I was on Universal Credit and won the lottery, trolls say I'll be ‘back on the dole' by next year but I have a plan
A LOTTO winner has hit back at trolls who claim she'll be "back on the dole" within a year - and insists she has a savvy plan.
Olivia Love, of Glasgow, scooped £10,000-a-month for a year alongside hubby Kevin and has already bought a new car, spoiled her children, and bagged some new clothes in a shopping spree.
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The 36-year-old was also able to quit her job at a local supermarket and hopes to build her dream career in wedding content creation.
She had wanted to pursue the new direction since her own wedding last year but was unable to give up her regular income from her part-time job.
But thanks to her massive tax-free win she plans to make her dream a reality.
Since going public with her win, Olivia has also been speaking out about the life-changing cash in more detail on TikTok.
And it was a simple email from the National Lottery team at 12.33am on May 16 that changed everything.
Before this, the mum-of-four was earning just £800-a-month working in a supermarket's customer service kiosk.
She was on Universal Credits to subsidise her eye-watering £1,800-a-month childcare costs and "dreaded" her council tax bill coming through.
She said: "My husband and I claimed Universal Credit because we needed help with the cost of childcare.
"We got the childcare element of the Universal Credit which helped us with up to 80% of the childcare costs so that made it financially viable for me to actually work, being in receipt of that.
"Now, obviously, because I've won £10,000 a month for a year, I'm no longer entitled to that which, you know, quite right.
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"So it would then mean that I am just going to work for £800 a month and still paying my full childcare bill while bringing in £10,000 a month for a year.
"So as far as that's concerned I'm taking a year out as a career break because I can afford to do that now."
She added: "We've lived pretty well over the last few years within our means, we've done the best we can.
"So we're just gonna live as comfortably as we can without being flashy, save as much money as we can. I'm gonna try and set up my own business while I don't have to work for the next year and if that doesn't work? I'll get another job.
"I've got like 15 years worth of customer service under my belt. You know, it won't be that hard for me to get another job when the time comes, if I need to do that.
"If my business is not successful then that's what I'll do. But until then I'm just gonna enjoy this.
"I'm gonna enjoy spending time with my family. I'm gonna enjoy spending time with my husband. I'm gonna enjoy not having to worry about the bills that land on the doormat.
"I'm not gonna have that dread when it's almost the first of the month and the council tax bill is due to be paid.
"I don't have to panic about that kind of stuff anymore and that to me is set for life. To be going from someone that was pulling in £11,000 a year to someone that's now pulling in £120,000, and even if that's just for a year, by God it's gonna be a good year."
Social media support
People on social media have been quick to congratulate Olivia on her huge win, and responded positively to her TikTok videos.
One person gushed: "Congratulations! I hope you have the best year, spoil yourselves and make some memories and you can still set yourself up for the best rest of your life."
A second pointed out: "It's also life-changing for your kids because they will absolutely remember the year mummy stayed home with them!"
"Omg I love to hear about real people winning money...go you Mrs.. enjoy", chimed in a third.
A fourth wrote: "Still a fab win and if you are careful/sensible, it could last you well."
A fifth insisted: "100% done the right thing, gives u the opportunity to try something new without worrying it's going to fail and youll have nothing."
Meanwhile, a sixth revealed: "I won a similar chunk last year and bought a house outright with it, it wasn't on set for life but it has absolutely changed our lives."
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But Olivia has still been faced with some "horrific" comments from trolls, who claim she'll squander her money and need to claim benefits again.
"It's almost as if the human race just can't be happy for their fellow man when something nice happens", she fumed.
"They've got to fill it with all these negative comments, and they know nothing about my personal situation. They know nothing about my circumstances.
"They just make all these horrible assumptions that I'm just gonna quit my job and spend the next year spending all of this money and then in a couple of months I'll have no money left, and then I'll be unemployed and back on the dole as some person delightfully said.
"That's not the case. We've allowed ourselves a few luxuries because we never give ourselves luxuries.
"We have four children. You know we have a 15-year-old, a five-year-old, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, sp we don't [usually] allow ourselves any of those luxuries.
"So you're damn right we've allowed ourselves some luxuries [since winning]."
She added: "We bought a few things that we needed for the house, we bought some clothes for ourselves because I can't remember the last time we actually bought ourselves clothes, and the most expensive purchase - and yet the most important one - was I bought my husband a new car.
"His car was dying. There was steam coming from the engine, the fan wasn't working, it was overheating. It was a 2012 plate Vauxhall Meriva. it had 140,000 miles on it.
"He needed a new car. So we got him a new car. But we didn't go to the car garage and buy the most expensive car there.
"We picked a nice sensible car that will keep going and it's just a car, nothing flashy and expensive and fancy."
Olivia and Kevin won the second-tier prize on The National Lottery's Set For Life on May 15 after matching five main numbers.
The winning numbers in the draw were: 03, 27, 42, 45, 46, plus Life Ball 06.
'Set For Life' offers a top prize of £10K a month for 30 years when the five main numbers and the Life Ball are matched.
Players can also win £10K a month for a whole year by matching the five main numbers.
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