I have not won the Lottery but... what would you do if you did?

I would be able to invest in some quality instruments, have some lessons, give up current job and work part-time in something music-related Oh, and go somewhere with sunshine, donate to family, charities etc. ...

You?

I think I would faint!!!!

I would buy the ABRSM and then revamp the aural test syllabus to make them harder...

Stop constantly worrying about the size of my (admittedly interest free) overdraft?

Go and try out a lot of nice flutes, without feeling sheepish (knowing full well I can't afford to buy any of them!) and maybe purchase one. Or two. Or...

Indulge my inclination to buy lots of pennywhistles, fifes, and learn to be comfortable playing them all. Similar with the recorder family.

Get those piano lessons I'm been musing about, and putting off due to aforementioned overdraft.

Treat all my housemates to a nice dinner out. (The household equivalent of a ####-up in a brewery... seeing as most of us hardly drink...)

Stick the remainder in a suitable investment, and live of the interest instead of a student loan, at least until I graduate, and feel like buying the nice house and kitting it out with a library, music room etcetc. I think I'm too young to not ever bother with working... so it wouldn't really change any plans for the next ten years, I'd just not fret so much about money!

[Edit: Didn't think I'd get that one past the filters... but I couldn't think of a more elegant way of putting exactly what I meant. ]

I think I'd get a new treble recorder.

might just get a nice bottle of wine, go and get the second part of Faust.
I could go and see a shakespeare play or 2.

go and look round some art gallerys. and get some turkish delight.

yes I'd like that

A good grand piano (and a house to put it in).

A house, a piano to put in said house... and I would buy my very own piano teacher

Right, well...

I'd first buy a massive hall somewhere, and then buy a massive 5 manual organ and put it in there.

I'd then go out and buy 3 Steinway Concert grands (1 for me to play, 1 for a friend to play, and 1 as a spare!) to put in this massive hall.

After that, i'd buy a very very nice new flute (or 2), and a nice stand, and put this near the pianos.

I'd then buy a lovely cello, hoping that i may be inspired to learn properly!

Then, i'd buy a big house with a music room (containing a grand piano), and a big library

Once i've done all this, i will put aside some money for when i get old, and buy a round the world ticket (and one for a friend), and go live in France.

Jacob.

I'd get rid of my student loan, shop in Tesco rather than Asda, and try to continue as normal. (I can say that, because it's never going to happen. If it *did* happen, I might be slightly less restrained. I might buy a house in Yorkshire or something stupid like that. )

I'd go on a course to study statistics...

I would get King Rat a chauffer, then I would get myself some more recorders including the sub contrabass that I cannot afford at £9,000, loads of new music and CDs, a tame accompanist for two afternoons a week, build a stable block and an arena for the ponies, get a couple of harpsichords and an electronic tuner with every temperament imaginable, get my hair coloured by an expert instead of spending four hours doing it myself and having to redo bits at the back that I had missed, buy an old church to convert to an arts centre, set up a couple of trust funds to help students to pay for lessons and instruments, set up a pension fund for myself and then give the rest away to a charity of my choosing. It would need to be a substantial win!

I would cry

The things I could do and the friend's lives I could change would be overwhelming

But among things I would set up a bursary or two at my local University, design and build my own studio, buy an 'orchestra' of instruments for my old school and sponsor instrumental teachers there, and give my violin teacher her choice of violin from anywhere in Scotland.

Then I would pack my camera and a sketchbook and travel the world (when I had finished my degree).


Oh... and OH could retire and come with me

It is unlikely that I'd ever win big on the lottery as my next door neighbour won three and a half million a few years ago. He went public and had a brand new Jaguar by Wednesday, after winning on Saturday. He turned into a local celebrity and would go out with the top of his car down waving at all us poor local folk.

Maybe I'd stop doing overtime at work if I did win.

I'm not sure I'd like to win big; I'm not greedy just a couple of hundred thousand would be enough for my simple needs.

Regards, Peter

what size of winnings....
I have won a couple of times but £20 doesn't make a big difference to life and lifestyle does it?

well, I guess I am thinking of moving anyway, first serious thought of selling up and moving for some 20 years, and a considerable extra sum would be a help.

I don't think many lottery wins run into the hunderds of millions!

