Pay Day ! **Please Share Strategies**

Not one of mine, but one that i have borrowed.

When pay day comes stock up on all of the essential items that you may need to last a few days.

Then placing your cards inside a jiffy bag, post then to yourself.

(2nd class stamp of course)

This may be helpful to those who perhaps struggle over the weekends?

Kim xx

What i have done is handed over my cash card to a friend who then lets me draw out small amounts to keeep me going.

Amazingly this month i still have cash left so it has worked for me - not sure how i would of gone on if i had access to my card 24/7 probably the same as before - gambled it all away.

It has worked for me so far and still not gambled as i did this all on-line and without my card i cant pay to go on any sites (and self excluded myself at the same time).

Craig

Rob,

Firstly let me say that I think we're all different. We may have similarities, but we are not all the same.For some I totally understand that giving up their finances to a friend or loved one is the answer. For me however, all it caused was rows with my wife. I didn't need to hand over my credit cards to stop gambling. I hit my rock bottom and took steps to get treatment. I do see why it can help in the very early stages though.Still, there is always a means to gamble if you want and that's why I think Gamblock is a waste of money, albeit symbolic of one's intentions.

The safest way in my opinion is to hand over control of cash to your partner or parents.

Even if you just hand over your cards the amount of damage you will do if you gamble will not be as much as normal.

If you are to hand over your cards but still want to draw cash then provide receipts of what you have spent to your parnter. I dont understand why people find it so hard to hand over their finances, yes it seems childish but not as childish as blowing loads of money gambling.

The amount of misery we have caused loved ones; to hand over control of cash can at least make them feel better.

By the way, Gamblock is hardly a waste of money, for twenty pounds it can save you thousands.

Yes, there is always a way to gamble, but the more barriers you put in place the harder it gets to gamble. It also gives you more time to think of your actions before you gamble.

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payday can be such an emotional time, and it can be so difficult to get through it.

Sometimes it just takes that detemination and grit to get through it.

I thing that dealing with payday, or dealing with any other stressful situation is about learning how to be comfortable with yourself and learning to love yourself.

i am convinced that working on yourself, and workng on the core reasons for your gambling is the key to successful abstinence.

hi rob,

as you can see from the posts,the common theme is get someone you can trust take care of your finances,as they say,what you dont have,you dont miss.

I have offered to keep my friend's cash card but he has not taken me up on the offer so far. He would find it inconvenient and I suppose that he would feel that he was admitting that he could not control his spending on gambling. Sometimes he has allowed his wife to control the money but at present he is hiding from her the fact that he has been losing money again.

I can remember one occasion years ago when I knew the day that my friend would be paid and I was expecting him to pay me some money back but he did not show up. I had a hunch that I might know where to find him - in the gambling arcade. I went up to him there and said that the game was up!

Hi Everyone,

All I would say is do not feel bad

about delegating your financial control , especially in the early stages if not in fact long term.

It is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Everyone with money management skills will openly admitt to doing it. Accountants, financial planners, the designated minister for finance(husband, wife,or partner) over seeing the family

buddget.

With or without a history of gambling it makes great sense to manage money in this way.

The reason is it delays the action of spending and provides time to discuss logically the pros and cons of individual purchase decisions.

Extremely wealthy people only ever

carry emergency change. The ones with full wallets usually have empty bank acounts- and carry cash for bragging rights.

I have found being focussed on money management small or large

gives me two things in recovery.

It gives me improved self-esteem for managing even when the low income weeks hit. It teaches me that it,s not what I earn but how I manage it that is important to my well-being. I was raised on the never enough mentality which is one

of the illusions that kept me trapped in thinking I needed to win big to be safe.

When you delegate your finances to friend, family, accountant it,s a mutual responsibility, and ultimately you are taking the ultimate responsibility by respecting the original agreement you reached with that person, and

negotiating changes in a respectful

way.

These are some of my thoughts on this very important topic.

Loves the other strategies mentioned.

From Chris

I'm trying to make my pay day the most positive day - as it should be. I don't have anyone who I can hand over my cards, money etc, so I need to be on guard when that day arrives. I have written myself a budget down on paper. I have included how much I can afford to pay towards my debts and how much I am going to spend on shopping. It feels like rations but it's the only way I know how to deal with my situation right now. Trying to beat the anger by being positive and hopeful.

deleted

Hi all,

Haven't posted in a while, but it's good to see the compassion is still here!

This is a very good topic. I'm almost a year in recovery and payday was always a scary time for me. I agree with some of the other posters about handing your money over to a third-party. I had my checks direct deposited into an account that I did not have access to.

After feeling more comfortable with money, I took my funds over again and began doing bank drafts to pay my bills. Basically, I set all of my bills to come out of my account immediately after payday. Not only did this keep me from getting my grubby little fingers on it, but it's much easier than sending a check.

Hang in there, everyone. It does get easier.

Godspeed,

Tyler

Here's a novel one I've thought up..!! Obviously when people have the money sitting in their account after pay day it's easy to use credit / debit cards for either cash gambling or online. Usually though within a few days the money has gone to mortgage companies, other direct debits etc. As such, a person only needs to limit access to cards for a few days.

As such, my suggestion is to put all cards in a polythene bag. They can then put this bag in a lunchbox of water and freeze the box. As such, the cards definitely cannot be got at. Leave it a few days later and start the defrost process. Hey presto - the cards are back all working and the person still has a bank account in decent shape!

Actually.. it's a bit of a stupid idea but my brain's in an innovative mood at the moment!

Hope everyone is well.

B.

but u could put them in the same poly bag and bury them in the garden!!