THE release of the news that someone in the area could be the winner of a £1million EuroMillions National Lottery ticket has no doubt encouraged quite a number of us to have an escapist daydream.

Yes, it could be you – or maybe not, given that very few of us in town are likely to have actually bought a ticket for this draw.

Still, we might want to imagine that we bought it, forgot about it and thus will suddenly discover the winning ticket stuffed down the back of a sofa or crumpled in the pocket of trousers which are in the laundry basket.

It is a strong soul who doesn’t ever give into the temptation of a little fantasising about what it would be like if their financial troubles were magically sorted.

As I think I have written before, I’d be straight on the line to private healthcare company.

And I would dearly love – who wouldn’t? - to see my family and friends monetarily sorted for life. Imagine being able to buy a home for a loved one.

But we must be realistic, as most of us will never enjoy the luxury of proper financial security; we are homeowners with mortgages, and/or employees/ employers trying to stretch our incoming wages to cover the demands of ourselves and our families.

We own cars, which drain our coffers in countless ways, and we need to keep ourselves fed, clothed and safe, all things which require some form of expenditure.

The fear of falling into debt is very real, especially in these days when job security can seem to be non-existent. Thus, most of us will spend our lives watching the pennies so that the pounds, hopefully, take care of themselves.  

With all of this whirling around our heads on a daily basis – and those who have children will know how much their education and entertainment can cost – you can hardly blame us for closing our eyes and dreaming what it might be like not to have to worry about money. 

In our family, we are very careful about what we spend, something which was drummed into me early on by parents who didn’t have much and who knew that if they were financially careless, they’d be in trouble pretty quickly.

When I left home to go to university, they gave me a notebook ruled out with columns for my incoming and outgoing pounds and pence.

Written inside the front cover was Dickens’ recipe for happiness, uttered by Mr Micawber: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings and six pence, result - happiness.

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result - misery."

Wise words indeed.