Hello folks. Just watched the bookies programme on BBC one and its led me here. Seeing the young fella sitting in his empty house with practically no food for the next two weeks brought a tear to my eye. It kind of resonated that it could quite easily be me. I'm lucky, sort of ,in that I stay at my mums and so no matter how broke I am I'm never cold or hungry. If those circumstances were to change I could quite easily be in such a rubbish position. The " sort of" part refers to the fact I'm mid thirties and still need to stay at home as a result of blowing the majority of my wages at the bookies over a long period of time. Too much to think about. For long enough I've excused it as an enjoyable but expensive habit. But in truth it's holding me back in every aspect of my life. It takes up far too much of my time either gambling or thinking about gambling. Most of my friends and family know I gamble a bit too much but would be sickened if they knew the true extent. I manage to hide it by borrowing to get by and paying back out of future wages. As a result I'm more often than not skint most of the month. Thankfully I've got better at paying my dues as pay day falls tho I still have the odd time where I'll blow the full wage and its time to go on the P***e to cover my a*s again. Sometimes I'm straight with who I'm borrowing. Sometimes I'll come up with something completely untrue. Depends on who I'm asking. No worse feeling knowing " you've done it again ". I can go spells of having money and not going near as long as I'm otherwise occupied but my main problem is having a bet and then chasing the loss but never stopping until I'm completely broke. Only then does it hit home that that's it. " I've done it again " even now I don't know what to expect from the forum but no harm in stopping by and seeing what it's all about. I've read a couple of threads and been moved by the stories. Ive also felt slightly better as I've realised my debt and circumstances are less severe than some. I know that sounds selfish but its not meant that way. Just a realisation that with a bit of help and some willpower I could get things turned around a bit easier than most. Sorry for the rambling nature but thanks for reading. Good luck to all 🙂
.........
Hi and welcome aboard.
Noticing you have a problem is the first step, but I'd recommend taking a very hard stance with yourself. Realise what gambling is doing to you and make a clean break. Make the last time you gambled the last time you'll ever gamble, try and build as many days clean as you can. The weeks will fly past and the urges will subside.
It doesn't sound selfish at all - part of the reason people who have lost considerable sums of money post about it is so those who are not yet that far down the path see where it can lead to. And we owe it to those who have been gambling for 20/30/40/50 years to see the error of their ways and learn from their mistakes.
Keep using the forum. The first couple of weeks are undoubtedly the hardest and the messages on here are fantastic.
All the best with it
......
Thanks for the replies. Don't think I'm ready to fess up just yet. I keep getting myself back on my feet and then doing it again. As I said I've got better at paying what I should. The downside of this is that I'm always about a month in arrears wages wise. They're always owed out. No doubt there's more like last night's coral manager but on the whole I'd say most arnt. I think if anything the staff should be better trained to spot problem gamblers and offer help in some way. It's really not their fault but there's deffo more they could do. Cheers again. Good luck to yourselfs s
Hi your story is similar to how I was upto 6 years ago.
Living with mum and brother at 38.
Gambling away most of my wages each month.
Trying to hide the fact, I was an addict.
To those who knew me as a work colleague only, I'd hear from them numerous times you must be loaded living at home.
I'm always professional at work and pretty straight laced in life, so they thought I didn't go out because I was boring and just saved every penny.
In reality I trawled the arcades of central London every working day, blowing hundreds a month. I certainly had no money to buy a wendy house let alone a real one.
My friends knew I gambled but not how much. I'd often make excuses about home commitments to avoid going out, so I could just gamble another few hundred away.
Now I'm 45 and if I lived up north I'd have enough saved to pay for a house outright.
How did I do it, well with a lot of willpower, but also mainly with the support of friends, family and strangers on forums on the Internet.
Thankfully like you I also had a job and wages coming in. Also like you I paid my dues despite having debt which also made sure I kept my credit rating as good.
It can be done but only you can decide you are ready to change your life around for the good.
6.5 years ago I thought I'd never retire till I was in my 70s if at all. Now I'm on my way to making that 55-57.
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
