Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read through my diary. I'm not new here, but had been away for a while and have come back under a new account after forgetting my old one. I can't say I've made much improvement over the last few months.. But I need to change that now. If you're interested in my story, here it is.
I'm 22 years old, and have been gambling since about 16. It started off with football bets with friends, then progressing onto table games, visiting casino, making online account and more. You know how to story goes. The stakes start getting bigger, the losses get bigger, we chase the loss, we lose more. When I hit 19 years old I got myself into debt through payday loans and more, to fund my addiction. I put my self on a debt management plan by the end of that year to help get through it. I was doing this while working full time in a semi decent job.
Fast forward a little bit and I have lost my job due to the virus, and trying to pay off debt with no job, no income, just a bit of savings. I lived like this for a few months, constantly on edge. Displeased with life. But of course, this is all my fault to start with. I now have found a part time job, so I have been able to earn some money and continue to pay my debt, without drowning. My problem at the moment is that if I earn X amount, that exact amount will go straight back out to help pay the debt, leaving me with almost no money left over to spend. But this is definitely better than having no income, and trying to gather enough money to meet minimum payments.
This is where I am now. What's my new plan of action? I'm going to continue to work this part time job and meet payments, and even though it upsets me that the money goes straight back out of my account, this is what has to be done. I am continually looking for full time work, and hope that once I find it, I'll be able to keep the part time job and possibly do both, to speed up the process of clearing my debt. It'll be hard work, but I'll give it a shot. I have blocks in place to stop my gambling, but the way the online world is these days there are always new avenues to gamble. I just need to keep blocking them.
The last time I gambled was yesterday, so today is day 1. I have been applying for more jobs and hope to hear back from something soon. I am £10,750 in debt, and I am looking forward to seeing this number decrease over the months. Thank you for reading. I will read other diaries and look for some encouragement along the way.
Hi userdn. Thanks for sharing. I’m early on in my journey also. I have been a problem gambler for the past 3 years . Gave up for 6 months but then had a year back gambling life away. There are better times ahead and you sharing on here is a great start x
Day 2 - No gambling today. Applied for plenty more jobs. Going to spend less time on the internet now.
Have you considered an IVA? I sorted one out for my partner after finding out she was 24k in dept. The interest gets frozen and you pay a small affordable amount each month for 5 years.
May not be for you but just a thought.
All the best
Sam
I have a debt management plan with stepchange.. its worth even just looking on their wensite for debt advice. They are fantastic. I am paying an affordable amount each month and they contact all the creditors on my behalf for free.. ive had no nuisance letters all the companys froze interest and hopefully i will be debt free this year which would have never happened without stopping gambling and getting financial support from stepchange.
Lou x
Fresh month and starting again from day 1 today - Need to try and be consistent with posting. That's the only way I'm gonna get through this. Gambled over the weekend and closed my account again. Still looking for work and getting desperate now.. Can't believe ive been out of work for so long.. March 1st and 10.5k in debt. See you all tomorrow
Dear @userdn,
Well done for posting again and for making a commitment.
If you want to achieve consistency I would recommend that you sign up to Gamstop (www.gamstop.co.uk) and call us for advice on blocking software.
It sounds like your situation is getting more precarious so it is paramount you put some blocks into place, closing your account is not enough.
Please call us for further support and advice, we are here 24/7 : https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/talk-to-us-now/
Wishing you all the best,
Eva
Forum Admin
Day 2 - Applied for many more jobs and had some calls back, thats a start. I have blocks in place but always find ways around them. I need to do some digging on how to secure these blocks, going to talk to support today. Then I'll get off the computer for the day, being on it for long periods of time when I have nothing to do is a red flag these days. Need to find some form of work in the coming months else I will be in big trouble. If only I didn't get into this problem when I was 18 removed link If anyone that has just started gambling and realising they have a problem is reading this, please seek help now, put blocks in place now. I never would have thought I'd be in this position a few years ago, but here I am now.
Day 3 - Spoke to live chat yesterday and taken on board some good advice. Was also good to get it off my chest, as well as posting here. Working on adding new barriers, waiting for my bank to reply to me. No gambling yesterday or today.
Day 4 - Keeping it going. Will enjoy the weekend and post on monday, no football watching, no gambling.
I'm back. Had limited access to the internet for the most part of a month, which done me good. My life it starting to take an upwards turn. I have now found employment, I can start earning money again and knocking my debt off. This is amazing and I want to start posting on this diary again. I have still not been able to completely stop gambling, although I'm not gambling all my money away anymore, its still not the point. I'm still a compulsive gambler, I still need to stop. But overall the last month has been good for me, I'm very excited to start work again and earn money that can be used to better my life! I'll post tomorrow and try to be consistent.
So it's been a long time since I have last posted on here and its overdue an update. I have started a physical diary so have been writing in that a lot and completely neglecting my online diary. A lot has changed, and little has changed. I have finally found full time employment back in what I love doing, and I start that next week. So hopefully I can excel and really do great in that. For the last 5 months I have been living on minimal money, just so that I don't drown, but unfortunately still been gambling. I have finally found employment in a somewhat dream job, so don't want to jeopardise that in anyway by still gambling. I was doing really well for a feel weeks, but spiralled out of control today. I started chasing a loss and fell deeper and deeper into that trap. So for now I'm going to keep my head down, try to forget about these gambling losses again, I know it gets easier after an initial week or so. Then I will have work to focus on. This is a big turning point for me. I will try not to keep dwelling on the past.
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