If You Won the Powerball Lottery...

We have thought about this many times - - - it is a fun diversion upon occaision. Powerball implies a big jackpot, so money is no factor here. We really love our home and have done one room re-do every year for 7 years now. We are almost done :-) We would retain ownership of our home and buy a couple additional ones around the globe (one in Scotland and one in Hawaii for certain). But for the home we already have, we would rent a home in the area that was available fully furnished for a year. 90% of our furniture would go away, the remaining 10% would go into storage (hello moving pod), we would hire a designer, an architect and a contractor. The home would get a smallish extension/expansion/addition and an entire gut job. Every material would be quality but not over the top. (Trump can keep his garish gold plated columns). Wood would be solid and sustainable like oak and the finish would be Swedish (it wears like iron... and we could recycle the flooring we already have in 1200 sq ft of the home.) Systems would be installed for efficient heating/cooling, we'd use solar and geo-thermal, every function of the home would be controllable from a distance as we will travel a lot, security system would be state of the art, kitchen will be professional, baths will be spa quality, carpeting will be wool. We have 6+ acres with two shops in place already. The larger 5 car would be set up for automotive restoration with a mechanics pit in one stall and hydraulic lifts in each stall to frame lift cars during storage. We already have a car collection but it would expand, therefore the shop would too - at least double. It would be black and white checker board floor and Route 66 design theme with a Juke Box filled with vinyl records and a full bar :-). The smaller shop would have a second level built up for a grounds keepers apartment as we will need to hire a married couple to maintain the place while we are abroad. We would probably invest a million dollars in the home that is currently in the $800k range and it would probably only support a selling value of $1,200,000 after completion but again...we love the home and the area. We would add a livestock barn and a small arena for a couple horses, a couple of organically raised cows and some alpaca and sheep for my yarn addiction. Our chicken coop will get an entire rebuild and relocate to the livestock barn. Our flock will expand from 10 hens to 30 and will feed us and our hired couple when we want fresh organic eggs and the balance will donate to the food bank every week for distribution. There will also be a moderate garden instead of our small patch garden that will also feed us all and support the food bank. The fencing for the pasture will be the super low maintenance vinyl or composite in white. That sounds pretty good...but I am sure there would be more on the list and I would probably blow through the million dollar budget like nobody's business. Ahhh - to dream. Well...back to work to make my salary so I can just maintain the life I already am blessed with having. Cheers All!

I would give my house away, to a family that is trying to help themselves.

Then I would buy, a new to newer home. My current home is very nice, but it’s too large for just myself to take care of.

One is never supposed to tell of donating, because it comes off as bragging.. (I say it is contagious. That others will give as well), but I would not only donate my time, but tons of money to help animals and the less fortunate.