One thing that I find amusing about this time of year is that some folks, who rarely go out for coffee, suddenly need a daily coffee. If you're spending more money on coffee than you normally do, it seems as though you're effectively gambling, as you apparently value a cup of coffee less than they normally charge.
This also is planned to be the start of the week in which Dave delves into mutual funds. (Given the current state of the financial markets, this seems like a good way to lose money rather than make it).
So, in what cases should one not be spending money on a lotto? Is it if the expected return is negative? (i.e. the motivation for "the lottery is a tax on people who flunked math" quote). In that case what about savings accounts, where the interest rate is often less than the inflation rate? Should a person be forbidden to spend money to (e.g.) enter a poker tournament, when they might instead spend the same amount of money to watch professional sports, to go to the theatre, to see a musical performance, etc.?
(Note for those who might be thinking "Dave missed the RRSP deadline": There are actually a couple of reasons I chose to stick to non-registered mutual funds. In the first place, as a student, the vast majority of my income is non-taxable... and thus dumping money in an RRSP doesn't save me money at tax time. Secondly, the mostly likely reason that I'd be tapping into savings in the next few years would be to plunk down some money on real estate. There's a provision for withdrawing money from an RRSP for buying a house, but this does not apply to the purchase of a house outside Canada. I think that there's a large enough chance that I'll be relocating outside the country following the end of my studies that I don't want to limit myself in that way).
