Excellent advice here from Rcb, and Lottery4me.
@ Pickachu - I found myself splurging more and more to the point where my credit card debt started increasing. Around 14 months ago, I started playing with a couple random $5 tickets after receiving some $1 or $2 scratchoffs for Christmas. I then found myself buying $20 tickets, $25 tickets, and losing $300 within the span of minutes (max ATM withdrawal daily limit for my old checking) and not even sweating it. When a bunch of us were chasing the $10 Holiday Gifts game, that's when I started playing hardcore and began book buying. You know a person is on the brink of "scratch off insanity" when they are happy about a $300/$600 return when buying a book! To the hardcore scratchoff/lottery player, the value of the $20 bill diminishes quickly. We lose sense of reality in understanding the value of money, and I'm sure you see it alot in South FL where people keep returning to the lottery machine inserting more and more $20 bills. Every once in a while they catch a nice break like a $100 or higher winner for a break even, but with how these games are designed, for the most part they're just paying into the system which guarantees a 40% return rate and walking away with lighter pockets.
Something I've learned is that while spending more will increase your chances of finding the elusive jackpot, it will only do so marginally. There's so many stories of people buying 1 or 2 scratchoffs and then finding the big jackpot. Duckman found his $100k Gold Rush winner after buying two tickets I believe. Adam found his $2M from buying the last 5 $10 Holiday Gifts tickets, which I think really speaks to this life lesson. Although he had been buying books, the "big one" finally came when he bought a small number of tickets.
The saying "you have to be in it to win it" is true, but if the addiction spirals and results in throwing away your paychecks then you are much better off. abstaining from scratching. That's why I've quit playing scratchoffs, personally. I've noticed that I have addictive tendencies, and for me I have no urges if I totally opt out but if I play just a few tickets the "What if the next one is a big winner" thought pops into my mind. What I've started to do now is invest the money that I would have used on scratchoff tickets in the stock market. Even if I lose money on some shares, it doesn't compare to those ridiculous scratchoff scenarios where I would encounter a 40% payback. For some people, staying away from scratchoffs is "winning". Jab5 shared a powerful quote from the bible (I'm not religious, but I think it has great relevance here...) "Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it."
I would say put aside a certain amount of money biweekly, maybe $100 tops. Buy a couple of random $20, $10, $5, $2, and $1 tickets. If you win money back, you can recycle that money the next two weeks. This would be a good balance of playing reasonably within your means, and still having a chance of winning a life changing prize. If you need support, feel free to PM me. The entire forum knows that I'm someone who has had trouble with self control by becoming a scratchoff addict. If you find yourself digging yourself too deep through resorting to cash advances or borrowing money, I'd say seek out a local Gambler's Anonymous meeting for support. Sometimes having this type of support group can help some people with overcoming addictions. I know you're also a very young guy and while there is a thrill in being able to potentially throw away a small sum of money for a chance of winning something life changing, we're really at the age where most of this money needs to be in a roth IRA/mutual funds/bonds, and/or high interest savings account.
@ Wbrightfl - Sorry to hear about the crappy return as well.