What would you spend it on?

What would you spend it on?

Forget Ferraris, mansion and champagne on tap, new research from leading online retailer Pixmania.com has revealed that the average lottery winner first chooses to spend their millions on everyday household items such as a washing machine and a new sofa.

The findings come from a study which, in a series of one to one interviews and questionnaires, researched the first three purchases made by more than 50 lottery winners in the first 10 days of scooping the jackpot.

The surprise results show that rather than instantly splashing out on the luxury expensive items typically expected of overnight millionaires, lottery winners instead prefer to snap up every-day gadgets, household appliances and budget fashion items as their very first purchases.  It comes despite the minimum pay out of those involved in the study being in excess of £1million.

Commenting on the findings, Middlesex University Principal Lecturer in Psychology Mark Coulson says: “However much we might dream of winning the lottery, very few people actually believe it will ever happen to them.  Although the extravagant items are now financially affordable, they are not yet psychologically affordable as they exist in an unfamiliar world - the world of the rich.”

Topping the jackpot winners list is the washing machine, which was one of the first purchases made by more than a quarter of the winners, despite having an average cost of just £300.  The living room staple, the sofa, was the second most popular item on lottery jackpot shopping list, chosen by almost a fifth of winners, with Apple’s popular iPad a close third with 17% of the vote.

Fourth place was bagged by a new handbag for one in six winners, with one lady admitting to spending just £30 on a new bag for herself as a first purchase.  Demonstrating that perhaps some football clubs are guilty of charging too much for team shirts, sports clothes came in fifth, with football shirts being a particular favourite.

Ulric Jerome, Executive Director of Pixmania.com, commented: “One might expect a Euro-millions winner to splash out on a big purchase right away, but the results of the survey show the reality to be completely different.  Brits are certainly a practical bunch, going for everyday essentials in the first instance over luxury extravagance.”

Other ‘everyday’ items to make the list of item first purchased by lottery jackpot winners include make-up, vacuum cleaners, new TVs and a fridge freezer.  At least some lottery winners are treating themselves however, as a holiday does feature in the top 20, alongside new luggage to ensure they look the part when jetting off.

Roger Griffiths, who won £1.8m on the National Lottery, commented: “When we won it was such a huge amount of money we didn’t really know really where to start spending or what to do with it – the first thing I bought was four pairs of trainers.  People have expectations of lottery winners that they just go out and spend, spend, spend but it really wasn’t the case with us in the beginning – though we have made up for it since though!”

The top 20 list of first items purchased after a lottery win:


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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