Entering online sweepstakes makes me feel as if I'm working towards my future. As if I am planning for a better life, though I know in reality that the odds of winning are worse than my chances of being struck by lightning, and far less than the frighteningly high odds of being killed by a hippopotamus.
I entered the "big money" sweeps, usually ten thousand dollars and up. I spend the money in my head, being practically and reserving nearly half for taxes. One hundred thousand is my favorite fantasy. Debts paid--such a small portion of the whole, really! House purchased--once there is no more rent, I would be saving more than five thousand dollars a year; that's taking into account taxes and new insurance and upkeep! Gifts given--thoughtful, long-lasting gifts, and not frivolous trinkets, either. I would give a new, used SUV to my parents, with regular maintenance. It wouldn't be a brand new vehicle, but newer than theirs now. I would give my brother a duplex--a real fixer-upper. He could handle the repairs, and he could rent out the other half to pay for taxes. Finally: savings. No fancy cars or clothes or jewels or cable TV. I want to live free. A garden. Solar panels. Freedom.
How many people could say one hundred thousand dollars would change their lives, and those of their families, so completely? So I enter another sweepstakes, and become one of the hopeful.
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