Spend it as quickly as possible before the banks collapse.

Don't lose all hope. Statistically, it makes absolutely no difference if the last winner was your next door neighbour or someone in the Outer Hebrides, your chance of winning is just the same.

I would set up some sort of hardship fund for students at my old college - I really hated having less money than everyone else when I was at University and could have thumped the fellow student who said that budgeting was boring; fine if you know that your parents will bail you out at the end of the year.

Clearly the good fortune would be shared with my family.

Hmm, other than that, pay off my mortgage and buy a set of nice wooden recorders. Pay a top notch coach to give me some help with my cross-country ski-ing and have a professional wax-man for races.
I am sure that Mr Flutecake would have plenty of ideas

I dunno, with a decent lottery win, you could just employ a full-time harpsichord-tuner, who can keep them up to muster in the temperament of your choosing. While you are busy playing harpsichord 1, your tuner-chap could be getting harpsichord 2 in tune for your afternoon playing session


I'd have a subcontra too I have been not-very-seriously, not-very-likely eyeing great basses this week. I have this idea that if I have a great bass, then I have a C recorder with which I can get myself really properly working right in the bass clef, and then I'll be better with the normal-bass-in-F in the bass clef. It's probably a slightly extreme way to get better at bass clef reading (practice with my F-bass would probably do just as well - but that doesn't get me a new recorder, does it? [Well, maybe a proper wooden bass once I am a bit more capable])


If I had a huge pot of money, I would go and talk to Toyota very nicely, and ask them to make a 3-door RAV4 as a custom order. It's what we currently have, and we love it, but it is about to come to the end of its lease period. My husband is considering buying it and having it as a private car, and not having a company car, but even then we will probably only get another couple of years out of it. They do still make the RAV4, but only as 5-door version, which is just way bigger than we need.
Then, when my husband was happy with his new toy, I could get lots more musical stuff and probably a couple of bicycles
And a nice house somewhere which was big enough that I could practise without being overheard (or, more accurately, without worrying about being overheard), have a good size telescope on a permanent mount with dome in the garden, and garden space left over for a couple of beehives.

Well, I'd definitely buy more instruments, a car of some description, and maybe some property.

I would also help family/friends out, and in all probability splash out some money on things like forum events.

Make my neighbours an offer they couldn't refuse and reclaim the bits of my house that were sold off by previous owners.

Have my garden completely redesigned and landscaped or whatever it is you do to gardens to make them interesting and pretty!

Modifications to house : 2 x new kitchens (his'n'hers), massive laundry room with 2 washers and dryers, new bathrooms

I'd keep my old car, but get all the annoying things that are broken fixed.

Steinway D

Tour the grand opera houses and concert venues of the world!

Is there such a thing? I thought we were mostly wild...

possibly "feral"

Would one be "a gold-plated, crystal-encrusted fixie"?

I was impressed by the ideas of funding scholarships, etc. That one has certainly occurred to me. But why oh why has no-one mentioned an Aston Martin yet?

Well, I think straight off I'd go on a shopping trip and enjoy being able to buy stuff without having to worry if I have enough money
I'd put aside enough money to be able to visit my cousin regularly up in Sheffield, or for her to come and see me. I'd take my orchestra mates on our dream trip around Europe, go and see all the musicals I want to and go to some quality concerts.
I'd donate some to my county orchestra and possibly to my old primary school as well, to help with music.
The rest I would save for uni and such things in the future.

What would be the point in doing all that if you're gonna jet off round the world and then go and live in France?

Certainly not!! After all that time and effort to work out what thingies do, and discovering they are in fact very useful things, I'm not going to get something without them!!

An Aston used to be my ultimate dream car. Unfortunately, they seem to be becoming rather common in my area, and are now driven by types who can only be described as 'new money' Frankly, they seem a little vulgar now, I'd rather have something more discreet - oh, or move somewhere where they aren't driven by the wrong type of person

I know what you mean. We have a lot of footballers around here playing hip hop from Astons and Bentleys. A great shame as they are both stunning and deserve better. But "new money" Maizie? What do you think a lottery winner has? Anyhow, no-one has designed a more beautiful car than Aston. But perhaps you're right and I'll have to emigrate to Marinello and have a Ferrari instead (where such things are given their rightful respect).