A New Jersey woman has become a millionaire after hitting it big with a lottery ticket she got through a buy-one-get-one free coupon she clipped from a newspaper.

When Carole Halleran spotted the voucher to get a free Cash4Life ticket with the purchase of another one, she knew she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. 

Halleran redeemed the free ticket coupon when she spent $2 on a Quick Pick ticket while getting coffee for her and her husband at her local ShopRite supermarket in Wayne, lottery officials said.

She thought nothing of it, until her daughter called on April 20 saying she had seen the news that a second-tier, or second-prize, jackpot ticket was sold at the same ShopRite the day before, authorities said.

Curious if she may have bought the lucky ticket, Halleran checked her numbers against the results on NJLottery.com. She saw the numbers on the ticket she got for free matched the results and only missed the Cash Ball.

Halleran won the prize of $1,000 a week for life, or a one-time cash payment of $1 million. After speaking to a financial advisor, she and her husband chose the second option. 

Before winning in April, the most Halleran ever won playing lotto was just $11.

She and her husband said they plan to put the money toward savings and investments for their family’s future.

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