The curse is lifted!! Millionaire Raffle Tomorrow!

That’s right! Tuesdays lottery proved to be fruitful and positive for me for once in my life! Ok, calmed down and all cool now. I happened to match the MEGA ball and scored two bucks. Equaling out the dollar spent, I earned a dollar. I got that going for me right now, sweetness. Of course all the gas spent to get all the tickets I need pretty much squashes any TRUE earnings. But I’m in good spirits because of it!

The Michigan Millionaire Raffle is tomorrow night!! I’ll be online ready to tell the top numbers to show off all the goodness that I may win and or the pissed offness of what I lose. I spent $140 on the millionaire tickets so I’m hoping to get some kind of return on the whole thing. Even if it’s just a grand. If I lose, there goes a portion of my tax refund. It’s about time I go balls out and try something new with that raffle. God bless tax returns and everything stupid people buy with them. Does anybody ever really invest their tax return for a net gain profit? I’m not talking, investing in entertainment or fun or even collectibles to sell at a later date. I’m talking about a bank account,  a CD or maybe playing the stocks! Does anybody ever do that? I’ve yet to meet someone that has done that with their money. The closest I know of is myself and a few others who spend money on forms of gambling, me being the lottery. I have a good feeling about this one though!

Here’s the winners:

Tuesday April 17th, 2007 Winning Numbers for 27 Million

01   04   11   31   47   37
My losing Numbers
15   16   20   36   43  37

April 20th, 2007 Estimated Jackpot $37 Million

Total Spent to date on Michigan Mega Millions: $29
Total Won to date on Michigan Mega Millions: $0
Total Profit to date on Michigan Mega Millions: $-27

Total Spent on Scratch and Wins: $46
Total Won on Scratch and Wins: $9
Total Profit on Scratch and Wins: $-37

The not so Mega Millions

The bummers still kind of in a small haze settling around me still about the estimated 390 million dollar jackpot that was won the other day. That’s a hell of a lot of money. But that has all passed and 2 lucky people have actually won it. A trucker from Georgia and somebody from New Jersey who from last I heard has yet to step up to claim the prize. Was it me who bought that ticket? Well if I did I’d sure tell you people!! But I sure wouldn’t drive that far for a lottery ticket. The farthest I’ve traveled is about 40 miles in a trip around many cities to try and find that faithful 267 million dollar lottery ticket. It started out in my city and spanned about 6 different cities while I was traveling with a friend to go half on a winning ticket. We wound up picking some ho dunk gas station in the middle of no where’s ville and staked claim there. Was it worth it? Well of course not, but it was fun and that’s all that really mattered. If we were to win it big then it would of been worth every drop of gas used to get it. Back to the no so Mega Millions pot though. Tonight it’s an estimated 12 million dollars. I’m still not exactly sure how the calculations are done for the lump sum, but I do know that there’s a max 34% federal tax and 4% state tax on the money. What’s that mean? A big 38% chunk of your winnings down the tube? That’s right, they get your money and that’s not even including the lump sum! Once I figure that out, I’ll be adding the calculations into the routine.

So so far we have 12 million dollars on a rough estimate, 38% (34%federal tax, 4% state tax) is taken out at the end of the year. But does that mean it’s taken out of the entire thing at the end of one year? Not likely, I’d assume that if you took the lump sum, they’d take it from the whole. If you take annuity, you’d only pay the tax on what you earned that year from the annuity. Make sense? So 12 million after taxes is already. 4,560,000 dollars taken out. Leaving you with 7,440,000 left in cash. This is what you’d get over a period of 26 years. In other words, after tax you get $23,846.15 a month. That’s not quite bad if you think about it. Pay a buck to get 23k a month for the next 26 years. With lump sum, I’m not exactly sure.

In other news I know I promised and swore never to buy another scratch and win ticket, but I had no choice!! I was feeling to adventurous to not buy a scratch and win. Especially one that I haven’t seen before! It’s the Detroit Red Wings ticket that allows you to win up to $20,000! So I just had to at least try it out. What do I get for my time? 2 bucks won! OK, ok. It cost 2 bucks for the ticket, but I think it’s a good equal out opportunity. The best part about this particular scratch and win? If you send in 3 non-winning tickets, you enter yourself into a drawing for red wings merchandise as well as a chance to win an NHL Dream Trip for Two!! To quote the ticket:

For each Bonus Drawing there will be one (1) winner of a Grand Prize NHL Dream Trip and 169 winners of prize packs consisting of officially licensed Detroit Red Wings merchandise (Two (2) Hockey Jerseys, Baseball style jacket, polo shirt, commemorative plaque, windbreaker, and cap) Dream trip winners will have their choice of a Red Wings Home Game Getaway package, Road Trip Getaway package ora Sony 46 inch LCD wide screen television.

Drawing dates will be held March 6, 2007, March 27,2007, April 17, 2007 and May 8th 2007. Entries must be recieved seven days prior to a drawing. Entries discarded after each drawing. Tickets may continue to be sold after the last second chance drawing.

That about sums up the prizes. So for a lowly 6 bucks, that’s a pretty damn good shot at winning the dream trip or at least some sweet official merchandise of a great hockey team. Now on the back of the ticket there claims to be a withholding of 25% federal and 3.9% for state taxes. I’m curious, since I’ve been told 34% for fed max and 4% for state. Am I getting my facts mixed around? I’ll be sure to email someone in the Michigan lottery commission or somewhere to get to the bottom of this! So I did win the 2 bucks back, which brings me to my next goal of getting 3 non-winning tickets for my chance at a dream trip! All depends on the kind of trip. If it’s free hotel lodging, free eats, free seats in one of those suites, i’m all for the dream trip! If not, I think I’d rock out with the 46 LCD TV. Always wanted a big screen but could never afford it. Wish me luck in that everybody! But what are the odds of cash payout? Well according to the Michigan website, it’s as follows:

1 - $20,000
3 - $1,000
295 - $100

There are exactly 299 chances left to win a cash prize $100 bucks and over. Will you bet that one? You never know!

Friday March 9th, 2007 Estimated Jackpot $12 Million

Total Spent to date on Michigan Mega Millions: $18
Total Won to date on Michigan Mega Millions: $0
Total Profit to date on Michigan Mega Millions: $-18

Total Spent on Scratch and Wins: $20
Total Won on Scratch and Wins: $7
Total Profit on Scratch and Wins: $-13