You don’t need to be a financial genius to realize that lottery tickets are a poor investment. Players plunk down a little bit of money in exchange for short-lived, long shot dreams of wealth. While indulging the urge to buy a ticket won’t kill most budgets, the regular, compulsive act of gambling needed funds on all-but-unwinnable bets is something different.

A Budgets Are Sexy post ponders the plight of the lottery player. The more someone feels the need to win the lottery — to cling to an irrational blast of luck to rescue them from their financial drudgery — the less they can afford to play.

Like any regular, unnecessary expenses, a few bucks wasted on a lottery ticket can go toward a credit card balance or toward starting a reserve fund. It’s tough to see the impact of diverting small amounts of money toward constructive causes in the short term, but smart decisions add up over time. As do reckless decisions.

To play responsibly, you’ve got to do it in moderation, with no expectations of winning and only with funds that won’t serve a more helpful purpose.

Is The Lottery Really A Tax On The Poor And Stupid? [Budgets Are Sexy]

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