THE BENEFITS OF WINNING THE LOTTERY...

I imagine most of you will have read or heard by now about the couple who won £10.2 million on the lottery in 2005 and have been claiming a £500 per month disability allowance since then despite this win.  I was surprised for all of .25 of a second before coming to my senses and thinking "Who's to blame?"  Like i've said before, you can't blame people for playing the system, and in the case of disability allowance the amount paid out is not means tested.  Therefore this has to be the clearest example of means testing all benefits.  You can't have a few. It has to be all or nothing, surely.  You have to draw the line though somewhere if you have morals and i don't think Mr and Mrs O'Shea have any.  Many OAP's who received the winter heating allowance said they didn't need it and have donated it to those pensioners who really need it. Perhaps they should do the same.    Those winners who say "It won't change us, we wont stop doing our jobs."  It should change you, and you should stop doing your job and let someone who doesn't have one do it.  Also it doesn't exactly back-up the old argument:  "In my day the younger generation had more respect for their elders."  Why would anyone respect your actions and the example you're setting?  Perhaps the lottery winnings should be dependant on your circumstances and what your financial needs are.  There certainly needs to be more, smaller payouts, especially with the Euromillions.  The only suggestion i have when doing a lottery is to not pick the same numbers.  If you have the same numbers and fail to buy your ticket, what would you do if they came up that week?  I did read of a man who did this.  When he realised what had happened, he was physically sick.  Nowadays the saying "your number's up" means your life is either ending, or a new one is beginning...complete with ADDED benefits. Am i just jealous? Of course i am, i would love to win the lottery and it would change my circumstances, but i know i bloody well wouldn't claim any extra money whether i was entitled to it or not....not that i do get anything..blah blah...http://localgiving.com/survivingwinter