Finding myself again

Hi mask

It's not incredibly difficult

Well done for posting on here

You are not alone feeling like this believe me

Reducing gambling is no solution

YOU WILL NEVER WIN BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER STOP

You can win now every day you you don't play

Just think about that for a minute, you know it makes sense

You will never get your losses back, let them go and start on this amazing journey of recovery by simply abstaining and maintaining one day at a time

To a gamble free life

Best wishes

Suzanne xx

Thanks for taking time to reply, Suzanne. One part of your post struck a chord with me. "You can win every day you dont play". I'm going to write that down on a piece of paper and keep it in my wallet. Very simple, but very true. I like the idea of turning a no gamble day into a victory.

Thanks again for posting. I felt I needed a quick comforting response as I'm feeling very low at the moment.

DAY 1

No intention of gambling. If I do, I will have no money for the month and that is a position I can't leave myself in.

Usually stick a few quid on the football, but I'll just watch the games and enjoy them.

Getting to payday is the first milestone. I'll get there, because I cannot win so there's no point trying.

DAY 1

No intention of gambling. If I do, I will have no money for the month and that is a position I can't leave myself in.

Usually stick a few quid on the football, but I'll just watch the games and enjoy them.

Getting to payday is the first milestone. I'll get there, because I cannot win so there's no point trying.

Well done mate,take it 1 day at a time and you will get there in the end.try a set a small goal like getting to xmas gamble free.thats my goal right now.i know its not easy but think of the xmas you can have if you dont place a bet from now to then.;-) take care Scottyboy

DAY 2

I actually feel these days aren't a real indicator as the first test comes on payday. To be honest, I'm bored. I'm even more bored because I don't have any money to do anything fun. I had to turn down a day out yesterday with friends as I don't have any money available to spend.

I'm going to have to find a few new hobby's and focus on other goals. The devil on my shoulder is saying, just blow the last of your money for the month, you might get lucky. A voice I usually listen to. This time I'm going to play it sensibly and get through the month.

I've prepared a spreadsheet of a budget and savings plan. Money I will save will be transferred on the day I get paid and will be locked into an account so I can't access it. PayPal is a problem as I seem to use that to fund gambling sites, so it might be worth deactivating my PayPal account. Is there a way to keep the account but ban particular websites or types of websites?

A gambling site sent me an email offering me free spins. I need to remove myself from all these mailing lists. The adverts and promotion poured into the gambling industry is insane and really frustrates me.

Today's reminder: Every day I don't gamble, is a victory.

Hi mask

You need to self exclude yourself from these sites so they don't send you emails. I find myself the same as you with boredom but I dont actually think its boredom its the lack of adrenaline rush thsr we are so used to.

Just dont give in mate and keep abstaining.

Mba

And my target is xmas too if this is day 2 then 22nd December would be day 100.

Im having the same thoughts as you. Its difficult to stop gambling when you have a little money and you need a little more to do things.

Stupid brain thinks gambling will solve my problems. Gambling only makes my problems increase.

I stopped gambling for good 20 days ago and I am having large urges to gamble already. I have not even passed my first pay day yet.

Your post has helped remind me of my position on Day 1. Just got to ignore any thoughts to gamble and remember all the financial problems that are caused by my gambling. I wont be able to stop so I shouldnt start.

Christmas is a sensible target. Glad my post reminded you of the difficulties early on, stay strong.

DAY 3:

I'm beginning to accept that I'm an addict and always will be. Sneaking back to it, and putting "just a pound" on a bet is something I've done before, but this will only lead me to the same destination. Misery. Complete abstinence is the only way, I don't think I've ever fully accepted this.

Boredom is still a problem. I have no money to do anything, and this is depressing me. I visited the doctor today and was prescribed some medication, hopefully it helps. I was told I was underweight, but no money means no fiood, so I can't really begin a healthy diet until this month finally finishes.

Overtime has become available at work. My thinking is that since I'm bored anyway, and to distract me from negative thoughts, I might as well take advantage of the overtime. It's going to mean a lot of late nights, but I'd rather be there, than wasting countless hours at a bookies.

I've excluded from every gambling site I know. I've set up an email filter to block any gambling related information. My PayPal still concerns me, I might just get rid of it completely, but for ******* it's brilliant.

Anyway, staying strong for now, and feeling slightly better about things. I just wish this month was over to allow me to fully progress.

Hiya

I'm unsure what your problem is with paypal?

What is the email filter you use?

Definitely do the overtime mate. Then once you get paid it maybe treat yourself.

Mba

I sell a lot on *******, so I always have funds in my PayPal account. Unfortunately, I've been using those funds to pump into gambling sites online. I suppose with the self exclusions now in place this shouldn't be a problem, and I'll just let it be. I'm just trying to put as many blocks in place to prevent any lapses.

Yeah, the overtime is getting hammered for the next couple of weeks. Haven't treated myself in years, so that sounds like a good idea, I'll try and save the bulk of it though. The thought of doing all this overtime and blowing it is enough fear to put me off actually doing so. I'm fed up of working for nothing. Once I get my life back in order I'll look into getting another job.

Just realised I forgot to answer your email filter question. Its a simple filter set up with gmail. Any email containing the word gamble, bet, betting, gambling gets automatically deleted.

DAY 4

I'm going well. I have managed to do six hours overtime in two days. I'm going to blitz the next couple of weeks, in order to distract me and also raise some extra cash for me to store in my savings account. This money won't be in until the end of October, so it gives me enough time to prepare for it. I'm exhausted, so this is a short update, but I do feel slightly more motivated and happy with the direction I'm heading in.

Thanks mask

You're doing really well and I used to use paypal too but my self exclusions means I cannot deposit by any means.

I'll try the filter thanks

Totally agree with the overtime theory too. Don't do them extra hours and give the money to the bookies. I did it for years and just wished I accepted all of this years ago.

Keep it up mate

Mba