'Buy a pound of butter and a tank of gas': Lotto winner jokes about cost of living after $200K jackpot

Times have been tough, but the big win should help this one Albertan with a specific goal in mind.

Woman holds a lotto sign.
It took a moment for the lotto win to settle in as a new reality for Elizabeth Dunham. (Courtesy: WCLC)

An Alberta local took the opportunity to poke fun at Canada’s rising inflation and high cost of living while claiming her $200,000 lottery win.

Elizabeth Dunham purchased a $7 Lucky Lines Extravaganza Ticket at a M&M Mini Mart in Ardmore, Alta. When she realized that she had won big, she was shocked, but not enough to lose her sense of humour.

“Well, I’m going to buy a pound of butter and a tank of gas; I’m hoping there will be some money left over after that,” said Dunham, at the prize centre, according to a statement by the Western Canada Lottery Corporation.

After sharing a laugh, she continued to clarify what she actually plans to put the win toward.

“I’m just kidding. My husband and I have plans to pay our house off.”

At first, Dunham couldn’t believe she had won. She even had to scan her ticket a few times before verifying that she was the lucky winner of the Lucky Lines Extravaganza, which is a Zing Scratch ‘N Win type of game.

“I really didn’t think I had won anything at first,” she said. “I uncovered a line on the ticket that I had never seen before and didn’t think much of it.”

With a $7 ticket, you get to scratch your own symbols on a card, as well as scratch to reveal the designated game symbols. If you exactly match all the symbols on any one of your lines, you win a corresponding prize.

After scanning the ticket on the Lotto Spot app a few times before it registered, the machine eventually clicked to notify Dunham of her win. Her reaction was disbelief and excitement.

“My reaction was: ‘Holy crap!’” laughed Dunham. “Well, that’s the nice version of what I said anyway.”

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