[notALICE]

Does anyone else have an impulsive spending habit or habit in general they are trying/want to break? Before I started getting manic I would buy a scratch ticket, maybe one on a payday, and cheap dollar ones, or a Poweball ticket if the prize was huge. It was extremely rare. I thought it was a waste of money. So maybe 3 a year.

I still think it's a waste of money and yet I've been buying them like crazy lately. lots. Winnings have not evened out money spent. And why now, cant i stop this compulsion, when I'm unemployed? Fear of financial insecurity? Hope of winning it big and solving $ probs? IDK

Not going to GA, been to AA. Phase I'll "grow" out of once my meds stabilize?

Any tips, hints. Mantras? Experience. Just say NO?

[faerie_moon_x]

I don't know, buying a scratch ticket or lotto ticket once in a while doesn't seem like that big of a habit. My dad used to buy 15 lotto tickets every single week in the hopes he would win. Finally when I was in college I sat him down and showed him how he was spending $720 a year on little slips of paper! Now he's down 3 tickets a week, which is better. He always says once he wins he's going to buy me and all my step-siblings new houses and we're all going on a cruise....

Sometimes I'll buy a ticket when the prize is huge and I have enough spare change. LOL. But, not always.

[Cocosurviving]

When manic I did my fare share of shopping. I'm hoping to learn how to tell I'm abt to have a episode. I'll did my cards to my mom.

BIG LOTTERY on now, I think.

I think the current big lotto is at around 350 million dollars or more. Is that right? I'm
tempted to buy a ticket, although I realize the chances of winning are more than one in a trillion. Drawing is tonight, I think.

Well, I don't want to go out again today, so I'll miss this week.
If it isn't won tonight, I may buy one later in the week for next week's episode.

I'm not a gambler at heart. I wish those well who try to win them, but somehow, I know
too much about money and that it really doesn't bring happiness so I don't rely on the
lottery "hopefulness". I know you'll laugh at the reasoning of that, but it is true that
most people who are vastly wealthy will tell you that they are not necessarily happy
people.

Just a million or two would be nice, though, wouldn't it? I don't think that would
"damage" my happiness that much! How about you? How much would you be
willing to accept as a winner?

[notALICE]

Originally Posted by genetic

BIG LOTTERY on now, I think.

I think the current big lotto is at around 350 million dollars or more. Is that right? I'm
tempted to buy a ticket, although I realize the chances of winning are more than one in a trillion. Drawing is tonight, I think.

Well, I don't want to go out again today, so I'll miss this week.
If it isn't won tonight, I may buy one later in the week for next week's episode.

I'm not a gambler at heart. I wish those well who try to win them, but somehow, I know
too much about money and that it really doesn't bring happiness so I don't rely on the
lottery "hopefulness". I know you'll laugh at the reasoning of that, but it is true that
most people who are vastly wealthy will tell you that they are not necessarily happy
people.

Just a million or two would be nice, though, wouldn't it? I don't think that would
"damage" my happiness that much! How about you? How much would you be
willing to accept as a winner?

200,000 so I can hire a lawyer to help protect my daughter from her dad (long story, he has a high priced attorney, absent dad 10 of her 11 years, wants everything his way...off topic). Then fly my mom to NY & put her up in a fancy hotel (she loves NY, we're natives) and give chunks of money to my kids. Also pay off my student loans, my car & some other financial obligations with just a little left over. I don't like owing. That's what I'd love to be able to do.

What would you do?

Have you ever watched the stories of people who have won super big? Most have tragic endings or stories.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but I'd just like a little more security.

When manic I want to spend $$$ like crazy mostly on clothes and household things I swear I need at the time. I dont have an SO to hand my bank card over to so I'm stuck having to handle it. I am learning how to feel or identify that sudden (and some times lasting days) desire to blow my $ and really force myself to find a diversion....call a friend, not leave house (literally just sit on my couch) staring at clock on cable box until right before closing time and then its too late to go, exercise, etc....I haven't been successful every time but I literally am trying to force myself to not leave house or pull into a favorite stores parking lot and keep on driving.... very hard most times.

