2015 Challenge

Day 29 today, tomorrow I hit day 30 and that is fantastic as I'd not been able to before. Early days but I can see my future without gambling and its destruction in my life and that is such a great feeling! To all the new comers big welcome and I'm a newbie myself but the collective wisdom of the people on here will reinforce your capacity to beat this problem and everyone is so happy to help. I'm staying here for the long haul and I'm keeping my gambling monster behind bars where it can sit in the cold dark a prisoner under arrest with a life sentence and parole or even day release is not an option. I hold the key to that locked cell and the key is forged from the tools and advice I got from here and I'll keep my gambling monster in mind where I can keep my eye on it and I am committed to making my life and the lives of those I love a better world and to do that the cell stays locked and I'll feed 'it' the question WHY whenever it tries to get a hook into me. And I know that as long as I can resist long enough to hear the answer to that question then I'll not gamble because there is NO good answer or reason to throw a dice on the future.

Stay strong and resolute all, put barriers in place and poke the gambling monster in the eye lock it away and tell it 'not today' and tell it that everyday, keep it locked down but be a ever aware custodian as the gambling monster is ever keen to escape and take us into troubled times that none of us and no one needs!

Keep soldiering on and in the words of the big fella 'never surrender!'

All best!

Brilliant to see what you have done Marietta, you had a small slip and you have been honest with yourself and others and put a firm barrier in place. To me that shows that you mean business and have learnt a lot from the slip. You won't be slipping up again!

I'm delighted to see you overcame the urge qprloc12, I'm sending you a virual big pat on the back!!! Things like that are what this challenge is all about, if the urges come we need to get on here and shout out about it and get some help or advice off the many wise heads on here. As TickFollowsTock has just said, keep the monster locked in a cell and never surrender!!!

Great update. Thank you for your time and effort in organising this group.

It's a bit late now but I'll be back later in the week to check-in with the details you asked for.

Well done everyone. Please keep checking in.

Simon

Hi. My name is Dan and im 25.

When i was 17 i was introduced to fruit machine gambling and since then i have dabbled in all areas of gambling but i have a real problem with fruit machine gambling. Since the start of this year i have lost approx £1000 playing them.

I spend 300/400 a time and walk out of the bookies/service station feeling sick.

I gambled yesterday (01/02/15) and for the first time i lost so much that i couldnt afford my bills. Luckily i managed to increase my overdraft to cover them. I NEED to stop but i cant help it.

This challenge seems like a good idea and i'd love to succeed in it.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dan

mrdaniel1 I have added you to the front page and checked you in for this week. I would reccomend you read this thread from start to finish so you understand how it works and also pick up loads of tips off people who were in a similar position to yourself not too long ago!

Good morning everyone,hope all are well and continuing to fight the good fight,for any who have had little slips,remember,you can lose a battle and still win the war! Day 46 for me,and everyday it gets a little easier,great work with the updates and helpful words pal,your effort is very much appreciated,keep it up everyone!xx

mrdaniel1 wrote:

Hi. My name is Dan and im 25.

When i was 17 i was introduced to fruit machine gambling and since then i have dabbled in all areas of gambling but i have a real problem with fruit machine gambling. Since the start of this year i have lost approx £1000 playing them.

I spend 300/400 a time and walk out of the bookies/service station feeling sick.

I gambled yesterday (01/02/15) and for the first time i lost so much that i couldnt afford my bills. Luckily i managed to increase my overdraft to cover them. I NEED to stop but i cant help it.

This challenge seems like a good idea and i'd love to succeed in it.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dan

I started gambling last year and am already in £5000 worth of debt, I have sorted out my bills so the day I get paid all my bills come out and everything left is disposable income. I'm on day 3 of no gambling as I have gambled all off this month disposable income in 10mins on online slot machines! Luckily I have two weeks off work so no worry needing petrol money but this month ill be trapped at home with nothing to do! I'm sure if you give your money to a family friend it will help you stop and then you can live on a budget and maybe gain savings.

Hi I'd like to join challenge 2015 I think this a brilliant idea and something that will help keep me on track so here goes
hi I'm tracey first day of gamble free joined november but lapsed almost immediatly my curse is online sites bingo,slots I have Been a gambling addict since my teens but was gamble free for ten years after a disastrous amount of debt that I finally became free from last year when I started again (new baby stessed with work dumped by friends as i stopped drinking)the odd tenner which I could afford to lose (hindsight who can afford to lose even the odd tenner) this escaled it had its grip firmly on me once again after years of never being able to get credit due to last time my bank offered me an overdraft and a loan £3000 intotal later gone on gambling frenzies I'm back in the red and fighting to breath knowing I've put myself and family back into financial hardship and ashamed at the failure I am I want to be proud to look at the bank statements to be able to be honest with my partner at All times and shower my hard earned cash on my three boys not fitter it away
thanks for reading x

Checking in today on day 4 gamble free, knowing today I will NOT gamble.

Very weird dreams last night all gambling related hopefully they will soon pass.

