Within your heart, you know you are going to win a lotto jackpot eventually. Or else why do you buy lottery tickets? Here is some advice for your head and heart while you get ready to win.

Do not make promises you don’t intend to keep. It’s easy to tell someone: “If I won the lottery, I would pay off your mortgage” or “When I win the lottery, I will buy you a whole new car” Such statements, even meant as sympathy for another’s plight, can come back to haunt you. You may forget you said it. Yet when you do win the lottery, that person to whom you uttered your promise will remember vividly and expect to collect their “due” And if you pay off the mortgage or buy that car, it won’t mean as much if it had not been “expected” or “promised”

Do not trust someone to hold your lottery tickets ahead of the drawing. When large sums of cash are involved, it really is surprising how a long-standing friendship or family tie can become meaningless. Be forewarned: Buy your own lottery tickets — or at least have them within your own safekeeping before the drawing takes place. Being an extra precaution, sign the back of your winning lottery tickets immediately. After the drawing, possession is 99 percent of the law.

Stick to a budget. Don’t play with money you are afraid to lose. Scared money seldom wins. Keep it fun so that your attitude remains positive. Enjoy it with others by pooling your hard earned money with friends, family or colleagues. Not only is it more enjoyable playing with others, but it also stretches your lotto budget. Whenever you pool your money with others, you may afford to use the larger lotto wheels.

Have your lotto pool sign a Pooling Agreement. Pooling your hard earned money with others to discuss in more lottery tickets is a great idea, but don’t pool your hard earned money with anyone with no signed agreement. You might think you are risking only some dollars. But if the lottery ticket wins, you have put in danger potential millions.

Do not be afraid to skip a drawing. To further stretch your lotto dollar, play a sizable wheeling system once a month and skip the additional drawings in between. Or use the cash you could have spent (but did not) on some other type of entertainment. If you have a multiple prize win, you can afford to spend more on lottery tickets next time, for example playing two or even more lotto wheels. You may be on a hot streak. When you don’t win, stay on a self-imposed budget until you win again. But always remember, there is one thing all lottery jackpot winners have in common: They all bought a lottery ticket!

Keep your lottery tickets safe. Keep your lottery tickets in a safe place and check them right after the drawing. Collect your small prizes (under $600) right away ahead of the expiration date. Most states give you only 30 days to claim small wins from lottery agents. Next, you must mail them in or visit a claim center.

Save your losing lottery tickets. Save all your losing lottery tickets given that they are tax deductible, dollar for dollar, against your lottery wins. Receipts for other online gambling losses also can be deducted against lottery wins. Whenever you win even a second prize, you will be glad to have those deductions at tax time.

Play some low-odds games. If you want to start winning sooner rather than later, invest the greater portion of your lottery budget on the cash-5 game offered in your state. You will win more prizes more often when you play the bottom odds pick-5 games. Top prize might be only a hundred thousand dollars or so. Nonetheless, I guarantee that whenever you win one, you will be very, very happy!

Trust your hunches. Although my strategies are scientific, based on mathematical probability, I am a great believer in playing hunches, too. If you feel strongly about a certain number, play it. Your inner conscious mind becomes stronger and many more accurate while you use it. Even your hunch muscle must be exercised to work efficiently. It is essential think of yourself as a lucky person — to think of yourself as a winner.

Practice saying, “No,” prior to deciding to win the lottery. The most significant word any jackpot winner can learn to say is definitely an emphatic “No!” Many jackpot winners have gone bankrupt given that they allowed freeloading friends, family members, neighbors, and others to bleed them dry. If you think you don’t possess the backbone to harden your heart against endless sad tales of need and greed, then don’t accept your lottery win in a lump sum. Opt for the annuity payout and collect your lottery win in total annual installments.