That purchase of rubbish bags and the spur-of-the-moment decision to add a Lotto ticket have proved to be life changing, as that little piece of paper turned out to be worth $9 million.
The young couple, who wish to remain anonymous, were lying in bed late on Wednesday night when they decided to check their ticket.
"I started circling the numbers and saw that we had all of them," the winner said. "Instantly I started shaking."
Her husband, however, was slightly more sceptical.
"I think the first words out of his mouth were 'bullshit'," she laughed.
The couple then jumped online to read the news to see if they could verify that they were the winners.
"We looked at NZ Herald online and it said something like, 'a couple are celebrating in Pukekohe tonight', which is when we really thought, 'well, it must be us then'."
The couple waited a couple of days to claim their prize, while the ticket burned a hole in the winner's handbag.
"It was such a relief to hand the ticket over and be reassured that we had actually won and weren't just dreaming it all," she said.
The couple are excited about what the future holds and what they will do with their winnings, including paying off the mortgage.
"We always talked a lot of bollocks about what we'd do if we won," the winner laughed, "but of course it feels different now."
The couple plan to keep working, although possibly with a lot more time enjoying the outdoors thrown in.
The winning ticket was bought from Countdown Pukekohe. The total prize money was made up of $8 million from Powerball First Division and $1 million from Lotto First Division.
This is the sixth time this year that the top Powerball jackpot has been struck.
