Addressing Losses

Hi Mark
You have to look forward not back in my opinion,going over old statements will be difficult reading,I can relate to the gamble induced fog a honest way of describing it,exercise,walking is helping me,keep your self busy as you can anything than gambling which will always put you are in your a**e!,excluding from all and having no access to money is also working for me, day 53 and I am not missing it at all,I wish you well.

steve

@steve850 thanks mate. Appreciate the advice. I have used Gamban and have put a block on my card. Its now using tools to fill the massive void that gambling controlled. Exercise and walks is a definite avenue i will consider. Well done on your GF. All the best mate.

hi mark

Tottaling up bank statements worked for me...... i totalled up each year saw it was not only a P[roblem but a hell of a lot wore than i thought........ if ur anything like me it is shocking reading thru the statements......... transaction after transaction.... when i went into the bank the teller thought there was fradulant activity it was soo bad and i said no thats me very embarrased and ashamed.....

I looked at it when id been trying to have a controlled year and i said look mum ive only spent 500 pounds a month on my socialising this year? thats good? she said thats terrble!!!!!! and i look back onw and think what the hell was i doing.  Now last year i spent five hundred pounds the whole year after bills....

when u stop u realise how good u actually are at saving as u used to spend all your money on it and nothing on yourself....

its takes time to want to spend money on yourself again and you realise how far your money goes.

In this time of rising bills etc its defo a good time to look at your statements and set up an xcell spreadsheet or sheets spreadsheet and work out where its being spent, where its not being spent and look to plan for the future.

Im now saving for retirement and am looking to have a sebatical year in nine years time when i hit fifty.... all this planning really makes a difference.

All the best adam

@mark15 Ask yourself this. What can come from you going through bank statements and totalling up your losses?

You can shock yourself into seeing how much you’ve gambled, but at such an early stage in trying to stop, is there a chance that you’ll get upset over the amount and start chasing your losses?

My advice is at this stage to not do it. The money is gone anyway so who cares if it’s £10K if £100,000? It’s only for your ego so don’t put your ego in front of what you are trying to do. 
As for filling the void, I’m a believer that gambling stole time from us, and all you are doing is getting that time back. What did you do before? What have you let lapse that you could do again? Being present with your family when you possibly weren’t before? Exercise? There’s no end to filling the void. Pick something.

Good luck with your choices.

Chris.

I lost a life changing amount of inheritance money to gambling after my parents passed away. Personally I couldn’t possibly look at bank statements. I know  what I did and I know I can only move forward. Doesn’t make it easy but I have a job, I’m alive and live to tell the tale.