[hamster-bamster]

I do not do that, but if I did, I would try collecting the tickets (losing tickets) as evidence next to my computer or if you have a desk on your desk or in your purse or anywhere where you would repeatedly see the evidence. Maybe as the number of the tickets grows you will lose interest.

[notALICE]

Probably a good idea. When I was drinking I would hide my empty bottles, never really throwing them away, like I wanted to be caught & called on it.

I've been hiding my losers under the bed. Much less "clanky" or obvious than empty jugs of wine, but still... Rational says "throw them away d--*****".

BUT as if to encourage my bad habit I just won $100 on the first $2 ticket i scratched today, far more than I've spent. Sigh.

Now if I could use that luck on the Powerball...

[notALICE]

Or quit cold turkey. How hard can that be for silly lotto tickets?

Well, first I'd buy some stock in the pharmaceutical companies. They seem to be making all the money these days. (I mean I'd put about ten million in it.)

I'd buy my family an oceanfront home at a beautiful beach and put enough in trust
for them to maintain it as long as they live and set up another trust for their own personal
use as they wish for the rest of their lives.

I'd build another home, this time smaller but more of what I want in terms
of space, equipment, landscaping, etc. in an area that I've always liked living in, like the mountains.

I think it was about 350 million a couple of days ago. So that leaves about
$300,000,000 to be invested or given over several years to my daughter, son-in-law,
trusts for my grandchildren--big ones so that they might get terrific educations, then
travel the world over, and finally build the homes of their dreams and settle into a
happy and secure life.

I'd employ someone to be my housekeeper, have all my clothes tailor-made, travel a bit,
and invest heavily in a good Christian church.

The truth is I'd probably drop dead from a heart attack if I won, and my daughter and
their family would be responsible for management of the funds for their lives.

Fun to dream now and then.

Thanks for this.

[Kristiemarie]

I ran up thousands of dollars in college on clothes. I spend money on anything. Clothes. Food even. Makes me feel better for that millisecond. I get the lotto habit. I love gambling and have made some pretty poor decisions at the casino.

[Anneinside]

I am currently in a manic episodes. I tend to buy online, mostly clothes, books, and DVDs. Seventy five dollar mats for my car. This time I also bought (and had installed of course) two new toilets. I have contacted a carpenter to replace some rotted siding, build a deck and put up rain gutters across the front of my house. I don't notice the buying starting but later I start to notice all the packages arriving. I could have just replaced one of the toilets, I mean, I live alone and can only use one at a time! I am still getting the deck so my dogs can go outside but not get loose. Right now I am trying not to go to shopping sites. My doctor has also increased by ECT - a mini series of ECT today already, Monday and Wednesday. I should be better soon but I would like to stop my purchasing at $1200, except for the deck of course. LOL

I think for me the reason I don't spend a lot of money on gambling (but do sometimes on drugs, clothing, food, electronics) is that I think very mathematically. If it is feasible to do the maths, I will do them for just about anything, and gambling to my brain does not compute. Besides, if I won, I'd probably just waste the money on things that I wouldn't enjoy.

I have no tips for how to avoid gambling other than to do the maths. Find out how many tickets there are (maybe it says on the back) and what your chances of winning are. Usually the ratio of spent money to won money is less than 2:1, at least it is here.

Originally Posted by notALICE

Or quit cold turkey. How hard can that be for silly lotto tickets?

Much harder than you'd think if you get addicted to gambling. Which is entirely possible even with lotto tickets.

[BlueInanna]

Running out of money stopped me from the excessive spending. Mostly my compulsion was spending money on online gaming. Wtf I was bad into it. And spending sprees to buy poorer friends everything possible for them and their families. I think I had good intentions but it was compulsive, that among other things like hospital set me broke. And the main "friend" I spent on faded away when I ran out of money. It was not smart.

Since I'm in some sort of thing right now, I seem to be mostly cleaning obsessively. It's been badly neglected so there's endless work to do up keeping house.

