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 would have a bit of fun money and pay some off the mortgage with the rest.

I am counting the days to when my little one gets some nursery hours for free / starts going to school, as sad as it is to be wishing the time away, but the nursery fees are just crippling. I would use the £20,000 to get us through the next couple of years more comfortably, maybe without being constantly in the red.

It would help pay for DS to go to uni, DD to have drama lessons/go to a drama group and DS2 wants a new Trombone

Ooh, I would spend a good chunk of it getting various "men" (or women!) round to tackle all the jobs we never get round to! - painting, fixing the lights and shower, decluttering, sorting out the garden.... would be brilliant to get it all blitzed!

Anything left after that I think would go into the OFRS emergency fund for next time a car/boiler/washing machine died... or into the kids' university/wedding/house funds!

I would use it a deposit on a house. We wouldn't be able to save it without really going without.

I would like to blow it all on shopping and a big American road trip.

What a lovely thread.

I'd put £12,000 in an account for our 4 DSs so they could have £600 each year towards school trips when they're at secondary school. A luxury that would mean they'd have brilliant memories of having fun with their pals.

The remaining £8,000 I'd use to make us toasty and cosy by making the house a bit warmer for winter .... a new front door that I can't put my fingers around the edge and some double glazing.

We've just moved into our dream home but it needs modernising including a new roof, double glazing, kitchen and bathroom. My dream is to have a bath I can fully submerge my 6ft frame in, DH's dream is to have a double garage with workshop where he can spend his evenings and weekends.

We would also love to take our 3 boys travelling to experience some of the things we loved to do before they came along (but can't afford now) - starting with a ski/snowboard holiday.

I would buy 2 super comfy wheelchairs for my 2 DC's in whacky colours and a bottle of bubbly

Oh i love playing this game
Sensibly I would get us sorted in a house hopefully our own but at this point i would be happy with renting then i would take us all on a proper holiday probably to London to see all the sights for at least 2 weeks I would give SiL some money and get myself to pass my test and get an old banger 20k would really be life changing for us

I would get a car and have a holiday for myself, DH and DCs.

I would get a car and have a holiday for myself, DH and DCs.

I would be able to sell up and buy a house with three bedrooms so that I could have my room and bed back! I currently have a 6 year old bed mate :(

Buy a decent car for me and disabled child.ours is falling to bits and i wont be able to afford another one. (current one had 4 owners before us)

treat disabled child to a holiday weve never ever been able to have as i cant afford it being a fulltime carer for them, and having to rely on income support and stuff.

have a good break in a quiet place.

help someone similar in my situation have something nice.

have private knee surgery to replace both my knees as nhs wont do it as they say im too young yet im moving like a 1oo year old as it is.

take child to a decent tennis tournament as we cant afford it.

Build our extension. There's 5 of us in a 2 bed house and since DH lost his high paying job in the crash we've been struggling. He luckily got a new job quite quickly, but the drop in pay was drastic.

DD1 is nearly 10 and needs to be in a different room to her brother!

A good holiday for us would probably take £2,000 then I'd probably decorate the house and new clothes for the kids and us, then with what was left I'd pay for us to go to all the Rockabilly weekenders next year, it would be great to have them all booked and paid for :)

Oh and dp just reminded me that i've always said that if i had the cash i'd do an intensive driving course and take my test and then get an automatic car big enough for us all :)

To get a really decent electric wheelchair and a holiday.

I'd love a trip home so all my family could meet my DC (niw 4 & 5) and to take all my mummy friends on a cruise for a well deserved break and save what was left

I live in a non-standard built wooden hut, I'd have outside insulation, replace the hardboard inner walls for plasterboard and replace the lean to as its sinking and the doors are getting harder to open. Raise the sunroom roof so that people taller than 5ft 8" can stand upright in it without having to duck! Apart from that its a wonderful place to live!

I would absolutely love to take my kids and nan to Disneyland Florida. I reckon it'd cost about £5000? and then another £2000? for spends. Then after paying my debts, i'd use the rest on buying myself some decent clothes. For some reason i'm always last on the list when it comes to buying clothes, and by the time its my turn, the kids need new shoes again, so the list starts again

I most likely would use it on Home and financial maintenance, upgrades, and better adaptions around the home would be the top priority, and then more cushion in the account and savings, then splash out on the kids. Or maybe as a down payment to a better adapted house.

I would like to spend it on wild trip(s), go to a dark park and maybe bring some of my family over here for a visit, and something massive for the kids and the family. I would also want to spend some on body/medical care me and DH.

Funnily enough ds (7) and I were discussing this the other day. I said maybe we could go to Florida. He shot me down in flames with a withering look and said he'd rather go to Italy and Herculaneum. I think we have overdone the English Heritage trips lately

I would want a holiday but the rest would be sensibly spent on a new bathroom and kitchen.

Deposit and renovations on a house, would finally get us out of renting.

At the moment we are saving for deposit to buy our own home. It is so hard and sometimes looks impossible to get on property ladder. Especially when you live in London and renting prices are sky high. That's why if I would be lucky winner of 19k I would use it to get mortgage and buy house.Also I would buy fish tank with tropical fishes in new bigger house there at last would be space for fishtank.