An Allegan County man plans to use a $1 million Mega Millions prize to change his life.

“The way I see it, you can do one of two things after winning the Lottery,” said Manuel Perez III. “You can either use it to change your life or buy things. I’m going to put it to good use, and change my life.”

Perez, of Otsego, matched the five white balls drawn in the Feb. 2 Mega Millions drawing – 01-04-14-17-40 – to win a $1 million prize. He bought his winning ticket at the Kroger store, located at 6370 Dixie Highway in Bridgeport.

“I stopped in the Kroger the morning after the drawing to check my ticket, and the clerk told me I had won $1 million,” said Perez. “All I could say was: ‘Huh? Are you serious?’”

The 47-year-old Perez visited Lottery headquarters Friday to claim his big prize. He plans to share the prize with his family and invest in his business.

“I scraped together everything I had over the last few years to buy a small business, and I recently made the last payment and want to expand. Now I can do that without having so much stress,” Manuel said.

Mega Millions drawings take place each Tuesday and Friday evening. Each Mega Millions play is only $2. For an additional $1 per play, players have the opportunity to add a “Megaplier” that can multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to five times. Mega Millions tickets may be purchased online at MichiganLottery.com and at the Lottery’s 11,000 retailers around the state until 10:45 p.m. on the day of the drawing.