Hi Micheal,
There are some very reasonably priced hard drive readers out there that you can buy if you cant get your laptop working.Then, if push comes to shove and you have to get another laptop at least you can take the hard drive out of your old lap top, put it into the hard drive reader then cut and paste the things you need onto your new laptop ?.
I do understand how its easy to rely on the internet for things.Its funny though that you should post this as i wrote a post concerning the internet on my diary this morning.The internet has, like all things many good and bad points.The thing is though that progress and life has gone this way and we, like many others just go with the flow.
All the best and i hope your doing well
Steven
Day 31, Day 32
Another 2 days closer to my target of 100. Off the the match yesterday with my son (I'll not mention the team), but an awful match with 2 teams apparently "Premier league" teams - dreadful.
Managed to get the lap-top working again, after a few hours internet searching (on my work connection), was almost ready to ditch the thing, but it turned out to be a quite simple fix - reckon if I took it to a PC Repair shop, it would have cost me a fortune.
Gambling thoughts are non-existant, but I accept that there's a good chance they'll return at some point in the future.
Day 33
A third of a century. Gambling is completely off the menu, no withdrawal symptoms, no urges, not missing it, nothing really - part of the real world now.
I'm starting to switch off from debt a little more which is good, I relax and I chill-out. But when I do start thinking about it, it brings me crashing back down to earth, with a £30K CC debt, and £25K owed to Parents. The battle continues, as it will do for a number of years.
Day 34
Dreadfully bored at work at the moment. Being bored is not the right place to be for a recovering CG. I know what I have to do to get back to the way I was before this all started. I'm tired, unhealthy and unfit = boredom, moody, stressed. Sleep + better eating + exercise = more focussed = more productive = more money = quicker debt repayments = happier me = happier family. Easy !
Starting with the easiest and most important of the lot, a good night's sleep !
You're doing really well, 34 days is brilliant.
And when you get that long night's sleep, you will feel a lot better!
Have you tried Horlicks? It works sometimes for me.
GT
Hi Michael...I know what you mean about being bored at work. My job is just ridiculously boring at the minute. I'll have the odd day when I'm really busy and I love it and then things just die down again and I'm clock watching! I've started going for a power walk at lunch time. I used to just pop out and get some lunch and then come back and sit at my desk but to try and break up the day I go for an hour long walk round the city. Not sure what it's like where you work but I'm in the city centre and I've really enjoyed exploring and finding some little back street shops! And it will improve the fitness levels!
So I reckon we're pretty close to cracking this thing now! We've had our ups and downs but I think this is definitely the most determined we've ever been! Here's hoping anyway!
Lots of Love
Shorty xxx
Day 35
Shorty, I do go for a wander at lunchtime, but still feeling badly de-motivated at work. With redundancies looming, is a poor atmosphere. But I realise that my future is in my own hands, and there are career opportunities if I get off my backside. I've probably got another 25 years of my working life and I've asked myself whether I want to spend the rest of it procrastinating and making nothing of myself, or get off my backside and do something about it.
Day 36
Felt more awake today than I have for a while, and was more productive today than for a long time.
However, starting the worry about Xmas, and money. It's not really a good time for a CG methinks. Not wishing to sound like a stick-in-the-mud, but I'll be glad in some respects when it's all over. Just worked out that I'm unlikely to have enough cash this year unless I dip into the CC I've worked so hard to pay off - which is a little depressing. Anyway, gambling urges are non-existant at the moment.
Day 37
Not much to write about today expect, no gambling urges. Need to break through the 100day barrier by the end of the year.
Day 38
Half decent day. Had a another Mystery Shopper call, offering £50 fee for 1 coffee (about 1hrs work). These guys are desparate to get people to visit these places and they're offering me daft fees to get the assignments filled - thought that people were skint/in-debt/out of work, yet they can't seem to get anyone to do these assignments. Weird.
Oh, and no gambling urges !
Just make sure that you put that £50 to a good use, eh?
Don't forget to treat yourself a little as well.
Perhaps a nice coffee?!
GT
Day 39
Woke up in a stonkingly bad mood this morning - the usual with me i.e. a late night. I need to be starting each day on the front foot, unless I'm a real grumpy-b*stard. Feeling guilty about it now - but not 1 single gambling thought whatsoever.
Day 40
Starting to worry about Xmas expense. I basically do not have enough money to cover everything, so I will have to BT some cash from my CC into my Current Account - which I'm gutted about. Also, the car is in the garage, but should hopefully only cost £100 to fix.
4 years ago this month, we were just about to move into our new home, kids were excited, we were excited, we had a big mortgage, but a huge amount of money to spare, and not a care in the world.
Fast forward 4 years, I sit here worried about money, worried about myself, worried about my family, very concerned about our finances, tired, worn out, frustrated, angry with myself, but 1 think I'm not thinking about is gambling, which in itself is an achievement.
I'm longing for the good times to return.
Day 41
A depressingly expense month last month, and that's before the bulk of the Xmas shopping. I'm actually worse off now financially than I was exactly 1 month ago. Now starting to get concerned about how I'm going to afford this Xmas. I've attempted a BT of £1000 from one of my CC's into my Current Account - which should sort the majority of the shopping. I'm also putting as much as I can on ******* to generate, hopefully a few extra hundred quid. Need to ride out this storm, and looking forward to concentrating on some serious debt-busting come January !
Michael,
I feel your pain. I've been there....
Trying to pretend all is OK and trying to live a life with which your current means cannot support. The stress of it is unbelieveable. The debts just will not go down. Something always crops up. In my case I was delusional and trying to gamble to give myself a reprive each month. Guess where that got me?!?!?
Learning to live on reduced means is difficult but once you do it for a couple of months it becomes quite liberating. It cannot be done alone though... its too stressful being the one that is constantly blocking potential expenditures because they cannot be afforded but making up some other reason for it. I was a master at doing this. It drove my missus mad. I worried non stop about the next time she would mention converting the garage, or putting a patio in the garden etc..
You are fighting a really good battle. Whilst I'm sure you can win the war on gambling, the financial war is not fully under your control. If you manage to do it alone, then fair play to you... but please don't do it at the cost of a mental breakdown or marriage breakdown.
Brian
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