Wow. What a year it has been. I've lost thousands. Probably about 20K. What makes it worse is that it was inheritance and money from my parents. I'm 21. I have never been so determined to stop. I feel absolutely heart broken. I'm not even sure what to say. I won about 5K last week by complete fluke. I didn't have the determination to withdraw it and I cancelled the withdrawal and blew the lot. Does anyone have any similar stories with inheritance money. It's almost as if I wouldn't feel so bad if it was MY money I lost. But it wasn't.
Something in our culture needs to change. I can't watch 20 minutes without seeing a gambling advert. I have signed up to almost every gambling site imaginable. I've closed them all. You can reopen them. You can make enormous withdrawals and then you can cancel them. THIS NEEDS TO STOP. I feel like my life is already over at 21, what's the point in all this. I feel beyond sad. My parents love me and they are so proud of me but if only they knew the truth. I really need help and if anyone has some kind words I would be beyond grateful. I have just spent an hour talking to an adviser on here regarding some very interesting tips like the importance of spending money on ME. I feel as though watching the number go round on a computer has made me lose realisation of money.
determined for 2015 to be a new start.
Hi Daisy. I'm sorry to hear you've had a bad time. I think most of us can relate to getting sucked in to gambling, the losses getting bigger and the bets more desperate. The hardest thing about stopping is letting go of the losses we have endured. The thought of winning it all back is what drives many of us on, but chasing our losses ultimately only makes things even worse in the end. We have to break the cycle of losing, then gambling to win it back, losing more, gambling more etc etc. It is what sends people to the brink of insanity.
It may feel like the end of the world but you are still young and you can turn this round. OK this has been a hugely difficult phase in your life but you can move on from it. Your life won't be defined by numbers on a screen anymore. You look back at how ridiculous the whole thing really is.
I know you will be feeling lousy right now and that nothing will make you feel better but every day you stop is another day towards breaking free from gambling. It takes time and it won't be easy but you really will start to feel better if you can stay free from gambling.
This is a perfect opportunity to start afresh. Please take it.
Hear, hear...The money has gone I'm afraid (as did mine that I inherited @ a young age) & letting it go will be the hardest but best thing you could ever do! It took me to being twice your age to figure this out & I so wish I had done it years sooner.
You have your whole life ahead of you, install the blockers, if you can, get someone else to manage your finances, come here, get all the help you can get to stop this now! Slowly but surely you will start enjoying life & will feel the real value of money again!
You can do this - ODAAT
Hey Daisy - I'm on day 4 so by no means an expert - but for what it is worth I am going through a similar thing to you - lost over £11 k this year mainly on online slots and it wasn't inheritance it was credit cards/overdraft hence I now have a 5 year debt consolidation loan to pay it all back.
If you are at a cross roads and are determined to stop then the best advice I can give you is to install blocking software and get it to stop access to all gambling websites. I have done this tonight (for free) and I just need my best friend to set the admin password so i cannot override it. You can get the same software for your phone and I am so happy I have found it. I always thought you had to pay for these - but not all of them 🙂
With the guilt you feel re losing the inheritance money what you could do is to set up a savings account (that you can only pay into and not withdraw from) and pay in a set amount each month over a long period of time - say 5 or 10 years even. This would be with a view to repaying the inheritance money so that at the end of it - however long it takes you will have the money saved up which will be almost like you spent your own money and not the inheritance 🙂
Anyways not saying it's the answer, but just a thought and probably something I would do to ease the guilt and help move forward.
Clare
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