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 is 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 individual 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"

Don't trust someone 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 could become meaningless. Be forewarned: Buy your own lottery tickets -- or at least have them in your own safekeeping before 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 so that your attitude remains positive. Enjoy it with others by pooling your money with friends, family or colleagues. Not only is it more enjoyable playing with others, but additionally, it stretches your lotto budget. When 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 share in more lottery tickets is a great idea, but do not pool your hard earned money with anyone without having a signed agreement. You could think you are risking only some dollars. But if the lottery ticket wins, you've got put at risk potential millions.

Do not be afraid to skip a drawing. To further stretch your trusted lotto dealers dollar, play a large wheeling system once a month and skip another drawings in between. Or use the cash you could have spent (but didn't) on some other form of entertainment. Should you have a multiple prize win, you can afford to spend more on lottery tickets next time, such as playing two or maybe more lotto wheels. You might be on a hot streak. When you do not win, stay on a self-imposed budget until you win again. But keep in mind, there is just 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 soon after the drawing. Collect your small prizes (under $600) right away prior to the expiration date. Most states give you only 30-days to claim small wins from lottery agents. From then on, 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 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 higher portion of your lottery budget on the cash-5 game offered within your state. You will win more prizes more frequently whenever you play the lower odds pick-5 games. Top prize could possibly be only a hundred thousand dollars or so. Nonetheless, I guarantee that when you win one, you will be very, happy!

Trust your hunches. Although my strategies are scientific, based on mathematical probability, I am a good believer in playing hunches, too. If you feel strongly about the specific number, play it. Your inner conscious mind becomes stronger and many more accurate when 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," before you 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, as well as others to bleed them dry. If you think you do not have 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. Choose the annuity payout and collect your lottery win in annual installments.