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 do not 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 brand new car” Such statements, even meant as sympathy for another’s plight, can come back to haunt you. You might forget you said it. Yet whenever you do win the lottery, that individual to whom you uttered your promise will remember vividly and anticipate to collect their “due” And if you pay off the mortgage or buy that car, it does not mean as much if it had not been “expected” or “promised”

Do not trust anyone to hold your lottery tickets prior to the drawing. When large sums of cash are involved, it is surprising how a long-standing friendship or family tie may become meaningless. Be forewarned: Buy your own lottery tickets — or at least have them in 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 co-workers. Not simply is it more enjoyable playing with others, but it also stretches your lotto budget. Whenever you pool your hard earned 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 good idea, but don’t pool your hard earned money with anyone without having a signed agreement. You could think you are risking only a few dollars. But should the lottery ticket wins, you have put in danger potential millions.

Don’t be afraid to skip a drawing. To further stretch your lotto dollar, play a sizable wheeling system once a month and skip another drawings in between. Or use the money you might have spent (but did not) on some other type of entertainment. Should you have a multiple prize win, you may afford to spend more on lottery tickets next time, for example playing two or maybe more lotto wheels. You could be on a hot streak. When you do not 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: All of them bought a lottery ticket!

Keep your lottery tickets safe. Keep your lottery tickets in a safe place and check them just 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. There after, you must mail them in or visit a claim center.

Save your losing lottery tickets. Save all your losing lottery tickets while they are tax deductible, dollar for dollar, against your lottery wins. Receipts for other gambling losses could also be deducted against lottery agent wins. When 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 higher portion of your lottery budget on the cash-5 game offered within your state. You will win more prizes more frequently when you play the bottom odds pick-5 games. Top prize could be only a hundred thousand dollars or so. On the other hand, I guarantee that whenever you win one, you will be very, happy!

Trust your hunches. Although my strategies are scientific, based upon mathematical probability, I am a good believer in playing hunches, too. If you feel strongly about a specific number, play it. Your inner conscious mind becomes stronger and many more accurate while you use it. Even your hunch muscle has to be exercised to work efficiently. It really is quite important to 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 important word any jackpot winner can learn to say is an emphatic “No!” Many jackpot winners have gone bankrupt because they allowed freeloading friends, relatives, neighbors, and others to bleed them dry. If you think you don’t have the backbone to harden your heart against endless sad tales of need and greed, then do not accept your lottery win in a lump sum. Choose the annuity payout and collect your lottery win in annual installments.