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 whole 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 when you do win the lottery, that person 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 won’t mean as much if it had not been “expected” or “promised”

Do not trust anyone to hold your lottery tickets ahead of the drawing. When large sums of cash are involved, it’s surprising how a long-standing friendship or family tie could become meaningless. Be forewarned: Buy your own lottery tickets — or at least have them within your own safekeeping ahead of the drawing takes place. As 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 in order that your attitude remains positive. Enjoy it with others by pooling your hard earned money with friends, family or co-workers. Not just is it more enjoyable playing with others, but additionally, it stretches your lotto budget. When 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 money with others to discuss in more lottery tickets is a great idea, but do not pool your 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 at risk potential millions.

Don’t be afraid to skip a drawing. To further stretch your lotto dollar, play a big wheeling system once a month and skip the additional drawings in between. Or use the money you might 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 agent tickets next time, for example playing two or even more lotto wheels. You may be on a hot streak. Whenever you don’t win, stay on a self-imposed budget until you win again. But remember, there is just 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 right after the drawing. Collect your small prizes (under $600) right away before the expiration date. Most states give you only 30 days to claim small wins from lottery agents. After that, you need to mail them in or visit a claim center.

Save your losing lottery tickets. Save all of your losing lottery tickets given that they are tax deductible, dollar for dollar, against your lottery wins. Receipts for other gambling losses may also be deducted against lottery 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 in your state. You will win more prizes more often whenever you play the lower odds pick-5 games. Top prize may be only a hundred thousand dollars or so. Even so, I guarantee that whenever you win one, you will be very, very happy!

Trust your hunches. Although my strategies are scientific, determined by mathematical probability, I am a great believer in playing hunches, too. If you feel strongly about a particular number, play it. Your inner conscious mind becomes stronger and even more accurate while you use it. Even your hunch muscle has to 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 critical word any jackpot winner can learn to say is definitely 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. Select the annuity payout and collect your lottery win in total annual installments.