If someone handed you a check for 2 million dollars it would feel like your lucky day. You might want to run right out and buy a new house and a new car and give you mom a new house and your sister a new car but how far will 2 million dollars go? If you play the lottery it is worth thinking about.

Most lottery winners want to buy the biggest house they can find. Depending on where you live that could be anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000. We can average it out to about $700,000. That will get you a nice new house in a great neighborhood, maybe even a gated community. For many the lottery is their chance to own their dream home.

Once you have a huge new house you have to fill it with new furniture. Furniture is an expensive investment. You will probably end up spending around $250,000 on couches, beds, dining sets, rugs, drapes, and all the little decorative things that you have always wanted.

And now for the fun, purchase a great new car. If you have never had a new car before you will not be able to wait to get your hands on the shiny new steering wheel. You can bask in the new car smell. A new car is usually about a $40,000 investment but just about every lotto winner will get one.

No lotto winning spending spree is complete without the vacation of your dreams. Where ever it is you want to go. You may go to Hawaii or Europe, or maybe New York or Vegas. Where ever you choose you will want to travel in style with all of your friends so the trip is bound to cost you up to $10,000.

This seems to be a reasonable spending spree for someone who has just hit the jackpot but you cannot forget the many friends and family who will come to you to fix their financial problems. You will want to use your money to benefit the ones you love. You can figure that you will spend at least $300,000 helping your family with their financial problems.

Suddenly you have gone from 2 million to $700,000. Well you're not a millionaire but it is still a good deal of money. That is until you realize you haven't even paid taxes yet. Your property tax will be high on your huge new house. Your car insurance will go up for the fancy new car and relatives will always turn to you for money from now on. If you want to make your lotto money last you have to be thoughtful of how you spend it. Invest more than you spend so that you will never have to work again.