Finally getting the help I need.

Well, where do I even start, I guess at introducing myself? I'm Adam, 25 years old and ready to make a change in my life. I have been gambling since I can remember, through good and bad times in my life. Recently this has gotten to the breaking point for me and luckily my Fiance found out about the secret I had kept for years of my life while cleaning my room. Now with her support and my parents joining the journey too, I believe I can make that change. Now more about my gambling story…

I feel like I have always gambled since I was able to but it's not until recently it had gotten to a really bad state, I am now in more than £19,000 worth of debt through Gambling and trying to pay for bills I have no money for. From what I can remember the problem probably started around 4-5 years ago when I lost my job meaning I had bills to pay with no income. How do you make easy money? Gambling of course (sounds stupid now). I had no way of paying my bills and had little savings to keep me afloat so I resorted to gambling to try and earn some money to help. My parents also helped pay the bills and I can’t thank them enough for the support then and now. 

Luckily I found a job pretty quickly as my dad got me a job at his place of work on his reputation alone. I have enjoyed all 4 years I have spent there and gained some valuable life skills. While working there I earned more money than in my previous job, a lot more in fact. This just escalated the problem as I now had Credit Cards that needed paying which I was using for bills in between jobs. As you can imagine it wasn't just bills I was using them for and eventually maxed them out using the money to gamble and attempt to win back my losses. This was never going to happen and put me into more debt.

2 years on and I met my now Fiancee, I always kept my gambling a secret from her which now I regret because I could have stopped this a lot sooner. Around the same time I wanted to change my life (sounds similar), I consolidated my credit cards into a Loan of £8000 and thought I will chip away at this with the monthly payments but I will get there. As you can imagine, not as simple as that, maxing out the then-cleared Credit Cards put my debt into ridiculous numbers near where it is today. She did find out about my gambling back then but I said I would stop and promised no more gambling. As a now confessed addict this seemed simple at the time but now sat here actually making the change. I was a long way from that journey starting.

Cutting to the present day and another 2 years of gambling and maxing out credit cards while paying the minimum on others and withdrawing that money straight back out. £19,000 is where my debt sits at. I have now come clean to my parents and Fiance even though trying to still lie about things the days after being found out. I admitted I needed help and have started the GameChange course and am looking forward to working through it.

My parents and fiancee are looking after my finances and working out the plan to pay off my debt while even supporting me money-wise, which is above and beyond what I expected from them. All of the money that I earn from now on will go straight onto the debts and hopefully knock them off quickly, this gives me the freedom to get better and recover from the addiction. This involves signing up for the GameChange course, ringing doctors, being more physical out in the world, and getting the help I need. I am looking forward to my new life as I’m moving house and getting a new job which feels like a fresh start for me, with the support now around me. 

If anyone has any ideas of ways to replace Gambling in my life and tips to overcome it and even anyways to make money to help pay off my debts I would be grateful.

Thank you for taking the time to read, Adam.