If I Was A Rich Girl

I often lay awake and mentally plan the things I'd spend money on if I were a millionaire. Growing up with parents who had to work overtime to afford any luxuries and living on a tight budget myself it can be a way to bring on happy thoughts in times of need. So many times I've looked at things with longing only to price them up and give a little awkward laugh at the computer screen but I'm confident that one day I'll have the things that I want. Maybe that's because the things that I want are quite modest in comparison to the status symbols of money I see every day in magazines or newspapers but whatever it is, I'm glad I have my dreams. People say that money doesn't buy happiness which I agree with on some level; however when money is a source of constant unhappiness in this world I say it can really, truly help.

IHG Rewards Club are running a campaign to make five very lucky people IHG millionaires by giving them a million points. These points equate to £5000 which can be redeemed against things such as luxury travel (flights, hotels, car hire) to shopping vouchers. When I was challenged to post about what I would spend a million pounds on, I was pretty set with ideas from all those late nights.

Places to go

First things first, I'd buy passports for my family because none of us have a valid passport and they're pretty expensive when you add in four applications, three of which would be first time and not renewals. From there there'd be a stay in Paris in one of the many Air B&B apartments I've seen that look utterly perfect. I've been wanting to go to Paris since I was a child desperate to head to Disney (which I still do) so we'd book a week to be able to go to Disney and explore the city, art galleries, museums, catacombs, street cafes etc. As much as I'd like to think I wouldn't be a typical tourist, I probably would be the minute I step off the plane.

New York is something of a wonder to me. The city that never sleeps has been prominent in my popular culture references and became focal to me during Sex & The City. I want to watch the ball drop in Times Square, that's a given. I want to walk the city streets in Winter braving the cold to take photographs, visit the landmarks I've seen everywhere and just pretend I'm Blair Waldorf for a few days. I want to buy coffee and pancakes at 3am and drink bourbon in bars that have seen better days. Flights plus accommodation plus spending money is out of my budget in real life but in fantasy life, it's all a go.

Transport and adventures

We don't have a car despite boyfriend having held a license for ten years just because we can't afford to run one at the moment so if we had money to spend we would buy not one but two. We're both infatuated with the older model VW Beetle's (but we do argue over the colour - I'm all about yellow, he wants green) so that'd definitely be a purchase. My Bampi owned an old yellow beetle back in the 70's and loves telling the story again and again of how he crashed it while drunk into a tree. Completely irresponsible, of course but it is one hell of a story.

I have dreams of a VW bus, a mattress in the back and just piling in to go to summer festivals and travelling around the country on a whim without having to worry about accommodation. I'm not the kind of girl who enjoys the outdoors to sleep in so a tent has me a little anxious so boyfriend suggested when we have money we buy one to have the best of both worlds. He's a keeper, isn't he?

Home, work and passions

I'd love to buy the house we currently live in and do it up properly. I'm lucky that I live in an area where house prices may be out of the realm of expectation for a good decade for our family but aren't ludicrous in the grand scheme of things. Our house would cost around £150,000 to buy outright so that'd be one of the first things we'd get set up. We'd knock the office into the lounge to make a large spacious room and basically upgrade and change the things we have no control over right now - especially the bathroom.

For work, I'd love to own a cafe that turns into a bar at night. I have it all planned in my head with creative side ventures off the back of it. That's the dream for me. For boyfriend, he wants a workshop all kitted out so he can build and sell to his hearts content and constantly create using 90% reclaimed materials as a business. It's something we're working on right now but without business loans and a hefty dose of luck it is still very much in the planning stages and working out of our back garden on dry days off that allow him to do what he loves.

I'd definitely spend money on other things such as upgrading the household technology (old slow laptops aren't much fun when you work online) and not having to tally up the weekly Asda shop on my phone as I go around with my trolley but mainly it would be on securing things for the future and on experiences. I wouldn't say boyfriend and I have led sheltered lives but we definitely haven't had as many experiences outside of our country to note and it's something we aspire to have. There are dreams of renting a car and travelling west coast to east in America stopping at diners along the way to sample the local food once the girls have grown up (hey, we'll only be forty something!) and that's where I think £5000 to spend on such experiences with IHG would be beneficial. Holidays are expensive but it's something you'll remember and will shape your ideas of the world, even if they are a massive let down and hopefully soon we'll all be headed on a plane - whether it's for two hours or eight.