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{{trope}}
[[File:
A plot where one non-rich character has a huge and very sudden increase in expendable income. This might be for any reason, such as winning a lottery, inheriting the fortune of a rich friend or a long lost family member, getting a better job, crime, inventing the latest popular gadget, or even because something was delivered to the wrong address. Simultaneously, however, they are handed the [[Idiot Ball]].
Almost invariably, [[Acquired Situational Narcissism]] makes the character start to act like an [[
* The character somehow manages to completely exhaust their fortune except for just enough to buy themselves back into the life they had before.
* The bank, [[The Mafia|mafia]], CIA, etc., realizes their mistake and sends a collection agent to confiscate the missing funds.
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Opposite of [[Broke Episode]]. Contrast [[Rags to Riches]], where they get to keep the money. Compare [[Credit Card Plot]], in which the character only ''thinks'' they've hit the jackpot.
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
* Kankichi Ryotsu of ''[[Kochikame]]'' had been making his fortunes multiple times throughout the series whether from inheritance, gambling or selling popular products. He always lose all his wealth from overspending, bad investments or from accidents. He's back to being a patrol officer again.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* The ''[[Firefly
▲* The ''[[Firefly (TV)|Serenity]]'' comic book ''Better Days''. Seriously, it actually happens to Malcolm Reynolds.
* The ''Joker's Millions'' issue in ''Batman''.
* Has happened in ''[[Donald Duck]]'' comics multiple times, usually to Donald, sometimes involving his uncle's money (though obviously that isn't usually all lost, or it's lost back to Scrooge). At least once Scrooge even lets him "take care of his business" to have him lose as much money as possible when he realises he himself can't bear to carry out a bet to do so even though that would lead to greater gains.
* ''José Carioca'' once met a gypsy who predicted he'd get a lot of money but he didn't take it seriously. Eventually, he met two men with what he recognized as a stolen jewel. Knowing the owner's offered a reward, he took it from the "bad guys" and went to the owner's manor, where he got a reward, becoming wealthy. Until the "bad guys" revealed themselves as cops who were about to deliver the jewel back. José had to give it back. The gypsy later told him she'd have told him his wealth wouldn't last long if he had let her finish reading her hand.
* ''[[
== Films -- Live-Action ==▼
* ''[[The Jerk]]''. Pretty much the whole plot of the movie.
* ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]'': Lloyd has absolutely no financial savvy.
* Averted at the end of ''[[The Sting]]''. [[Robert Redford| Hooker]] refuses to take his share of the money, saying "I'd only blow it".
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* This happens, or has happened, in one character's backstory in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Stand]]''. The pop musician Larry Underwood had one big hit and made lots of money out of it, but soon found that there wasn't ''that'' much after all and anyway he'd certainly spent it all partying like an idiot. After the world changes and has to be rebuilt, he never mentions to anyone that he was the guy who made that popular song.
* The book, ''Money Can't Buy Love''. Before winning the Maryland Lottery, the heroine is broke, hates her job, and her boyfriend is slow to commit. When she wins, she cheats on her now-fiance with a much younger man, alienates the only two friends she had and quits her job. She also spends foolishly, buying a new car, a mansion, a studio, and a brand-new truck for the younger man. At the end, {{spoiler|she loses everything except her car and takes the little money she has left to move to a small town where no one will know her.}}
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Treasure Island]]'', Ben Gunn (who is [[Cloudcuckoolander|slightly bonkers]]) squandered his share of the treasure in three weeks.
** According to Long John, who got married and opened an inn, every other member of Flint's original crew did this. He gives advice to a new recruit on how not to.
* Candide in Voltaire's ''[[Candide]]'' gets fabulously rich at the midpoint of the story. He then proceeds to lose the money in various ways and has only the tiniest fraction left at the end, just enough to buy a farm and become an ordinary peasant.
* This was a common reason to get Jack Aubrey back to sea in the early [[Aubrey-Maturin]] books - he'd bring home prize money at the end of a book, and will have spent it all by the beginning of the next book. Once Aubrey's fortune was stable and secure, he tried to help his crews avert the same boom-bust cycle, with mixed success.
* In a two part episode of ''[[The Bob Newhart Show]]'', Orphan Dentist Dr Jerry Robinson spends a new found fortune to advertise looking for the parents who put him up for adoption.
