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If I won the lottery

Do you ever ponder what you would do if you won the Powerball or some other lottery? I know some of you dear readers would never buy a ticket, because of the whole throwing money away thing. I, on the other hand, buy a Powerball ticket a few times a year, because you just never know. Remember, I am surprised every year I don't win my church's big raffle. (I bet this will be the year.)

I have actually put a lot of thought into what I would do with this found money, if I ever win. If only I put this much energy into expanding my skills or making the world a better place.

Anyway, I thought I would list how I might spend that money, as it stands today. Of course the amount of money I win would affect where it goes, but I am assuming I would come away with 500k.

  1. Pay off my house and car. I have a 0 percent interest car loan (which, sorry, Dave Ramsey, I bought new), but if I had some extra big Gs around, I would be happy to end those payments.
  2. Open up an IRA. Unfortunately, since I was laid off last year, I have not put any money into retirement for over a year now. Fortunately, I am still earning interest on my 401k, thanks to somewhat of a stock recovery.
  3. Put aside some money for my kid's college. I have no idea how we are going to pay for Jordan's college as it stands now. She has something like just under 2k in a savings account, which will probably cover a semester of books. Which will all be on the Web by then, now that I think about it.
  4. Update our house (new roof, which we may do anyway; replace carpeting, furnace, and AC; get one of those fancy washer-dryer combos). This is where Brian and I part ways. If we ever came into some serious money, he would want to put our house on the market that day. I, on the other hand, hate change and would probably try to live in our house for a few more years at least. Maybe even until Jordan finished eighth grade. I don't need to live in a big, fancy house. Living in an area with a better school district, on the other hand, would be nice.
  5. Give money to various orgs. I also change my mind about who would get my money, but I support Animal Friends, the Human Society, the Women's Center and Shelter, Make a Wish, and MS, diabetes and cancer research and treatment (when I am gainfully employed, anyway). I would also like to build a playground at my kid's school.
Noticeably absent from this list is giving money to family and friends. I am on the fence about that. Anyway, I probably spent more like a million, but it was fun for me to think about.

For the record, I was going to rant about a few things today, but since Peter and Kate (Amy's kids, from Callapiiter) died one year ago today, I thought I would keep things a little lighter. Thinking of them and her today.
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