People are really talking about the lotto right now. People have been telling me to buy a ticket. But I'm all cautious and asking how many numbers you choose, what are the numbers to choose from. And someone told me earlier the top 3 numbers that are likely to be included. So I might be obsessing on it too but in a more methodical way. Planning my big lotto ticket buy for tomorrow/today almost 4am already.

[sprik]

get rid of your debit and credit cards, use money orders and cash to pay your bills, its a pain in the butt, so it will make it hardier to spend, and alot of times, spending cash is hardier than using a card. Tell yourself u can only go to the store one day a week, write a list, following a list sucks to. Give yourself a spending budget to waste, if u go over it, u take it out of next month, that sucks to. I just gave myself ideas, thats really sucks for me, bummer I start with a litttle here, little there and then its all gone, then its like i only spent a little here, little there. I tried putting 25 in saving a week but u know how that works u save then everything goes wrong because u have extra money Hahahah. I have to tell u a quick story , my neice works at a store, she bent over the lottery machine and acciently touch it and it printed out a ticket and their was a guy in their and he bought the ticket because he said it had to be lucky because of how she printed it. funny and horrible at the same time right lol Good luck

[notALICE]

Originally Posted by Anneinside

I am currently in a manic episodes. I tend to buy online, mostly clothes, books, and DVDs. Seventy five dollar mats for my car. This time I also bought (and had installed of course) two new toilets. I have contacted a carpenter to replace some rotted siding, build a deck and put up rain gutters across the front of my house. I don't notice the buying starting but later I start to notice all the packages arriving. I could have just replaced one of the toilets, I mean, I live alone and can only use one at a time! I am still getting the deck so my dogs can go outside but not get loose. Right now I am trying not to go to shopping sites. My doctor has also increased by ECT - a mini series of ECT today already, Monday and Wednesday. I should be better soon but I would like to stop my purchasing at $1200, except for the deck of course. LOL

Holy cow girl! You can spend
I'm glad to hear you have a house, at the very least you are raising the value of your home.

Let me know how ECT goes. I've actually heard many positive things - downside headaches and minimal memory loss?

My ex-but-current husband goes on sprees for his computer. Packages galore. I get kind of miffed but he did give me the mini iPad I am typing on now. He bought it for himself. 15 minutes through the door it was mine because I'd been begging for one for months...sending little picture hints,etc. He had just purchased both the iPhone5 and the iPad for himself, the greedy b. Haha

Haven't bought any scratch tickets in the last 3 days - too depressed to get out of the house, and I would have bought 2 powerballs tickets Saturday. Someone in Florida (my state now) won the whole 600 mil. ONE person!

[notALICE]

Originally Posted by genetic

Well, first I'd buy some stock in the pharmaceutical companies. They seem to be making all the money these days. (I mean I'd put about ten million in it.)

I'd buy my family an oceanfront home at a beautiful beach and put enough in trust
for them to maintain it as long as they live and set up another trust for their own personal
use as they wish for the rest of their lives.

I'd build another home, this time smaller but more of what I want in terms
of space, equipment, landscaping, etc. in an area that I've always liked living in, like the mountains.

I think it was about 350 million a couple of days ago. So that leaves about
$300,000,000 to be invested or given over several years to my daughter, son-in-law,
trusts for my grandchildren--big ones so that they might get terrific educations, then
travel the world over, and finally build the homes of their dreams and settle into a
happy and secure life.

I'd employ someone to be my housekeeper, have all my clothes tailor-made, travel a bit,
and invest heavily in a good Christian church.

The truth is I'd probably drop dead from a heart attack if I won, and my daughter and
their family would be responsible for management of the funds for their lives.

Fun to dream now and then.

Thanks for this.

I posted this in another response this am but...I haven't bought any scratch tickets in the last 3 days - too depressed to get out of the house, and I would have bought 2 powerballs tickets Saturday. Someone in Florida (my state now) won the whole 600 mil. ONE person! It wasn't me. Curses, I tell ya. Hahaha