* In ''[[
* In the "Lotto Fever" episode of ''[[
* One episode of ''[[Married...
* While many of the drug deals arranged by the ''[[Trailer Park Boys]]'' are in fact successful and net a large amount of money, our heroes typically end up quickly spending it or losing it altogether. Of course, this means they have to come up with another drug deal in the next season.
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Another episode featured a murder victim who won the lottery and then seemed to spend the money on extravagant things as well as giving money away to homeless people. Castle figures out that this was due to {{spoiler|guilt over stealing the winning lottery ticket}}
* On ''[[
* A subdued example happens on ''[[
* An episode of the Facts of Life, wherein Jo's dad burns through $300K in a few days.
== [[Radio]] ==
* About a billion ''[[Amos
==
* In the first scene of [[PDQ Bach|Peter Schickele]]'s a capella opera ''Go for Broke'', John Q. Public wins the lottery. In the next several scenes, "Taxes," "Charity," "Kin," and "Company at the Bar," he has to part with his winnings. There is a happy ending in the final scene.▼
▲* About a billion ''Amos & Andy'' episodes involve Andy and/or Kingfish coming across money and then losing all of it by the end of the show.
* ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'': Cyrano received his parental bounty and used it all to pay [[Buy Them Off|the entrance fees of the Burgundy Theater]] at Act I Scene IV, so Cyrano has not money for the rest of the month. [[Straight Man|Le Bret]] lampshades Cyrano’s folly, but Cyrano calls this ''"a graceful act"''. ▼
▲== Theatre ==
▲* In the first scene of Peter Schickele's a capella opera ''Go for Broke'', John Q. Public wins the lottery. In the next several scenes, "Taxes," "Charity," "Kin," and "Company at the Bar," he has to part with his winnings. There is a happy ending in the final scene.
▲* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]: Cyrano received his parental bounty and used it all to pay [[Buy Them Off|the entrance fees of the Burgundy Theater]] at Act I Scene IV, so Cyrano has not money for the rest of the month. [[Straight Man|Le Bret]] lampshades Cyrano’s folly, but Cyrano calls this ''"a graceful act"''.
▲{{quote| '''Le Bret''' ''(with the action of throwing a bag):'' How! The bag of crowns?... <br />
▲'''Cyrano:''' Paternal bounty, in a day, thou'rt sped!<br />
▲'''Le Bret:''' How live the next month?...<br />
▲'''Cyrano:''' I have nothing left. <br />
▲'''Le Bret:''' Folly! <br />
'''Cyrano:''' But what a graceful action! Think! }}
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* In ''[[
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* In ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'', Fry discovers he'd left some cash in a forgotten bank account, and the accrued interest has made him fabulously wealthy. When he buys a can of (extinct) anchovies [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Mom]] has her boys kidnap him to get his PIN number (1077) so she can steal all his money and be forced to sell the anchovies (which hold the secret to producing a very cheap, but potent, robot oil). She gives up when she realizes he doesn't know this, instead intending to eat the anchovies.
** Another had the whole nation getting a tax three hundred dollar refund due to Zap raiding a spider planet and bringing back the riches. In the course of the episode sees all the cast wasting it in some form or another (Fry buying coffee, Bender supplies to steal a rare cigar, Farnsworth on a temporary stem cell procedure, Amy a tattoo, Hermes a walking pair of stilts to impress his son etc...) save for Zoidburg who, for the first time in his life having more money then ever, tries to "live like a rich person". He gets shot down when his refund is revealed to be peanuts to the social elite. But a fire breaks out the at reception for the spider people's loot. Costing Nixon, in addition to the tax break, millions. Zoidburg, rather, spends his on a small buffet which he invites everyone to join in on.
* Happens to Ron in the ''[[
** Interestingly, Ron never actually runs out of money. His entire fortune (from royalties piad for his creation of the popular food, the Naco) is stolen from him by Dr. Drakken because...Ron kept it all in his cargo pants pockets. Ironically, not even Drakken gets to use it, since he spends it all on a giant laser cannon...which reflects off the moon and back toward his lair, destroying the laser cannon completely.
* That episode of ''[[
* This happens to ''[[The Jetsons]]''. They lose it all, not so much because George was an idiot, but because his company's product goes under.
