Focus on the future, because in the future you haven't gambled

Just a quick check in, all OK. Only monthly debt to pay and getting back to a normal life, focusing on things that matter. Have also been able to get into a new relationship and can treat her every now again without having to resort to my credit card or a payday loan, also great not having to hide my gambling which I did with my last girlfriend.

Will post a full update soon of how things are better and what changes I have seen. Stay tuned.

Good to hear from you Dan, and read you are getting a normal life back, :))))

Look forward to reading your update.

Suzanne xxx

Update -

Hey guys, well I am finally back on my feet. I still have my large debt but at a manageable 200 quid per month it no longer takes over my mind. On the positive I have started to put money aside to save for a house thanks to the Help to Buy scheme set up. Aim is to save 5000 in the next year and get 1250 from the government to buy my first basic house. This is actually something that I can comfortably do and on top of that I can still afford to do something I have wanted to do for ages...go and work in Australia!

Yes, you did read that all correct, I have done the math and it is within my reach. Cut back to 2 years ago and I would have only been able to do this with a massive 10k loan ontop of my 20k loan, basically it was just a pipe dream. Now thanks to ditching this addiction and applying my spare time on saving and sorting out my finances it is a reality.

I can even leave my job which is fairly well paid and thanks to efforts on studying and creating contacts in the industry I can go away for 6-8 months and come back quite confident stepping back into a job.

Before any of you say I should focus on clearing all my debt instead of travelling, I am getting to the point in my career and life where I am starting to stagnate and need a challenge. I believe it will be a challenge but hopefully kick start me with learning to value money again and not P**s it up the walls on what is a stupid and time consuming hobby that almost destroyed me.

I am not leaving until October so I have a long time to save up extra, but I realise during this time I may be tempted to risk some of my savings, so am setting up a separate account that I can only access once per year (basically just before I go).

Will try to come on here again later in the year to confirm I am still on track. I should also be doing a blog when I go out to Australia so happy to put the link on here if anyone wants some motivation. May post something in the success stories section of the website when I go in order to provide proof that it can be done even with what I feel is a massive debt on my shoulders.

Catch you soon.

Dan.

Is it all going to plan Dan?

Hi Dan,

Your story is inspiring. I am in a very similiar boat that you were in back in 2014 - I believe that I am now truly ready to say bye bye and make that step to stop altogether, and forever I am going to start by using your idea of aiming for 100 days and try and reflect on how much progress I am making. I hope you are still doing well pal.

Hi guys, thanks Santiago22 for your comments. I'm currently in a remote part of Australia working on a farm, but I have been having relapses throughout the last year so not as sorted as I thought. It has hampered what I thought would be a year to really make myself.

Financially I still have my debt in my English account but having an Australian bank account has allowed me to control my money a bit better.

I will give a full update in a few weeks but just needed to come on here to have a quick reflect at where I was a year ago.

Had a sit down and read through some old entries this evening. I'm not the crazy addicted guy I was itching for my next fix but I am still not cured unfortunately, as in I would have the odd bet at the bookies which I have since stopped.

I don't think it has helped being in Australia, probably the most expensive place to live and to add to it having to send money back to England to pay off fees every now and again.

But I'm surviving.

There were risks at times when I didn't know when my next payday was coming, there are the extra expenses of paying over £1,000 for return flights to England to see my new nephew and spend Christmas with family and friends.

All these are just excuses.

I need to be strict again so I am on day 6 and will come here at least once a week until New Year to keep me on the straight and narrow.

This time in 1 year I will be a lot closer to being debt free and happy. Plus 22 Nov will be my 5th year anniversary on this site!!!

Rst

7 days.
Weekends are always the toughest due to footy.
Very long and tiring day earning money at the weekend doing pizza delivery and flyers. I'm lacking a bit of social life but earning good money.
It will all click together soon.

