To think that £50/month on lottery tickets is too much

[FantasticMrsFoxx]

Over dinner with the in-laws we got chatting about national lottery tickets and my brother in law admitted he has a direct debit for over £50 a month for EuroMillions and the normal lottery draw. I was astounded, but neither he or my OH could see a problem at all - they are just holding out for a big win and expect it to happen one day.
Neither of them are particularly good with money and "I'll just win the lottery" is my OH's standard answer response if we discuss holiday destinations or big ticket items for our home.
I'll play a line or two every so often but £50/month could buy a lot of other things.
Are they living in cloud cuckoo land or am I a scrooge?

I go trough stages of buying two tickets a week, so £16 a month. It is normally when I am feeling depressed and vulnerable. I have noticed when I am happy I am happy with my life as it is and have no interst in winning the lottery. When I am unhappy with my life, the hope of winning the lottery kind of keeps me going, until I win nothing. Then I cry as I am still trapped and unhappy.

We'd have made a loss of over £1200 if we'd played our numbers since the start

I never do the lottery or buy scratchcards, to me they are a total waste of money.

I have a friend who spends over £100 per month on the lottery, but constantly says she can't afford to live, goes to bed as soon as she gets home from work (PT Shifts) to save on bills. In all the years of the lottery she's only won a tenner here and there but she insists on playing every week.

Each to their own, but to me she is just throwing money away.

There are worse things to spend money on, at least part of it is going to charity whereas buying wine or cigarettes doesn't.

Who cares what people spend their wages on as lomg as the bills are paid and children fed.