(CNN) -- Jen Bucala has a lot of faith in her family's "lucky" numbers.



"I've been playing, or around playing, the lotto all my life," she says. She rattles off her numbers, citing family birthdays, and recounting numerical coincidences.



"Me, my husband, my father-in-law ... all our birthdays are in November. Just a week apart from each other," says Bucala, 31.



One number that did surprise her was $10,000. After some quick figuring,  Bucala estimates she has spent that amount on scratch off games and Megamillions since she started playing a decade ago.



For Bucala, a Lindenhurst, New York, resident who works three jobs -- as a sales associate, an Avon Rep and a bridal consultant -- that is a lot of money.



"That ten grand could have gone toward a million and one bills I have -- my mortgage, car payments," Bucala says. "We spend thousands of dollars every month on bills. I don't have kids either. That [lotto] money could have been a whole month for me for bills," she says.



But like a lot of people, Bucala thinks $1 is a small price to pay for a dream.



"You gotta play in order to win. That's part of lotto. You never know," says Bucala.



One of the seductive features of the lotto is the low entry fee says Frank Farley, a psychology professor at Temple University.



"It can be exciting, checking those winning numbers," says Farley.



"Maybe something big might happen. There's not a whole lot of other things in your life where you put a small amount of money in and maybe something big will happen. It gives you a sliver of hope that you could turn your life around."



And sometimes there are winners.



Mineola Oaks, is retired and living in Washington Heights, New York. She has played lotto every day, spending $3-$5 a day (and more on Tuesday) for over 20 years. (Just $4 a day for 20 years adds up to almost $30,000.)  Two years ago she won $100,000. And with that money she paid off her bills and did some remodeling on her second home in Virginia.



Oaks still buys lotto tickets, but she cautions that there's always something else you can put the money towards.



"I take care of things first," she says. "Food, rent -- Then you can go out and spend a dollar on the lotto."



Just don't expect to win.



Let's take Powerball for example. Your chances of winning the jackpot is one in 195,249,054 says Michael Orkin, a statistician and dean of business, math and science at Laney College in Oakland, California. Let's say you buy 50 Powerball tickets a week, you'll win the jackpot about once every 75,000 years, he says.



Cold, hard numbers aside, the lotto is entertainment.



"Almost everyone spends money on entertainment," says Stephen Brobeck of the Consumer Federation of America. "People spend hundreds of dollars going to a sports event. Others spend a thousand dollars a year on premium cable channels. Purchasing a lotto ticket -- it's excitement and there's always the possibility, however slim, that they will strike it rich and win," he says.



Cost of fleeting excitement adds up



Sodanys Paulino, 21, of Washington Heights, stood outside a lottery terminal one rainy Friday night. She bought two scratch off tickets and a mega millions ticket.



When asked what else she could be doing with that money, she laughs.



"Two dollars? You can't buy anything for two dollars," she says.



But $2 a week is about $100 a year. And $100 can buy you something.



The problem is opportunity costs, says Farley. "What opportunities are lost because you are putting discretionary income into the lottery when you could be putting it
Who bought an estimated $10,000 of lottery tickets in 10 years? Who likes to buy lottery tickets What is part of lottery's seduction What are the chances of winning Powerball? What are the odds of winning the Powerbal?
Bucala Jen "You gotta play in order to win. one in 195,249,054 one in 195,249,054
question: Who bought an estimated $10,000 of lottery tickets in 10 years?, answer: Bucala | question: Who likes to buy lottery tickets, answer: Jen | question: What is part of lottery's seduction, answer: "You gotta play in order to win. | question: What are the chances of winning Powerball?, answer: one in 195,249,054 | question: What are the odds of winning the Powerbal?, answer: one in 195,249,054