New Year's Day challenge!!!

Well looks like I may be alone...

I will join you and wish you the best of luck.

Fobt was my downfall so barriers were my salvation. Gave up cards and cash so i couldnt pop into yonder bookies. If i got cash i provided receipts to the penny. Have my card back but dont like spending unneccessary so leave it at home.

Barriers helped me and can form a good grounding in abstaining from the bookies.

Best wishes (415 days gf)

I'll join too. Only my 2nd full day GF but you have to start somewhere! For me this journey is about becoming a better man. Obviously losing all that money hurts and the debt will hurt too for years to come but if I'm open and honest with myself and loved ones I know I can come through this, we all can!

hi I'm with you , also my / our quit day (today) is 1st June - easier to quit on the first day of the month as a) it's a milestone b) easier to count up the quit days on the first of the month ! I've quit before but fell back into it 18 months ago after my mum passed away... got lucky a few times & was trading / arbing / bonus abusing but it still took a huge amount of time from me. want to keep what I've saved & to do other things in life...had a bad day on bank hol monday blew a few quid chasing couldn't stop myself. As though I'd learned nothing in all of my years of gambling. Not a vast amount but enough to make me think twice. then yesterday cleared a little bonus had a free bet to use so just did that. So today 1st June is my promise to fully abstain from here on in.

Five of us so far so that's a great start... 213.5 days left to complete this initial journey.

Balvaird - barriers have been key to me too and when I relapsed I started to put in place more.

Sam and Davey - I've got some tales I'll share tomorrow on being a better person and enjoying life... some of the benefits of quitting that I've seen

Deanoooo - I can see how barriers are tough for your particular scenario. You've done great so far.

We're in a clapped out old banger for five right now but we're all going in the right direction. Hopefully we'll need a minibus by tomorrow...

Right....I'll be number 6 then please...if thats ok guys...the first lady on board ! lol

Woohoo first lady on board! So then there were six... and we're out of the five seater and into a VW Campervan. Hope everyone is doing well on the journey. The first day is nearly down and it wasn't so bad. Just think if we can repeat this 213 more times then we'll go into 2017 with a load more cash and a much better attitude. More tales to follow tomorrow but keep feeding back and letting me know if there are any subjects you would like me to cover. There's room for more followers as well...

So 213 days to go (from tomorrow) and some tales of around how gambling can make you a better person and get some form of normality back in your life. I need to post tonight rather than in the morning as I'm on the road tomorrow. So here goes...

I found that when I stopped gambling I noticed how much I have been disrespectful to my wife by failing to do simple tasks... mostly because I was just a walking gambling zombie who was only focused on scores and odds. For example, I'd leave my plate on the side or leave my clothes all over the house waiting for my wife to sort it out when she got sick of their sight. Since quitting my mind was free and I was placing my plate on the side I just thought "what are you doing?" and I started to put my plates in the dishwasher and do other little 'normal' tasks that didn't enter my mind. These are relatively small things but big things in the scale of where you are as a decent human being.

I then started to upkeep my house better so I mowed the lawn every week rather than every month. I washed the windows and washed my wife's car without her needing to ask. I had time on my hands and I needed to fill it constructively to avoid letting my mind wander. Spending an hour cleaning windows took me away from an hour staring at the TV watching a sport I had no real interest in but would have gambled my life savings on.

This created a new mindset for me and I started to do many other things I'd let slip - phoning my mum to ask how she was, visiting my nanna, doing the shopping etc etc. All things I never had the time to do as I wanted to be in the house focusing on a screen to see if a tennis ball was bouncing the way I need it to do.

I then started to crochet a blanket for my son as a new hobby... ultimately I failed as it is more difficult than it looks! but I would have never done that before. I took more interest in work and the people I was interacting with every day. There are so many things I just would not have done if I was gambling.

Look at Alan's diary for the recent changes in his life, look at Robf and Cardhue for what they're doing, they'll be tonnes of other examples out there...

So have a think today about how you are spending the time you would have previously spent gambling and no doubt you'll come up with something that is making you a better person.

hi just checking in day 2 today. lot of tiredness coming out. It isn't just the money (win or lose) it's the time & energy spent on gambling at the expense of real life. Slept a lot yesterday ! Did briefly look at oddschecker fancied a horse (odds on) watched the race on a streaming site it finished 2nd ! so would have lost ! Had thought about putting a lumpy bet on it (plenty did) but didn't fortunately ! so money saved already !!

Morning. Like you i have become more active and have got a lot more done. It is also about being there and being more reliable. Less mood swings which in the past were very up and down depending if winning or losing.

Have a good day

Still on board. My tale for today is an excerpt from a post on my own diary 'I remember one day in particular when the price of sandwiches in the shop went up 20p and I was raging. Imagine putting up their prices again only 6 months after the last rise! I proceeded to lose over 100 that day.' When we are in gambling mode all logic goes out the window. I have a CG uncle who wouldn't think twice about putting 1000 on a horse but would re-use the same tea bag for 3+ cups of tea!

I'm still very early i my recovery but feel the fog lifting already. Have a good day everyone!

Davey - the time and the stress is a major part - losing days of life. Try and stay off oddschecker for a few days as that's part of the addiction - addicted to checking odds and sports events was the first step for me. It's flirting too much with temptation. Have a good day.

Bal - mood swings are a big thing. Up and down and all over the place. My wife would notice that!

Sam - I've had haircuts that have cost me £300. It's a nightmare. Just need to avoid getting stressed with normal life costs but us CGs want to spend all our money gambling... the opposite should be true!

Good stuff everyone. Keep the faith.

So we've got less than 212.5 days to go...

Had a good day today out on the road with some tunes on. I used to only listen to talksport but I had to put a stop to it. They're in bed with all the bookies so it's constant sections talking about odds. Music makes you feel uplifted when the weather is nice so I'm happy I've re found it. Used to be checking scores all the drive home... madness.

Hope everyone else had a good day,

2 down and 212 to go. I was thinking about a topic for today and an obvious one based on a good day yesterday is... work.

I find that being gamble free has made me much happier at work and able to perform much better. I have taken away a distraction from the day. I would regularly sit there staring at my screen but my mind racing away at how much money I had lost at lunchtime or thinking about a potential bet or checking scores on my phone.

I used to hate going into the office as it took away some of my gambling time. I didn't want to speak to people if I'd just done a load of cash in so I avoid conversation and I had no interest in going the extra mile.

Now I'm free in my mind I can perform much better. I also don't stress too much about big days at work if I've got an important presentation extra... that may be because I'm been through so much serious situations in the past 12 works that work stress is trivial to me but it also may be because I have a better outlook now that I can't get stressed and I just need to get on and be happy and not grumpy.

I hope that makes sense.

Still the 6 of us for now but as its Friday we'll soon be on our first weekend away!