Tell The National Lottery what you’d do with a fantasy £20,000 - £250 voucher prize draw! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

You may have heard recently that The National Lottery's Lotto game is changing this autumn and is introducing a new Raffle where 50 players will win £20,000 in each draw. To celebrate this, The National Lottery have asked us to find out what Mumsnetters would do with (a fantasy) £20,000.

Here's what The National Lottery say: "As of 5th October, Lotto is changing, offering more ways to win more money. The prize for matching three numbers will be increased from £10 to £25, the jackpots will be bigger (£2.5million on Wednesday and £5million on Saturdays) and there's a new raffle where 50 players will win a guaranteed £20,000 each draw. Tickets for the new game go on sale on 3rd October and cost £2 per line. We would love to hear about how Mumsnetters would spend £20,000 if they were to win the raffle prize!"

So what would you do if you were to win £20,000? Would you go on a huge spending spree, or would you be more careful with your winnings and put it aside for a rainy day?

What have you always wanted to do, but have never managed to justify the cost of? Dine at a Michelin-starred restaurant? Buy a piece of designer jewellery? Maybe you'd splash it all on a round the world holiday? Or perhaps you'd save it to make life easier for you and your DCs if they decide to go to university? Or would you take the opportunity to clear (some) debts or pay off a chunk of the mortgage?

Whatever it is, The National Lottery would love to hear about it.

Everyone who shares their thoughts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

I'd use it to cover childcare costs so I could go back to university and complete my degree.

I would book the first available flight to Mexico and sit in the sun until I looked like a leather walnut. I would learn to tango, make out with a hairy Mexican and sit in a hammock till my eyrs blurred.

Pay off some small debts, finally do my driving lessons and buy myself a nice little car

I would use it to pay off my debts. That would enable me to start saving for my daughter to go to university.

£20k? Well I must admit I am a careful saver. I would top up all our ISAs first of all and put some aside in a savings account which serves as mine and dh's pension pot since neither of us have any pension provisions.

I would then rip out the old council house kitchen we've had since we moved in here and get a lovely new one put in. I reckon that would be £10k gone. Then I would put £5k towards the mortgage and the rest of the money would be used on a lovely family holiday, a trip to visit my dad in the Orkneys and some new clothes for us all.

I'd make sure that £1k went to charity. There is a lovely charity called 3 Angels Nepal which rescues girls and women from sex trafficking, gives them life skills and an education and therefore gives them dreams of a future. They deserve a lovely donation

I would use the money to finish a loft conversion that has stalled due to lack of funds. I would install a shiny new family bathroom and the kitchen of my dreams to replace our manky old units

My lovely Mum is in her seventies and is already worrying about the winter gas bill. I"d love to say here's enough money to keep you warm as toast all winter long. My partner is self employed and always worries about taking time off as he doesn't get paid. It would be lovely to have a family holiday with no stress about boring bills. Oh, and a first bike for my beautiful daughter's birthday next month too. One day...

£5k each in to savings accounts for the dc and the remaining £5k on a family holiday to the country I spent my teenage years in, cocktails included :)

I have 4 children & we are renting our forever house while trying to sell our other place and crossing all our fingers that we will save up enough and sell it in time to buy the rented place - this would mean that we could close the deal and buy our lovely home! It would be a miracle for us

big holiday to florida, pay off loan and a lovely xmas for everyone

I'd put some of it into savings, possibly 5k of it, and the rest would be the deposit on our first home . It would be nice to finally be in a position to be able to actually buy somewhere!

Pay off debts I see that's a common thing

Get mine and dps bedroom gutted, we haven't been able to afford it since moving in 7 years ago and the carpet is 30 years old, and finish other odd jobs in the house.

If I was being practical, most to pay off the mortgage, the rest to replace the ancient car.

If I was dreaming, a downpayment on a holiday house by the sea in Galicia big enough for us and our inlaws.

well, DS (8) is desperate to go to India so I'd use £5,000 for a trip to the Golden Triangle. Would have to make sure we coincided with a festival as that is how he imagines India to be - festivals, parades, elephants....Then the rest would go towards the extension that we really want for our kitchen to give it more light and space and put a woodburner in, so we could spend most of our time in there. Didn't take me long to spend that, did it!

boring stuff, I would clear our debts and pay a chunk off the mortgage....

..or.... we could go back to Antigua where we got married and blow the lot on cocktails in the sea!!

Pay off all my debts, take me and DD on a shopping spree and go on a lovely holiday.

Deposit on a new house (we live in a flat with no garden - hate it!) new car (I need a new one!) and a holiday with DS and my parents to thank them for all of the lovely holidays they have taken us on! All gone in a couple of weeks I expect!

I would buy a car, not new but newer than the one I have and the rest I would use to reduce the mortgage, boring I know.

I'd spend £15000 on a deposit for a bigger house as we are rapidly outgrowing ours, using the remainder to clear our last loan and hopefully have a nice holiday- maybe even take the dcs on a Disney cruise if it would stretch!

My eldest son is 23 and getting married in October - he and his girlfriend are setting up home together after finishing university and trying to find jobs in marketing and illustration. It's a tough old world out there, and I would love to give them a lump of cash to buy a decent car to get to work reliably - not like their current old banger which is on it's way out. Meanwhile, back at home with his 6 and 12 year old little sisters, I would love to take them to Disney World - they are desperate to go and it would be the holiday of a lifetime!

I would make my Grandparents retirement an amazing one.

I have my list in my purse, it's been there now for three years.

IVF
Newer car
Skim over the horrendous artexing that covers the house
Tidy up the back garden
Shopping spree with my lovely sister and friends
Shed for my hubby

A car, holiday, shopping spree, buy all the things I see on pinterest :D And best of all... get married finally!!!

Go to the Maldives for 2 weeks and pay my mother-in-law to look after the children for 2 weeks whilst we're away. I'd use the remainder to take the children to Disney World at Christmas time.

We'd use it to move house. Poor old DD is squashed up in her little box room as it is and things will only get worse once she gets too big for her cot bed!

We did have the money saved but then the old, wooden window frames started falling to pieces so now we're back to square one but finding it impossible to save as everyday costs keep going up and up and up

If there were any left, we'd possibly have our first ever holiday abroad.

If I were spending it all on me, I'd have my wobbly tummy chopped off and my eyes lasered. I run 3-4-5 times a week but my stretched out tummy isn't budging at all!