AIBU to stop doing the lottery?

[Cottagepieandpeas]

This is partially lighthearted....

I’ve done the lottery most weeks for a long time. I probably spend £5 a week on average, which is fine in regards to my budget.
I think I must be one of the world’s unluckiest people in terms of the lottery- the most I’ve ever won is £90. I get the odd free go and an occasional £10 🙄

I’m trying to save a lump sum at the moment to pay for a course so I am cutting back on non-essentials. The lottery has been one of those cuts.

But I have this nagging feeling that I might win! And winning the lottery is my only hope of doing some of the things I’ve dreamed of.
I’ll never earn a lot more than I do now, I’m in my 50s and want to think about cutting down on work not taking on more.

So AIBU to stop doing the lottery and accept that I would probably never win that jackpot anyway (but somebody has to 😩)?

Only gamble if you can afford to lose it, right now if you need to save then do that.

The nagging feeling is how they keep you!

You know what they say, the lottery is a tax on the poor.
They kinda rely on that ‘nagging feeling’ to keep you hooked but your actual chances of winning big as very very small x

I know, I know! But what if....

I haven’t done it for a couple of weeks now and was tempted last night but didn’t bother.

I'd only buy 1 ticket pet week if I were you. The chances of winning don't really increase drastically if you buy more than 1 ticket.

Why not buy premium bonds instead? You keep all the capital and may win? Not as big prizes but more of them?

You havent been particularly unlucky with the lottery in the past, you just overestimate the chances of winning. Stop wasting your money on this

Can you afford to put £50 per month in premium bonds instead?
You could win big on them. There's also the option to withdraw your money if you need to.

Thanks , I don’t know anything about premium bonds (other than they exist) so will investigate.

About 6 months after the lottery started, I stopped playing and bought premium bonds instead. I've never won big on them either, but at least I've still got the money I put in. The nagging feeling doesn't last long OP!

Yes I’ve just looked up premium bonds, I think this is the way forward for me! Still that slight chance of winning a million

I agree OP - Premium Bonds all the way. That means if the universe want you to become a millionaire it can still happen, but you are saving not spending your money. I regularly win £25, so with interest rates so low it is as good a place as any to put spare cash.

Perhaps you could put the money that you’d normally spend on lottery tickets into an NSandI premium bonds account? Every month your bonds are entered into a lottery draw, and there’s a chance to win a jackpot of £1mil. Your odds are certainly not any worse than winning a lottery jackpot and it is a way to buy a dream without having to spend your actual money.

Thanks for posting this op, I regularly play the lottery, several times a week, because of the "nagging feeling" (I have big millionaire dreams too, of course IRL I just about meet my priority bills!)

Im excited for a Google of premium bonds now.

The lottery raises millions for very good causes, rather than seeing it as gambling I see it as a charitable donation with perks! Loads of charities do lotteries, maybe look for a smaller one with higher chances of winning smaller amounts of money?

The way I see it is - I'm paying for the daydreams. £5 a week is reasonable for the occasional lovely daydream or bit of window shopping on Rightmove.

Which reminds me, I have an impulse -bought scratch card in my bag from yesterday which I haven't done yet...