What I would do with £20k...

What would you do if you won the lottery?  This is a game Papa Owl and I often play and so I couldn't resist the challenge BritMums set to post a blog of what we would do with a £20k win from the National Lottery.

So here goes...

£10k - Our Bathroom

This is our bathroom.  Yes - it has two doors and is currently two rooms!  Originally this was one square room which we suspect was where the servants slept.  When the fashion came for 'bathrooms' rather than a tub in front of the fire, the owners of the time didn't want to waste such a large space on a bathroom so they made another door and put a wall up cutting off a corner of the larger room.  Our current bathroom has a bath and a sink.  That is all.  I dream of a bathroom with a separate shower and a toilet in the same room...

£1k - A shed

The space that is not currently in the bathroom was sold to us as a "garden room" due to it having access to the garden.  The previous owner kept her garden tools there and Papa Owl is using it to store his tools.  If we do turn this into our bathroom then we will need a shed to store all the tools!

£4k - Mongolia and Hong Kong

OK - so they are not so close together but there is reason behind this link.  Papa Owl fell in love with Mongolia when we visited 4 years ago on our epic train trip to Hong Kong.  We would both love to take Little Owl there for a camping trip.  We would head to Jalman Meadows, a Yurt camp set in Mongolian wilderness.  You can't get a direct flight to Mongolia from the UK, so we might fly to Beijing and get the over night train to Ulaanbaatar which gives a great view of The Great Wall of China.  I haven't worked out the logistics but we would make a detour via Hong Kong on the way home.  Papa Owl's brother moved out there a couple of years ago and we haven't had a chance to visit him yet.  Little Owl's Godmother also lives in Hong Kong with her family, I miss her lots and her annual visit to the UK just isn't enough!

£1.5k - India

I love India.  I can't help it.  I have been many times but it is now 5 years since my last visit.  I would head to Sangam World Centre in Pune for 10 days, and would spend the time relaxing, shopping and catching up with friends.  I am a trustee for a charity called Friends of Sangam UK which supports the centre in India and in January there is a gathering of Friends from around the world in Pune. I would love to be there.

£1k - Ikea

Who couldn't spend a grand in Ikea? Little Owl could do with a wardrobe, we could do with a book case and it would be great to replace the sofa covers where the cats have torn them.  I'm also looking to furnish my new sewing room.  Yes, I could easily spend a grand at Ikea!

£500 - Cupboard

This corner of our living room is crying out for a cupboard.  Somewhere to store laptops and board games.  I don't know what I want or where I'm going to look for it but it would be great to have the budget to spend!

£500 - Tablet

I would love to have some kind of tablet that I could use to take photos, access the internet and maybe even read a book...

£500 - Family Photo Shoot

Without hesitation we would ask Steve Shipman to take the photos.  Steve was our wedding photographer and we couldn't be happier with the images he took.  I'm not sure how much Steve charges but I imagine the £500 pound would be able to include a bit of a make over for me and some new clothes for all of us.

 
£500 - Sewing Classes
This may seem a lot but after Papa Owl got me a sewing machine for my last birthday, I have really enjoyed taking classes at The Owl and Sewing Cat.  £500 would buy me all of the classes I want to do, and the materials to make more things at home. 

£500 - Waterproofs

Papa Owl says he could do with some new waterproofs and we don't want him getting wet now do we?

So there we are - £20k easily spent but a lot of fun had along the way!

This post is an entry for BritMums #Spend20K Challenge sponsored by The National Lottery, with more ways to win more money on the new Lotto game. Find out more about new Lotto, which starts in October, here – www.national-lottery.co.uk