I almost feel ashamed writing this post, because October last year I came on here to say how I was 1 year gamble free and even gave some advice. Well, I actually ended up 19 months gamble free and it all went HORRIBLY wrong last month.
As I'm sure many of you know, for the past month the European Championships have been going on. Football betting has always been my thing, and my biggest ever win was on the Euro's in 2012. This was one of the triggers for me, combined with the fact that I naively thought I was cured. How wrong I was.
So I've gone and placed a 'harmless' £20 bet on the Euro's. I actually felt a little bit sick betting that £20 after going so long without gambling. But at the same time, I also remember thinking that it's sad that I can't place a bet with my mates for a bit of enjoyment.
Well without rambling on too much, my bet was dead and buried by the end of the group stages. Now this is the point where I should've left it at that, but I've decided to go back to the bookies and place a £50 bet, just so I've got something to follow along the competition. Once again, this bet had lost at pretty much the first hurdle. After losing this bet, I could feel that the gambling demon had firmly sunk his teeth into me now, and that's when the worst of all happened. I decided to play roulette.
To cut a long story short, after multiple trips to the bookies and casino, I've lost everything I've saved up (even essential money which I've never done before.) Even when it was bad a couple years ago, I would never dip into money I needed. (Rent, bills etc.)
To make things worse, I am self employed and I have to pay a tax bill by the end of this month and I'm also going on holiday with my girlfriend and family in 2 weeks. Couldn't be worse timing.
I'm 26, and I've never been in debt in my life but the only way I'm getting through this month is if I borrow money. Now I know this forum isn't about giving money advice, but PLEASE can somebody advise me what my best option is. I would really, really appreciate it and this is the help I'm after. The reason I chose this forum to ask this, is because I know you guys will understand and wont judge me. There must be someone out there who's been in my situation. I am completely clueless about the world of borrowing money, I've never had so much as an overdraft. I'm paranoid I'm going to get stitched up by some hidden fees or something. Basically I've worked out that after I get paid, I will need £1,200. I can pay it back in 2-3 months. What's my best option?
Thank you.
Hello Jrw99
Well done for coming back to the forum and facing up to your problem. As you may know, relapses are unfortunately very common. Perhaps you became somewhat complacent about stopping gambling, and as a result of this you let your guard down. Try not to be too hard on yourself. You've stopped gambling before, so you know you can do it again. Although you've had a setback, you can learn from what's happened by trying to avoid triggers in future. It certainly sounds like the European Championships were a big trigger for you. For many people who like to bet on sports, watching sports can be very difficult when trying to stop gambling. I understand it may not be easy to sacrifice something you enjoy being part of, but perhaps it's for the best to avoid watching sports in future if it has the potential to set you back. Especially since you've described chasing your losses after your first bet recently, as this suggests that even a small bet is likely to lead to further gambling.
Understandably it sounds like you're really concerned about having accrued debt as a result of gambling. Firstly, it's important to remember not to gamble in an attempt to win back money you've lost as this usually makes the problem worse, and means that the debt increases rather than decreases. We don't offer debt advice here but I can understand that's a priority for you at the moment. Many of our callers seek free debt advice and support with organisations such as Stepchange: 0800 138 1111, The National Debtline: 0808 808 4000, and PayPlan: 0800 280 2816. Perhaps that would be a good next step for you.
You may then want to consider taking some practical steps to reduce your access to gambling by self-excluding from your local bookmakers and casinos. You could also reduce your access to money, for example by asking someone you trust to look after your bank cards.
In terms of support, we have a freephone helpline and netline, and offer free counselling, both online and face-to-face. So if you would like to know more, or to be referred for counselling please give us a call on the helpline or netline. Both services are open daily 8am - midnight (contact details displayed at the top of each page on our website).
I hope this has been helpful, and I wish you all the very best with your recovery.
Best wishes
Laura
Hi and welcome back
Firstly what ever you do don't go to payday lenders because then you will be up the Creek with out a paddle. I would suggest that you don't borrow money
You need to face the consequences of your actions
Obviously to the people you owe money to give them a call explain your situation and set up a plan to pay them back within your set period of 3 months. I would think they would all rather put something in place than go through costly court proceedings
There's no point robbing Peter to pay Paul. Once you start borrowing you will keep borrowing and borrowing until braking point. As for the holiday speak with your parents or partner tell them what you have done. And hopefully they can help you out. If not take it on the chin and don't go.
Most of all well done for coming back and seeking help
Firstly the responses above should be adhered to, do not borrow more money in order to try win money back to cover losses, or to try win abit back for the holiday etc. If you really need a genuine small loan to get you by then i would advise firstly speaking to your bank and seeing if you could set up an agreed overdraft, these are usually depending on the bank you are with fairly low cost or have a maximum monthly charge. Again, check with your bank and speak to someone first so you know how much per day/month the overdraft could cost as i believe one or two banks now charge £1 per day that you are in the overdraft. Another option if your credit rating is good enough would be to apply for a credit card, use a comparison website to find a low APR% card that doesnt have fees, stick to the banks/big companies you've heard of, do not withdraw cash from a credit card as the interest is high and you pay cash advance fees, (gambling transactions are also classed as cash withdrawals) simply use it for putting essentials such as food, fuel, holiday things on to free up some of your own cash, then have a direct debit in place to pay the balance off as much as you can, most credit cards offer a free 0% interest on purchases so long as you pay the card off within the agreed time, usually 12-18months. Also they won't throw a ridiculously large amount of credit at you until they trust you can meet monthly payments, generally the initial credit limit is around £1,200. Do not go down the slippery slope of borrowing money and not paying as much back as you can, and put blocks/exclusions back up in place to prevent you from gambling again. Good luck.
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