...I'd be rich.
Every so often JJ and I and various friends would imagine what we would do with lottery winnings in the unlikely event we were to ever win any amount of it never mind the big jackpots. I always used to think that after paying off the house, funnelling some money into the kids bank accounts, possibly going on a holiday with both sets of parents (either individually or in one big group) and putting some aside to make sure we're set up for life, I would donate any left over to charity.
These days I'm not so sure about the charities.
What I would probably do if I won the next lotto is pretty much the same; pay off the rest of the house, maybe buy this house (after further investgiation, on the website it looks perfect but we haven't gone to investigate because we won't be able to afford it, otherwise it will probably be the current plan of buy some acreage no further than 1.5hrs out of Perth city and build on it) put $100k in each child's bank account, make sure JJ and I are set up for the rest of our lives, take the parents on holiday (they've done so much for us, they deserve something nice done for them), maybe pay off JJ's siblings' houses as well.
Rather than donating the rest to charity though, I think I would much rather invest in people (that I like and think are worth it). I have online friends who want to do art or make music and are either in a similar financial situation or worse. I have often thought that I would love to furnish these people with a new computer and/or a Wacom tablet so they could make music or art as they're pretty good working with what they have, and could do better with better tools. Or for the ones that I have no idea how they do what they do, just going here have a thousand dollars to help buy what you need and keep making awesome things. I would love to inject some money into a local friend so he can continue providing healthy diet appropriate food for people who are for various reasons unable to cook for themselves (yes I am intending on becoming a patron once the money is a bit more under control).
Also notice that I didn't have selling the current house in the initial list above? That's because after paying it off and moving I would love to set it up so homeless people or people escaping difficult domestic situations can live in it for free or cheap til they've sorted themselves out and can move on to better things.
And I'd like to chip more money for the open source things that I use as well.
So that's what I would do if I was rich. How much of anything do you really need for yourself anyway?
Seeing as I have yet to win lotto I shall have to muddle along with the business and hope I can get anywhere at any speed in any time with the stories. In the meantime as the aforementioned friend says, I do what I can because it's all I can do.
What would you do if you hit the big time?