<prompt> Human: Hey,I know this will sound unbelievable and to be honest I still think Im only dreaming, but 2 days ago I won cca. 42 000 on a poker tournament. Im 19 years and I grew up in an emotionally abusive family. I wanted to run away ever since I was like 12. Money was always the issue. For information, I live in Europe and finding a job in my country is very difficult. But now, IM FREE.Reason why I came to reddit is to ask YOU what should I do with this money? I was thinking about renting a place 250month or maybe even buying a place! Im getting some miserable scholarship 300month because of my social status and good grades. Anyway, in my calculations, I could live for 10 years WITHOUT getting a job!! Of course, I would get employed as soon as I could...What should I do?Rent?Buy?Invest?EDIT1: Yes, Im going to pursue playing poker but Ill keep it with minimum risks. I dont play cash game, only tournaments raging from 10-200 buy in. I wont raise that bar and I probably wont play poker till the next big tournament. Poker isnt gambling. Poker is a sport. EDIT2: For comments regarding I couldnt live for more than 2 years with 42 000... Listen, my father and mother TOGETHER earn LESS than 10 000 a year. COMBINED!! Do you realize that my parents work 4 full years for the money I earned in ONE NIGHT!! We are a 6 member family. Yep, we are poor as fuck, we dont eat meat every day. I know there will be some unexpected expenses, but living for 5 years would be absolutely no problem. Party life and all that isnt really for me, Im in a long term relationship. EDIT3: Regarding family issues. My family is a mess. I dont like them nor they like me. If I left today, I dont even know if they would care. I just dont like to think about them and I try to have a positive view on life, so I wouldnt want to cut them off. Eventually, they would HAVE TO find out how I got the money, they wouldnt be particularly happy about it, but what can they do... IF they found out that I posses this sum of cash NOW, they would turn into wild animals.EDIT4: Leaving country isnt an option. My education is here, I cant just throw that away. Yes, Im in the EU, but in one of those shitty nations. Setting some cash aside only for poker is a good idea. 5ks is a bit too much, 2k. I havent told anyone. I havent spent a penny. CONCLUSION: Thank You all for your advice, youve been very helpful. I thought a lot about what Ill do. My plan is to wait. 2 years ahead Ill see how my college works out. I applied for a professor assistant job on my college, there is a big chance Ill get this job in the next 5 years and once you do get this job - youre financially set for life. If I get the job, Ill move out instantly. Without that job, I honestly think moving away would be somewhat a bad idea, but I dont think Ill last for 2 years since Im living in a very toxic environment. Backup plan is renting a small place nothing bigger than 30 m2, which would cost me around 150 a month. Yeah, and Id had to be very economic, crawling back isnt an option. Waiting begins.Assistant: If you havent lived alone yet, it is INCREDIBLY easy to overestimate just how long 42.000 will last you. Truth is, it wont last you too long.Human: Yeah, I considered that. Actually, I lived for 3 months with my brother. We spent around 600 a month food: 300, bills: 200, other: 100. I suppose for one person it would be 400 rent easily can get for 300 700. I get 300 scholarship, will probably keep getting it for the next 6 years of education so its 400. 40000400100 months and 100 months is 8 years.  <response>: When you have money, you will find reasons to spend money. Take that 600 or something close to it, and explicitly make that your budget.If you can, make 2 accounts. Put your 42k into one account and set up an automatic transfer from there to a spending account weekly, monthly, however, and dont touch your big account aside from that.42k is great money, its a great start, but its not something you can retire on or anything. Start looking for work immediately after you have settled in your new place. 