I am glad that you survived emotionally.
I have never found out anything like how often this is paid and if you can get a lump sum. Sometimes they say "Forever," which means I could leave something for a niece or nephew, which I am sure would be great for their relationship.
People always say if you win money the government takes half. The highest tax rate is 37%, so let's say you get paid weekly, as the ad indicates, but we have also establishes that advertisers lie.
So, say I win, and my cash on hand goes from $6 to $3,156.
Week:
1. Pay down my student loans.
2. Make another payment.
3. Pay off my student loans. It would take 10% longer because I pay tithing. Pay an actual repair shop to fix one of my cars.
4. You know what? Let's be silly. There is a house down the street that may have been similar to Mom's before someone converted the garage to a bedroom. They are currently asking $170,000. Let's say that is a fair price if they include closing costs. 3.5% of that is $5,947.
5. Save for 3.5% down.
6. Get approved for a loan and make an offer.
7. I recently read that it can take 30 - 45 days for paperwork to buy a house. 20% is $33,980. That would take 11 weeks. Save my winnings until I can move in and then pay everything until I have 20% and get off mortgage insurance. Ask the guys at Church to help me move, do it on my own, and say "Thanks for showing up, but I already finished. Do any of you want pizza and donuts?"
Hopefully I can convince Mom to move down the street so we can repaint the interior, make repairs, and replace the flooring. Would Mom want to remodel the kitchen? I think it would look great if I just cleaned the cabinets, but the bathroom cabinets should probably be replaced.
Once Mom's house is fixed up, move back, put up the second house for rent, and look for a third?
The one thing is that house should have an awesome view of fireworks, so I would actually want a clause that we are allowed to watch the show there, and that we will bring pizza and soda of their choosing.
I think it would be hilarious to have my Civic engine and transmission remanufactured and a competent body shop fix the body and repaint.
Could I afford a new car? Absolutely. Would it frustrate people that I spent it on my Civic?
Absolutely!
Oh right. Mom always says she wants me to buy her a new car if I won Publisher's Clearinghouse, so there you go, I would buy a new car--for Mom.
I am sure that at some point I would purchase a new car and maybe not something conservative. Oh well.
Anyway, this is an exercise in futility, I doubt I will ever win anything. I need to make my own future happen and take care of things right now.