Arrrrggghhhhhg still day 1......doing well got through some paper work when my partner came up (am laid up in bed bad back) so I started speaking about my mother's upcoming 60th although we do not have a good relationship due too past circumstance and the fact she doesn't seem bothered with me at all I am a respectful daughter always go extravagant xmas n birthdays mother day when I do see her I'm respectful maybe I do all this so maybe one day she would love me but anyway finances being as they are I'm panicking feeling bad it's her 60th right what can I do get that doesn't cost much anyway his bright idea wait for it yes he knows I'm a gambling addict well he says it's choice but neither the less he knows I'm struggling so he goes take her to bingo..... shel enjoy it bingo dear me how does he not understand that that's no good for me while I'm trying and when I point this out he says bingo is not gambling I attually am dumb struck

tt1980 I'm in similar situation in a way. We have someone leaving where I work and we are going to go out for a farewell and they have chosen the bloody race track :-/ I'm not bothered though. If they ask me why I'm not placing a bet I'll just tell them straight that I don't gamble. If I put £10 to win I might win £35 (MIGHT) but if I keep the £10 I (DEFINITELY) have £10 and that makes more sense to me now and that's the philosophy I'm trying to develop and ingrain in myself.

Go to the cinema or just find a new coffee shop to try out with her, we don't have to spend lots of money to express we care about someone after all. Buying an experience is money well spent and a great gift, maybe look into it 🙂

I read a great quote about gambling it was "today was a very good day, I broke even!" See... Why bother?! We can't even break even as we get taken over/consumed/blinded etc and don't/can't stop! We are not criminals or bad people we just have developed this destructive element each of us for individual reasons but even though we could/may be on separate pages we are all in the same book.

Don't stress over the birthday gift and have a good time but if you don't feel comfortable with the bingo then just strike a line confidently through that idea and stay away from there 🙂 best wishes, keep strong!

Thanks tick follows tock I appreciate the message I like the quote although like you said breaking even doesn't come easy for any of us and bingo is a no go I am determined to have peace of mind and right now temptation is too much so stay clear of these for now is my plan
thanks again hope all goes well with the races and u can resist x

Checking in and will be 248 days gamble free this next Sat close down....can't remember if I was one of the 'forgotten' and apologies if I was - or if I do in future LOL. And I say this only because I haven't been on the 'puter much for last few weeks for a couple of reasons - one I have to share this lappie with the OH and she has been on lot recently in the sales, but secondly i get bored easily and simply don't want to log on and 'get bored' - something which used to lead to scouring the net for cheap and free gambling sites!! If that didn't work, 'live' and expensive gambling sites. Geting bored [#] I now know is one of my triggers - so taken the log on to internet out of the equation for last few weeks so i am not tempted to look for sdomething to take my mind of the stresses & strains of day to day life as a compulsive gambler. [# gamblers trait i believe :)]

Anyways - enough rambling, holding my own here and good to see so many others doing the same.

For those that had the "early year" blip - its usual, like any new challenge in January, there are always those trhat fall or trip up.

For those that have a relapse, the choice is easy - start again, learn lessons on the "why" and "how" and keep marching ~ or don't and go back to how you were once before resolving to stop and when you probably didn't like yourself or your life!!

BUT please remember. that relapses and slippages are not signs of failure but signs of abstaining!! You can't slip if you aren't giving up and abstaining!!

Anyways - thats what I think.!! Keep marching strong everyone be it Day 1 or 1000 - be strong and keep your cash in your ocket - not the bookies or on-line sites [tax haven users usually too!!].

Oh - one last thing. Can you remember when it used to be 'FUN' to gamble? And can you remember when it stopped being fun and became a personal nightmare.....I think it's at that point everyone should stop! We do in other areas of our lives [eventually]!!

Have a good week all and see you on the other side of Saturday.

Kind regards, Cliff ~ abstaining one day at a time, by choice.

Checking in 5 weeks gambling free. Biggest tip from me to stop gambling is to try and learn more about yourslef. Understanding why you gamble and what causes the triggers helps you deal with them before they start to cause trouble. I used a book called the chimp paradox and put simply it helps you change yor brains way of thinking and take the emotion out of any decisions we make. Make lists of positives you will acheive by being gambling free. Set yourself acheivable targets and reward yourself when you reach each one. Once a target is reached set another one. If u have a goal to acheive it gives you the added incentive. Write in your diary as much as possible as this will keep fresh in your mind why we are in this place. Another tip is get post it notes and put them in places that you would see if you where going to gamble eg purse, laptop. On the notes put sayings of encoragement that mean something to you and would then beat any thoughts or urges you had. We will always have the chimp in our head telling us to have a bet but it is up to us to address this chimp, keep him quiet and let the sensible side of our brain make the decision instead of the chimp. Thats some of my tips if they can prevent one person placing a bet then that will be a success. Hopefully more people will post their tips because the greates power we have is that all of these great minds are trying to beat the one disease and the more knowledge we share and learn from the more chance we have of beating this thing.

P.S. Another great post Phil. You are an inspiration and i hope you realise how much the work you are doing is values. So a massive virtual pat on the back to you my friend.

Hi I am Krishan aged 24 and was heavily addicted to sports betting mainly tennis and football. Have my own thread should you want to read my entire background however I started gambling from the age of 18. I am currently on day 585 being gamble free.

I used to spend every penny I had on gambling, as soon as it came in it was all deposited online and gone within days, sometimes hours but managed to get my life back on track so I am glad things are going in the right direction. Here to try and share my experiences with others and how I have managed to stay strong and resist for so long.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Krishan