A Commercial Appeal article yesterday by Richard Locker detailed State Senator Jim Summerville’s view of the Tennessee Lottery.

Summerville described the lottery as “blight,…immoral…and corrupt.” He is now advocating his bill to require all lottery advertising to have the warning: “You will probably lose money playing the lottery.”

As a Memphis bankruptcy attorney, I agree with him 100%. It’s an abomination against the poor and the State shouldn’t be in that business.

“Maybe you, like I, have seen people in convenience stores, liquor stores – which even I patronize – watching some poor son-of-a-gun line up his Social Security numbers, birthdays, marriages, death days in order to select the best possible combination of numbers to lift them out of the economic calamity of their lives – all for nothing,” Summerville said.

He hit the nail on the hammer here. When people are facing tough economic times, can’t pay their bills and are in debt, they can make two kinds of decisions. They can make a decision to change their lifestyle to meet their income and situation, or they can choose to keep their lifestyle and place hope in something like the lottery to raise them out of their hole, but for the majority of the people that play the game, it’s a big waste of money.

I’m in the business of the first decision – a lifestyle change. And for many people in debt and unable to pay their bills, a bankruptcy is a first step in that change. We’ve built a solid reputation as a bankruptcy law firm Memphis, TN clients recommend.

By filing for bankruptcy, you can either discharge your debt, or lump your debt into an affordable payment plan. By doing this, you’re taking your first step and proving you’re serious about getting to a better financial life. You’re taking control of your life and not letting it control you.

Once the bankruptcy is complete, you have a fresh financial slate. The next step takes work, but it’s not hard. This is your opportunity to re-establish and rebuild your credit. This takes lifestyle changes, a positive attitude and patience. However, your financial woes are behind you and no longer a hindrance. Now your goal is not only to avoid that situation again, but move far from it and never even have to consider buying another lottery ticket to lift you out of a bad situation.

At Darrell Castle & Associates, we have resources to help you with this process, such as a 14-week program called “7 Steps to a 720.” This program, which we offer free to our clients, will teach you things the credit card companies don’t want you to know, such as:

  • how to rebuild your credit the right way
  • why most credit scores are wrong
  • which credit cards actually hurt your credit score
  • how to stop lenders that report the wrong information
  • how to re-establish your credit after a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale

If you’re facing tough economic times that’s putting you in debt, causing you to worry about when and if you can pay the bills, don’t put false hope in schemes like the lottery. It’ll just put you further in debt. Instead, do something that will get you out.

If you’re considering filing for bankruptcy or if you have any question, please contact us today, either online or by calling us at (901) 327-2100. One of our experienced Memphis bankruptcy attorneys will be happy to speak with you about your situation, free of charge.