It has been over a year and still staying on budget.

Reply #22

maximumfun — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 01:37:06 GMT

Shyguitar - exceptionally nice job on your budgetary win!!! I work on a lottery budget as well. Sometimes I tighten the belt and sometimes I loosen it, but whatever is set for that period of time is the max that is spent on lottery (and that is a combination of MM/PB as well as scratch tickets).

My most fun is over the holidays and giving out scratchers for stocking stuffers. Its fun and enjoyable seeing all the kids faces as they scratch scratch scratch. One holiday my grandson won 1k - he

Reply #21

river26 — Sat, 13 Jun 2015 18:11:13 GMT

scratch off tickets are the worst to play,

Reply #20

dallascowboyfan — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 21:41:00 GMT

WTG Shy keep it up

Reply #19

destinycreation — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 02:15:45 GMT

Do you have a Pick 4 strategy, that you have been winning consistently with, that you would care to share with us

Reply #18

Funtimz — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 01:05:02 GMT

I thought I was the only one who played the lottery on a budget. I have to make sure my mortgage payments come first as well as just running a house. I'm also trying to save to buy a car, my current one is 10 years old. My lottery funds come from sources where I won't miss the money, which is why I can only play once a month. As long as I stay with that I will be fine and it can be more like entertainment money.

Reply #17

BellasBMWLucki — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:06:36 GMT

DARTH: i agree. trust me...

it is the way to go! BETTER THAN SCRATCH OFF is pick three and or pick 4. (I play regularly both)

and i preclude IF i need to.

But yea it's much better odds,per state,any state that is I know this as i play NYC, PA.,sometimes and most nj/ny

and i've won much in NC too amazing feelin'(i have fam in all these states,so that is how i am able to,and i've won much

tax free,pick three,regularly and pick four...

-Much BETTER than scratch offs,that are so ad... [ More ]

Reply #16

BellasBMWLucki — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:03:59 GMT

Dar,not sayin' anything to your comment but, it is the way to go!

i know this from personal amazin' win win win win EXPERIENCE regularly pick 3,to pik 4

(all week i've won over a whopping amount,i will eventually share. To hell with scratch offs,i do not trust them lol)

however,i m one who might buy 1 or 2,sporatic,(but again only sporatic,not much)

and this week i m again on a roll and last memorial day just a week ago,i've rack up a huge amount,with 1 special number

it came out... [ More ]

Reply #15

Elizabeth03 — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 18:01:15 GMT

Very wise people stay on budget and don't go over it. Having food to eat, and the rent or mortgage paid, as well as bill's, are a priority.

I only spend what I can afford, keeping daily expenses in mind

Reply #14

shyguitar — Sat, 16 May 2015 15:09:58 GMT

Thanks

Reply #13

pickone4me — Sat, 16 May 2015 12:50:27 GMT

Congrats! Keep it up.

Reply #12

darthfury78 — Sat, 16 May 2015 07:27:42 GMT

I felt the same way also. With regards to Pick 3, pick either midday or evenings and research the number you want to play. If it's a number that pops up 2-3 times a year, just look at the historical patterns of that number. Especially if it comes up during the first 4 months of the year of the last 3 months of the year. And if you are not into playing everyday, it's good to use the advance play option, which would cover the maximum days in advance.

I will admit that spending a few $100.00 on... [ More ]

Reply #11

shyguitar — Fri, 15 May 2015 22:37:13 GMT

Thanks so much. What has helped me control my urge to buy scratchers was the impossible odds of being at the right place at the right time to win a jackpot on a scratcher. There are usually around 25 million tickets printed out for a 5 dollar scratch ticket in which only 6 people will win the top prize of 1 million (after taking the 650,000 lump sum and after taxes are taken you are left with around 440,000 or so). Finally there are over 7,000 retailers that sell lottery tickets so winning a jac... [ More ]

Reply #10

maringoman — Fri, 15 May 2015 21:35:41 GMT

Congratulations Shy for suppressing the urge to buy scratch tickets. In a state that churns out more than 10 million dollar prize winners every month, it's easy to think that it's easy. It's not.

Reply #9

shyguitar — Fri, 15 May 2015 19:00:28 GMT

Thanks for your response. I have never played the pick 3 game and do not play because I prefer just buying 1 Powerball or 1 lucky for Life draw game once in a while. I think it would be too easy to get addicted to the pick 3 game because it's played twice a day every day of the week.

Reply #8

shyguitar — Fri, 15 May 2015 15:52:23 GMT

Thanks. Good for you having a spreadsheet to keep track of the money you spend. Maybe that is something I should have done during those 3 years of my being out of control with my lottery spending.

Reply #7

shyguitar — Fri, 15 May 2015 15:11:15 GMT

Thanks and congrats to you for staying on budget! In terms if scratchers I believe when a new scratcher comes out the lottery usually has 1 or 2 people win the jackpot in the first month so that's why I play once when the new ones come out. Though I only play a new 20 dolar one so skip the majority of new scratch games.

Reply #6

shyguitar — Fri, 15 May 2015 15:06:28 GMT

Thanks for your response. When I was obsessed with the lottery it really just made me more depressed when I never won.

Reply #5

darthfury78 — Fri, 15 May 2015 15:01:01 GMT

Hi shyguitar,

I was in the same situation as you. I spent a lot of money chasing the lotto games as well. But the scratch off tickets are very additive, which was why I only played the $1 games. The most I have won on those was $20 on a $1 ticket which was all I bought.

I was wondering if you would ever considered playing Pick-3 lotto? I have heard that there are people who buy one set of numbers straight and spend around $1,000.00 or more to match the average state Lotto starting Pick-5

Reply #4

savagegoose — Fri, 15 May 2015 14:59:50 GMT

nice work SHY, thanks for sharing your problems. and success.

i keep a spread sheet for my lotto and keno. and yeah it sure would be good to have all the money back and in 1 pile. and i can always cut down, the new keno sheet i use, has really helped me cut down that a lot. once you add up how much you spend you can get a better idea of how much you will spend over a month. and yup if that's a problem its time to make budget.

Reply #3

noise-gate — Fri, 15 May 2015 14:30:22 GMT

Control: Some love it, some hate it. As long as it works in your favor- everything else falls into place.

Reply #2

haymaker — Fri, 15 May 2015 14:12:26 GMT

Shyguiter,

Good for you, I 'm still w/in budget also.

I don't play scratchers at all anymore but if I did, I wouldn't play when a game is new.

I just don't think the big prize is going to come out early on,

has anyone seen that happen

Reply #1

ThatScaryChick — Fri, 15 May 2015 13:58:24 GMT

I'm glad things are going well for you and that your lottery budget has helped you with controlling your spending.

It has been over a year and still staying on budget.

shyguitar — Fri, 15 May 2015 13:16:04 GMT

Hi everyone,

Well it's been over a year since I started on my lottery budget and have kept to it. These last few months have been great in terms of low lottery spending. It is so refreshing to no longer stop at the gas station after work or go out to the store on the weekend specifically to buy draw tickets. If weeks go buy and I don't buy a Powerball ticket I just tell myself there will always be another day to play. One of my biggest problems for 3 years was my addiction to scratch tickets.... [ More ]