Budgeting When Buying Instants

Reply #11

seek14u — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:25:34 GMT

My idea, if I had the money to blow... to buy the next ticket of each game at that store. Twenty games, 20 tickets, that dollar amount would be the limit. Never mind if weekly or monthly - never more than one ticket off a roll at a time.

Personally, I'm thinking playing the low value pick three lottery or some such is a better value, if one takes the time to research it.

There appear to be glitches, particularly when a state starts a new lotto.

Reply #10

TheRightPrice — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:03:42 GMT

This is one of the best ideas I've ever read on LP.

Reply #9

tarheel1 — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:29:17 GMT

i am a new player, but i won straight out of the gate so i'v got it bad. Not until my 6-7th ticket did i ever see a loser. 46 tickets later, and only down $35 on $5 jumbo's, i scratched my first $500 ticket. I personally feel that the scratch lottery offers the best odds for the type of gambling i want to do. I've played keno in casino's for years, and lost more cash than I could ever win back. Meanwhile, the jackpot on the machine for a total match is usually $1,500 or less. After playing giant... [ More ]

Reply #8

ILLotteryman — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:46:21 GMT

Thanks for all your help guys. To answer some of the questions, yes, I am beginning to think playing these instant games, especially in Illinois like Cooldude can attest to, is beginning to look like a losing proposition to me.

I would budget $10 a week for instants, and yes, I would reinvest them in other tickets if I won. I just really want to control my spending on the instants especially since I have not been winning much in Illinois.

I do play the daily Pick 3 and Pick 4 games,

Reply #7

dr65 — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:49:37 GMT

I can't budget. I just keep looking at that $10 and thinking maybe it would be better put on a daily number for the week? lotteryman, do you play

the daily's

Reply #6

cooldude — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:45:56 GMT

Illotteryman,

Ok a budget does sound great.... But questions I have would buy them all in one day or would spead them out over the week??? Question 2 if you win say your $10.00 back would reinvest or call it a week

Reply #5

Coin Toss — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:39:20 GMT

ILLotteryman,

At one of the places we buy scrathcers (my wife is the scratcher player) the manager keeps saying You bet dollars, you win dollars , meaning $1 tickets.

I wish I could convince her she'd be much better off buying a $5 ticket and taking a couple of days to scratch it than to grind out the occassional free ticket and $1 and $2 prizes from the $1 tickets.

Reply #4

dr65 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:46:43 GMT

Hi James - I like the random method, it works for me. I have never tried a pack of tickets. I wanted to but just didn't take the plunge. I just sat

and thought...a whole pack vs. random machine hits and thought I'm much better off doing the random hits.

Lotteryman...can I ask - if you are considering dropping down to $10..how much were you used to playing per week? You could answer like this, if

you want......Significantly more or slightly more. The reason I ask is this, if you cut down... [ More ]

Reply #3

James1 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:44:13 GMT

My cousins budget is 1-2 rolls per 2 weeks. he only buys rolls and does not waste money chasing random tickets in the store. he is UP lifetime with the lottery, something like $5-6K. it seems to be working for him very well.

I think you lose most money when chasing random tickets.....

Reply #2

brothadan — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:42:15 GMT

after cutting down for awhile and still losing $400-$500 today i am going back to cutting down....max is $20 a day.

Reply #1

James1 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:37:09 GMT

I dont have a budget but i think its a great idea. maybe like $100 a week would be good to stick to ....

Budgeting When Buying Instants

ILLotteryman — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:08:38 GMT

Ok, I have finally hit a tipping point with the instant games. I have been buying way too many lately and not winning a fair percentage back, so I am going to start a budget.

Starting next week, I am only going to buy $10 worth of instant tickets per week. I could get 10 $1 tix one week or 2 $5 or just one $10 ticket. But, I think my new strategy will involve buying tickets from different machines, places, etc.

What has your budget been for lottery instant games and pick 3, pick, 4,