** In another episode, George won the lottery. However, a collapse of the economy of Venus caused the value of the prize to decrease considerably before he had a chance to convert it into dollars. When George was told he won, the prize was worth 7.5 million dollars. The collapse caused its worth to be practically nada.
* Ickis went through this on an episode of ''[[Aaahh!!! Real Monsters]]''; the monsters' currency is toenails, so he struck it rich by stealing from an eccentric millionaire who saves his toenail clippings. Ickis gets greedy and is nearly caught by the human, who concludes it was all a dream... telling him to clean up his act. Meanwhile, Ickis ends up losing his stash of toenails on his way home.
* In an episode of ''[[Code Monkeys]]'', the staff borrow against their IPOs and become very wealthy. When they leave their jobs, Gameavision stock plummets, bringing most of the staff to ruin. Except Dave, who invested his new money wisely, but ends up using it to bail out his former co-workers.
* One episode of ''[[
* In an episode of ''[[
** The
*** For double irony, the family, sitting homeless on the street, decides their only chance is to try to win the lottery again. Cut to the exact same scene with Lois saying she can't believe they won and lost all that money
* In the ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Woody Woodpecker]]'' fell victim to this trope when he inherited some money Buzz Buzard decided to con out of him.
** However, it was Buzz's turn to fall into the trope in [[The New Woody Woodpecker Show]]. Buzz and Woody were on a [[Scavenger Hunt]] where incomplete proverbs were the clues to the items they had to find. They were tied when there was only one item left to be found and the clue was "A (space) and his money are soon parted". Claiming to have no idea of how to solve that clue, Woody proposed that he and Buzz shared the money prize. As Buzz was enjoying the money, Woody introduced Buzz to the game's host as the fool to be soon parted from the money.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'':
*
** In another episode, Bart pretended to be kidnapped to avoid punishment for sneaking out. When Lisa found out the truth, Homer told her they should keep it a secret because he had already sold the story for a fortune he had already lost. While how he lost is [[Noodle Incident|anyone's guess]], since we were never given a clue, we can be sure it was out of foolishness, since it's ''Homer'' we're talking about.
** The Rich Texan (later officially given the name [[Meaningful Name| Richard Texan]]) lampoons this; in his first appearance, he claims to be a member of a group of oil tycoons [[At Least I Admit It| who make foolish purchases]], including a stained glass bathrobe and the world’s fattest racehorse
* Early from ''[[Squidbillies]]'' fell into this trap the instant he had a legitimate lawsuit against Dan Haylen, letting himself be bought off with a settlement consisting of a few motorized chrome beer hats.
{{quote|'''
'''Early:''' [[Comically Missing the Point|Together again!]] }}
* Done in ''[[The Oblongs]]'' when Milo, Biff and Chip find some money in a car they all brought (Milo loan some money). Not surprising they spend it like crazy despite threats from the Mayor and city staff since it was bribe money meant for them. Subverted though as Milo doesn't act any different with his friends and it
* An episode of ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' has the titular fat cat winning the lottery after Jon tosses away his lottery ticket. The two and Odie get to live the high life until an interview reveals that Garfield was underage when he won, thus leading to the winnings being voided (despite Jon telling them that he was the one who bought the ticket) and the winner being declared as the interviewer himself.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* There are many stories where real people, after winning the lottery, have lost all of their money and are completely broke in a short time. Unlike on TV, there is rarely if ever a [[Reset Button]].
** To name just one example: [[
** Many stories of people who lose everything they won in the lottery usually stems from the fact that the sudden wealth overwhelms them and they start to spend everything, not realizing that even several million dollars is not infinite. What's worse, some of them get so caught up the fever that they blow through not only their lottery winnings, but all their original savings as well.
* The documentary ''Reversal of Fortune'' involved giving a homeless man $100,000 in cash and seeing what he did with it. It was gone within 6 months, and indeed he wound up in even worse financial shape then he was before.
*
* German actor [[Klaus Kinski]] typically starred in a successful movie, then spent all his salary on partying with friends, expensive clothing and 5-star hotels (and drugs), resulting in him becoming broke after a short time. After he had to live in a run-down single-room apartment for a few weeks, he often resorted to phoning his old friend [[Werner Herzog]] once again to ask if he had any more film roles available. Rinse and repeat.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Money Tropes]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:Plots]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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