My Lotto Splurges

Ok so it should probably be titled 'My Dream Lotto Splurges' maybe?

I have been lusting over this house for about 6 months, it first came on the market, about 4 months ago, and every time they had an open house organised we were away, then when the auction was scheduled we were away, I was not a happy camper.

The property got passed in (yay in my dreamland!), and now it's back on the market with a price tag of $1.29 Million!

Now if we win Lotto this Saturday, which seeings as it's our wedding day, it only seems fair that we will, doesn't it?  If we win, we could buy it and move in when we get back from our honeymoon in Vanuatu, perfect timing, surely 3 weeks settlement would be long enough?

I don't usually go for modern, we bought a 100 year old Federation home, but for this I will make an exception! And the 10 acres is just perfect, we could always buy more acreage down the road with the rest of our Lotto winnings should we need it!

I'm a strong believer in the Dream Big theory :)

Till next time,

Kiva - update 2

This morning a client called and during the call we got onto winning Lotto, as you do, and he asked me what I would do if I won a massive Lotto.  I of course, along with everyone else probably, have put considerable thought into where I would spend my millions should I ever have the good fortune to win Lotto.

Apart from paying off our mortgage, travelling, giving some money to our parents & siblings to help them get a bit more financial security, the thing I really would want to do is set up my own charity.

Not a charity charity, more of a here's a hand up not hand out charity.  Finding people who have great ideas, but no backing, and giving them the financial boost they might need to have a crack at their dream/idea.

The full ins and outs of my charity are a bit all over the place and definitely for another post :)  but it did turn my mind to the hand up charity I'm currently involved with, Kiva.

For those who haven't read my old posts, Kiva is "a non-profit organisation with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world". (from Kiva website)

I joined Kiva back in March 2009, and since then I have lent US$1,500, spread across 60 people whose idea/dream/plan caught my eye.

All of the people I have leant to have been women, I'm a subscriber to the theory if you help a woman, she in turn will help more people throughout her community and family, than a man may.  I'm not saying a man won't help as many, but in alot of countries females don't get the opportunity that men get, and if you can empower a woman she will take it with both hands because it's rarer for them than for men. If that makes sense, there is a quote out there somewhere that succinctly summarises my thinking, but I can't find it at the moment!

Anyway this was going to be a quick post just to update how our Kiva group was going!

I setup a team in Kiva called 'Aussie & Kiwi Savers' made up of members of a site I use Simple Savings, I thought I might be able to get a bit of support from fellow members, however the support that has been given is mind boggling.

I established the team in May 2009 and our team as at today 25 May 2011 is:

81 members
822 loans
US$20,775 worth of loans

Over US$20,000 of loans, that's amazing!  So much more than I thought would happen when I posted about Kiva on Simple Savings!


Again, just for any newbies I'm not advocating everyone get involved, I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in joining reads everything they can on Kiva, either through the Kiva website http://www.kiva.org/   or by googling Kiva, and make your own decision.

There but for the grace of God go I.............. rings so true to me when I think of Kiva.......

Till next time,

Yes Please - Just Need To Win Lotto!

Mr Mel and I have a goal to have our own property, to run our own stock, horses, cattle, goats, and grow our own meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and veggies.  We almost bought a small 5 acre property 18 months ago when we bought our first home, but the timing wasn't right, Mr Mel had just gone out working for himself, and had moved up here from Sydney.  So we decided to buy a lovely house in town, which we adore. But long term we want to have some property.

To that end I have an ongoing search registered with realestate.com.au for property in our area.  Yes it could be considered a bit of self torture, but who knows I might stumble across a bargain one day!

If we happen to win Lotto soon, this one would be a very welcome acquisition to our property portfolio of 1!!

OurLotto purchase - should we win!

It's only on 5 acres, so not too much work, ideally we'd like about 25 acres, but hey if we win Lotto maybe we can buy the property next door too!  More info at realestate.com.au listing  (I have no connection to the vendors or agents, just in love with the property!)

Till next time,