Sharon Tirabassi is a generous soul. So generous that she gave away half of her $10.5 million Lotto Super 7 winnings and blew through the rest.<\/p>\n
Today, the 35-year-old \u201cpenniless millionaire\u201d rides the bus to work and struggles to make ends meet until her next paycheck.<\/p>\n
Nine years ago, Tirabassi, of Hamilton, Ontario Canada, cashed in her winning Powerball ticket and collected $10,569,000.10.<\/p>\n
At first Tirabassi and her then-boyfriend, Vinny, also 35, were ecstatic at their good fortune. They shared the wealth with family and close friends, lavishing their loved ones with gifts, cash, cars, and exotic trips. She gave her parents $1 million cash and divided another $1.75 million among her siblings.<\/p>\n
She married Vinny in 2004, and they bought a dream home together for $515,000. They spent money recklessly, and at one point owned 4 cars \u2014 a bright yellow Hummer, a Mustang, a Dodge Charger and a $200,000-plus, customized Cadillac Escalade. Most of the $200,000 was spent on the Caddy\u2019s elaborate sound system, which didn\u2019t endear them to their neighbors.<\/p>\n
Her personal license plate read: \u201cBABIPHAT,\u201d after Kimora Lee\u2019s now-defunct clothing line.<\/p>\n
Tirabassi said she didn\u2019t like her neighbors. \u201cThey didn\u2019t like young people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her available cash reserves seemed endless. Tirabassi said she would check her bank account from time to time, but there were so many zeroes she thought everything was fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t think it\u2019ll go (at the time), right?\u201d she says. Then one day she checked her bank account and the money was almost gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was time for fun to stop and to just go back to life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her husband Vinny served 2 stints in prison and, eventually, she lost the house and all the cars (Vinny crashed the Mustang).<\/p>\n
Even though she\u2019s broke, she says she\u2019s happier today than she was when she was a millionaire.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s employed as a personal support worker and she provides for her husband\u2019s 3 kids and her 3 kids from a previous relationship.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s left of her jackpot is locked in a mandatory trust fund for the children, which they will receive when they turn 26.<\/p>\n
Tirabassi says she\u2019s happy that at least her children will be okay. Money is tight now, but she appreciates the little things in life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney is the root of all evil,\u201d she says, recalling all her \u201cfriends\u201d who disappeared when the money ran out.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney doesn\u2019t buy you happiness. It caused her a lot of headaches,\u201d Vinny says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that other stuff was fun in the beginning,\u201d says Tirabassi, \u201cNow it\u2019s like \u2026 back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sharon Tirabassi is a generous soul. So generous that she gave away half of her $10.5 million Lotto Super 7 winnings and blew through the rest. Today, the 35-year-old \u201cpenniless…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n