To ask for your unexpected windfalls in life?

[strawberriesplease]

Lighthearted folks to give us some cheer as we waltz into December.

Mine was at a very expensive theme park.

Put money into vending machine for a Kit Kat and it released all the chocolate! About 30 different bars dropped. Kids were delighted and we gave some to the only other family behind us.

DH still talks about it as a life highlight

We got a free McDonald’s last week.

ordered through the drive through but when we went to pay, our order didn’t come up as someone had paid for the wrong order. They sorted it out but still didn’t charge us.
So our order was free and the person who paid for ours order was significantly cheaper!

During Covid a very nice hotel in Bath did a 3 night break free of charge for NHS workers, I was nominated and won.
I genuinely saw how the other half live!

Won an all expenses trip to France once. I was 15. I went round the museums. My parents loaded the car up with duty free lol.

After I finished my nurse training I was waiting for all the pre employment checks to come through on my first job as a registered nurse and I won £200 KwikSave vouchers. It was honestly like winning the lottery!

My rich uncle took me horse racing once when I was about 13. He said he'd put a £1 bet on for me, and I spotted a horse that looked pretty and said I wanted that one. Then I noticed it was called something that had my surname in it, so I was more convinced. It won, at 15-1, and I was all excited that I'd won £15, but then he said he'd actually put on a tenner, and I got £150 in used notes. It felt like the most exciting thing EVER and I spent it all on blue mascara and stonewashed jeans.

I seem to get money unexpectedly when I am really short.

About 25 years ago, I had a young child and no money for food. I found £30 near a bus stop (I live in a touristy area and assume a tourist dropped it). Enough to buy food for a week.

Found £20 outside a tube station, as well as a random £10 in my street on other occasions.

Once a relative was staying (they live overseas). They left their UK money purse by mistake. They said we could keep the money - as they wouldn’t be back for a few years - That’s another time we were skint.

Won 200 quid on here last week didn't I

I got a refund yesterday at the library!

I paid a fine for not returning a book, and it then turned up - so they refunded me

Bonus

When I was about 7 a display of loads of 200g bars of Dairy Milk collapsed onto my toddler brother’s head in a supermarket. We got to keep the chocolate for free. Best day of my life.

2003 was part of a syndicate that won the £250k jackpot on the Thunderball, got £15k

2010 won £8k on online bingo

My friend from work won tickets to a festival and asked if I’d like to go. I did and we’ve now been together 20 years married for 10 😍

Back in the 80’s. We won a free sky dish & box. So excited to get it

I loved Garfield when I was younger and my dad went to the pub the night before my 18th birthday (over 30 years ago) and won a huge cuddly Garfield. I was so chuffed when he brought it home and he said "even if someone had offered me £50 I wouldn't taken it" because he knew how much I loved him. Awww.

Very recently was super stressed about money and dreading Christmas, thinking it was going to be a very miserable affair this year.

Then randomly got a call from the council who said they’d just realised they’d completely cocked up my housing benefit (single parent), for the last 2.5 years, and they were paying 7k into my account. Christmas is looking a lot merrier now 👍🏻 🎄

Oh wow! What a lovely bit of news

Many years ago I was in a bar and had to pass one of those fruit machine things to get to the ladies. I had a 10p coin in my pocket and stuck it in the machine.....and won £100. More recently I had a review of a disability payment and it was decided I had been underpaid and they backdated it. It was £1,200! Perfect at this time of year!

@CoilBeGone that's amazing ! So pleased for you !

About 8 years ago I really wanted to start saving for a house deposit but had very little money spare each month.

About 2 years prior I'd paid off a big loan and one night I came in from work and found a letter from the loan company to say during a routine review they'd discovered I'd paid more interest over the lifetime of the loan than I was supposed to. Enclosed was a cheque for £1600. And that was the start of my house fund. I started squirrelling away every extra penny after that and here I am today in my lovely home.

Stayed at a chain hotel on the outskirts of London. Parking was in a supermarket multistory and had to be paid for. Machine would not let coins into the slot and appeared to be jammed. Husband gave it a wallop hoping to dislodge the stuck coin and £60 worth of pound coins fell out from the change tray. and the machine printed our ticket too. Awesome!

@CoilBeGone wow! So pleased for you. Hope you have a very happy Xmas .

Got £15k tax returns nec9work had me on the higher tax rate for 8 years so came in handy as our bathroom just flooded & kitchen ceiling collapsed the next week.

A friend had a kitchen fire, I lent her my old microwave.
I'd entered a raffle, & then won a super-duper state-of-the-art microwave.

Today Waitrose subbed me a £22 bottle of wine for a £5.00 one,

My OH was made redundant and due to his contract was paid 12 months pay for working final 3 months of semester , paid a fortune in income tax on his wages drew down on his pension bought a small house outright no mortgage, we bought a doer upper paid out 6k on getting a new kitchen in, come next april he got a 5K tax rebate so that basically meant our kitchen cost us £1K

Earlier this year we decided to consult a Financial Advisor to sort our pensions and savings out, turns out we had been mis sold a pension years ago and the pension company sent us a cheque for £57,000!!!!!!!! Still can't believe it.