Money Buys Happiness: Lottery Winners Reveal What Happened Next
Esther Tracey, a 24-year-old unemployed nursery nurse from Poplar, East London, celebrates her National Lottery win of £1,373,571 at The Ritz in London.
WHAT happens after you win millions on the lottery?
The Daily Mail says it’s mistery and more msiery:
Why so many lottery winners like me end up losers in love: Every week it seems another couple splits after scooping a Lotto jackpot
But it isn’t. That just makes the losers feel better. Money does buy happiness:
Dean Allen: 26 when he won £13,861,061:
For the Allens sticking to their guns has meant striving to stay normal. The night before their press conference in 2000, he and Louise ate at Pizza Hut… “We’re like everyone else – well, not quite like everyone else – in that we live off what we have coming in each month. That’s got to pay our bills.” Allen has parked a desire to follow Formula One around the world and makes himself useful. Translation: school runs, youth football coaching and charity endeavours.
“You find new goals and new stuff to do,” he says. “I used to do a lot of clay-pigeon shooting…”
Before he leaves I ask if there is anything about his old life he misses. A long pause. “Well,’ he says, ‘coming up to this time of year, I always miss going to the office Christmas party. Although it’s probably the only downside to not working.”
Catherine and Gareth Bull won £40.6 million:
Catherine still gets a weekly delivery from Tesco (free-range chicken comes from Aldi) and buys her own clothes on the high street – ‘I’ve moved on from clothes from Asda and Tesco; now I might shop in River Island or Coast.’ She has treated herself to ‘a couple’ of Mulberry handbags – ‘that was naughty’ – and keeps thinking about ‘those shoes with red bottoms’, but can’t quite bring herself to spend more than £400 on a pair of Christian Louboutins.
Gareth is wearing a Lacoste T-shirt, but he clearly isn’t vain…
“I still have to pinch myself. I can’t stop laughing about how incredibly my life has changed since winning the lottery.”
Jane Cunningham won £7,544,200:
‘What I’ve found is that everybody has an opinion,’ she says. ‘Unless it has happened to you, you just don’t know. I did feel at some points as though I had committed a crime. What was I supposed to do? Say, “Oh, there’s seven and a half million quid on that ticket but rather than upset anybody, I won’t cash it in. I’ll just put it on the mantelpiece.” Why does everybody buy a ticket if not to win the jackpot?’
Cunningham tells me about an incident that occurred in a local cafe not long after the win. She had gone for a coffee with Lisbon when she bumped into a local businessman. ‘He said, “Right, the drinks will be on you then won’t they, Jane?” and I said, “No. Have you ever bought me a drink? I’ve been using your shop for years, shouldn’t you be buying me one?” Then another person came up to me and said, “I’m so glad you said that, top marks,” which was nice. There’s that minority, though, where if you went into a bar and bought everyone a drink, you’d be tight…
Jammy sods.
Posted: 17th, November 2014 | In: Money, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
