Couple wins $8 million from $20 scratchie

The young couple were living “paycheck-to-paycheck” in an overcrowded apartment before fate intervened.

A lottery win from a $20 scratchie changed the lives of a young couple living “paycheck-to-paycheck”.

US couple Tara and TJ were struggling to make ends meet before Tara bought the $20 scratchie.

In an incredible stroke of luck, that $20 turned into a US$5 million (A$8 million) win.

US couple Tara and TJ won US$5 million from a $20 scratchie. Picture: Supplied.

They used the winnings to move out of the two-bedroom Californian apartment, where they lived with their 13 year old daughter, newborn and three dogs – and into their dream home, transforming their lives in the process.

“I started scratching and I just saw a big zero all the way to the end and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I knew it was going to be in the thousands,” Tara told TV show My Lottery Dream Home.

“I thought it was at least $10,000.”

Instead she had won the maximum prize.

Before the big win the couple were living in a two-bedroom apartment with two kids and three dogs. Picture: Supplied

“We were living paycheck-to-paycheck,” TJ explained.

“With two kids in an apartment, it’s just awful, and we just had a newborn plus three dogs, it’s a tight squeeze.”

Instead of blowing all their winnings on a new house, the couple allocated a modest US$900,000 (AU$1.4 million) to buy their dream home.

Their property wishlist included a single story house with a large backyard for their dogs and three to four bedrooms in a quiet neighbourhood.