Coming close to 2 weeks.
This week has seen a few set backs.
First - I messed up a flight home to England and had to pay an extra 85 dollars to correct
Second - I finally got paid for my part time job but it was less than I thought
Finally - I don't have any work tomorrow now.
But on the positive.
First - it's the weekend and the weather is beautiful
Second - A girl I was in a house share with has said she likes me and wants to go on a date, so we are off to the beach tomorrow
Finally - Sunday going on a road trip with friends from my farm work

So despite a slight monetary set back, I still have a weekend to look forward to and actually my finances are ok, yes I wanted a bit more saved up but I have enough to enjoy myself without counting every penny. Hey I even randomly bought new underwear for the first time in ages yesterday. That should be a priority they are something I use the most but I'd put it off saying I'm fine with the ones with a few holes in.

Day 15 need to come on here to reassure myself.

After a great weekend another slight worry is that my visa won't be granted before I go on holiday back to England. If that is the case I have to pay an extra 150 dollars. Luckily I have enough but wanted to enjoy myself this week and go out for a few drinks but I might have to ditch that plan just so I can keep on the straight and narrow. It will be worth it and I've probably over budgeted for my 4 weeks travelling and being in England so I should be ok and will have a nice pot of spare money when I come back out here.

Day 18. I'm really annoyed about Bitcoin at the moment. I had an opportunity to invest when it was only in the 3/4k area but didn't have enough funds to stick with it due to having to pay off x y and Z. Could have made some serious money. But I would have probably panicked and left myself short on cash and do something stupid.
Ah well the next opportunity that comes along I hope to be more financially sound.
1 week before I go travelling. Lets keep it together.

Day 21. Went on a night out and after leaving my friends I would usually try to go to the local casino. I thought about it but then realised it is going against everything I am trying to correct in my life. The problem is the possibility is still there and I just need to program my brain to not have to go there. My goal in going there is not usually to have fun but to try and make a bit more money due to the set backs I've had. We all know that I would lose a bit of money, get frustrated and lose even more so I'm really happy I didn't go.
Chilled day today hungover and inside as its raining don't mind as I still have my money and I'm going to reward myself with some ice cream or chocolate. Hopefully work tonight will be good and I'll make lots of tips.

Day 24. Really want to invest spare money into something to try and get a good roi but know that it's still a gamble so will not do it and just keep working hard. I'm almost ready to leave Sydney to go travelling and have enough money ( I hope).
Ask me again in another week.

Merry Christmas, so I haven't been on here for a while. I still haven't set foot in a bookies or placed any bet of any sort but I am trading gold and cryptocurrencys which is a form of gambling all be it in a different way. I'm only slightly down but I'm in England to be with family so it's all good.
I am still struggling financially, and it's hard as I have 4 weeks where I am not earning a penny but luckily I had enough to cover myself over this period although it could be tight when I'm back in Australia.

I have however been able to afford an amazing 10 day trip to Thailand on my way back (budgeting quite heavily but still managed) and I am going to Beijing in a few weeks, will have to get my head down and work when in Sydney. I have now got a girlfriend out there so that could eat into my spending a bit. Will have to work extra hours doing pizza delivery to cover it.

Things aren't perfect yet but I'm sure later in 2018 I'll be sorted.

Ok, let's start this again. 28 is my lucky number so let's put this to bed today. Has been a stressful start to the new year. I haven't lost much money to betting but I find myself doing it to cover boredom and the fact my funds are low as I had to pay for a few extra flights unexpectedly.
To add to that I didn't get any inheritance from my late gran as my parents have it all and have invested 60k very wisely (as in a fixed shares fund, something I wouldn't do, so in a way it's a good use of the money).
Very surprised and was hoping that would really get my year started off right but now I'm having to do things slowly on my own.
I'm thinking of being smarter with my food and drink purchases as I have been eating rubbish and drinking rubbish (sugary drinks) which has made me really just crash and not feel like doing anything. It has actually cost me more even though it sounds cheap at $2.50 or $1.50 etc.
I have looked at my long term finances and should have $5k in a 3 months and then I will put some of that to reduce my credit cards and the rest as a treat myself to a nice holiday up the East Coast of Australia.
Fingers crossed this plan finally works as I am fed up of putting things off with friends as I don't want to waste money, but just end up being anti social and hating myself.
Let's start with 10 days and see how I'm doing. See you in 10.