know who'd owned a mini has loved those cars. And I might have to borrow your the idea of re-doing the basement! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/congrats-you-just-won-the-lottery#post-156628 Fri, 14 May 2010 12:28:17 +0000 Dusty 156628@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hmmmm...well, I'd pay off my student loans for sure and maybe our house (maybe not, though). Then I'd get that new camper we've been wanting and take a trip down to Disney to visit my sister. Oh, and maybe get another Mini (it's been 5 years and I still miss it - although it's not exactly practical). Um, maybe re-do our basement to put in a big storage closet and a sewing/computer room. Oh, and landscape the front yard. Then, if there was any left, it'd go in savings. (well, maybe I'd get new carpet first. </p>