In 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 really 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 might forget you said it. Yet whenever 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"

Don't trust someone to hold your lottery tickets before the drawing. When large sums of cash are involved, it really 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 within your own safekeeping ahead of 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. Do not 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 just 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 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 just a few dollars. But if the lottery ticket wins, you have put at risk potential millions.

Do not be afraid to skip a drawing. To further stretch your lotto dollar, play a big wheeling system once a month and skip the other drawings in between. Or use the money you might have spent (but didn't) on some other type of entertainment. Should you have a multiple prize win, you may afford to spend more on online lottery tickets next time, such as playing two or 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 be aware of, 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 just 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. Next, you need to mail them in or visit a claim center.

Save your losing lottery tickets. Save all your losing lottery tickets because they are tax deductible, dollar for dollar, against your lottery wins. Receipts for other gambling losses could 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 within your state. You will win more prizes more often when you play the bottom odds pick-5 games. Top prize could be only a hundred thousand dollars or so. Nevertheless, I guarantee that when you win one, you will be very, 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 a particular number, play it. Your inner conscious mind becomes stronger and a lot more accurate as 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 critical 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, relatives, neighbors, as well as 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 don't accept your lottery win in a lump sum. Decide on the annuity payout and collect your lottery win in annual installments.