A woman who claimed she won the lottery revealed that while she enjoys life as a millionaire, it comes with one huge cost – cutting ties with her ‘greedy’ family
A woman has opened up about how she severed ties with her ‘greedy’ friends and family after she won the lottery.
The mum revealed she claimed a staggering £ 14 million from a lucky dip lottery ticket, but regrets telling people closest to her as it ended up costing her relationships with friends and certain family members.
While winning the lottery is a dream we may all have, being able to not have to worry about money ever again, the woman shared the downside to becoming a multimillionaire as she was met with “greedy” and “entitled” family members who expected her to “owe them a living”.
After she admitted she would have happily helped out those closest to her, she has since cut ties with those that she believed were using her. As she opened up about her huge win on Mumsnet, she remained anonymous as she warned fellow mums she explained she had been playing the lottery for “over a decade” and called herself a “fairly regular player” before her win.
“I won the lottery (a few years ago),” she wrote in her post. “I remained anonymous, which was fairly pointless as I did tell some family and friends and it spread from there. I won just under £14 million.”
Two months later she quit her job and said it’s been everything she’d hoped it would be and more. However, she acknowledged that winning wasn’t completely straightforward and there were a lot of complicated admin and rocky relationships to deal with after the shock had worn off.
While she’s been living happily as a millionaire, she reveals that winning has cost her relationships with certain family members and friends. The mum says she wishes she had never told anyone other than her son about the winnings as it brought out some people’s ‘uglier’ side.
“The only thing I would have changed was not telling anyone. I’ve lost contact with some friends but mostly family members. I do not for one second regret winning, I just wish my family members weren’t so greedy and entitled.
“I would have happily helped many of them with their mortgages and getting them on the property ladder but the way some of them thought I owed them a living was crazy.”
She added that she regularly donates money to charities and instead of giving chunks of money away to people, she purchases nice gifts for loved ones. And while she no longer has a need for a full-time career, she doesn’t just sit around at home doing nothing all day. Instead, she uses her time to do volunteer work three to four days a week so as not to “die of boredom”
Her first purchase after winning was a Mulberry handbag she’d always wanted – and she now claims to own 50 of them. She admits that initially she was a little reckless with the money, buying designer clothing and household items as well as several holiday homes (which she rents out) but has since returned to her “baseline of spending” and has the majority of the winnings left.
“Had to open a private bank account, hire financial advisors and accountants,” she explained. “There is no tax on the amount you win, only interest gained.” But thankfully the National Lottery people were “very supportive” throughout the entire process.
“My biggest dream was buying a home. We grew up in a council house and I always rented. I know it’s not a big thing but it was always my dream, I regularly surfed rightmove looking for my dream home. It’s changed my life for the better,” she further detailed.
But perhaps the most interesting tidbit of all? She confesses that she still continues to play the lottery – if the jackpot is over £100m.
An earlier version of this story was published in 2021.
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