Goodbye fruit machines.. i hope.

I gamble online so i cannot help that much, however, can you limit your deposits from the bank each day/week? So that you have less to spend. The bank can limit how much you take out after you explain your situation. Otherwise it is difficult to exclude yourself from these places only not to go in! Good luck

Hi Mate, I'm a Sales Manager and I have the exact same issues. I find myself telling myself I'm stoping for food or coffee then drift into the gaming areas.

I started my 'stop' last week and my plan is as follows;

Take no cash , take no card - without the means you can't.

Take lunch and a coffee , without a reason to stop you won't .

Work harder , I find on the days I'm busy I don't even think about gambling.

You can do this mate- tell someone , you may feel pathetic (as I did) although it made me sit up.

I'm day 4 gamble free.

newguyneedshelp wrote:

Hi Mate, I'm a Sales Manager and I have the exact same issues. I find myself telling myself I'm stoping for food or coffee then drift into the gaming areas.

I started my 'stop' last week and my plan is as follows;

Take no cash , take no card - without the means you can't.

Take lunch and a coffee , without a reason to stop you won't .

Work harder , I find on the days I'm busy I don't even think about gambling.

You can do this mate- tell someone , you may feel pathetic (as I did) although it made me sit up.

I'm day 4 gamble free.

Thanks for the reply mate.

Ive started eating before i travel now so thats stops me going in for food but i often have to stop for a toilet break, and there is nothing i can do about that.

But i sit in the car park and say to myself.. 'just leave the wallet in the car'.. but i end up taking it with me and i always go in there. I lose whatever i have on me, then i withdraw a 50, followed by a few hundreds..(Which is Not helping my bank statements for when i need to get a new mortgage!).

I rang my bank and told them i wanted to set a daily withdrawal limit on my card but they said they cant do that! Ridiculous!

Think i will start leaving my bank card at work and just spend on the credit card at weekends. I tried just taking cash with me to work for the week but always lost it all on the way there so ended up skint all week at work.

Im on day 4 now but weekdays arent my problem. Im driving home tomorrow and have to pass about 15 of the b@stard services..

Will let you know how i get on!

Hope you're staying away from the gaming areas!

SUCCESS! Had to stop in 2 services for toilet breaks yesterday. Left my wallet in the car on both occasions and I'm well chuffed.

I've got home after a week away and where I'm normally stressed because of the money I've lost, I'm instead happy for the first time in a long time!

I also went shopping and managed to avoid both of the bookies! Very successful day!

See if I can do it again on Monday when i have to drive back to work past all of the dreaded services!

I told my girlfriend everything tonight. I had a lot to lose as I didn't want to lose her, the dog and the house, but I needed to tell her.

To my surprise she was understanding and offered to help me and we came up with solutions on how to do this.

It feels like the world has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel happier than I have in a long time. I'm determined not to gamble anymore so that we can have a better life together.

I would recommend telling your partner or family member about you're problem. It's the first time I have ever opened up and I'm happy that I did.

I'm self excluding from all of the local bookies tomorrow and on my way up the motorway I'm going to be self excluding from all of the service stations!

Going to bed a happy man

Well done brother. Feels good being honest & doing the right thing doesnt it!!

Made it back up the motorway without stopping at the services again! 🙂

After telling my girlfriend all, we decided it was best if she looks after my card during the week to stop me withdrawing any cash. I still have my credit card if I need to buy anything!

I'm only on day 9 of being gamble free but I feel happy about it.

Another journey made without stopping to gamble! The lads at work were offering to go down the bookies and put a few quid on footie bets for me. Turned the offers down as I want to stop all types of gambling!

12 days gamble free 🙂

3 weeks ago to the hour, I'd just lost £400 and was panicking as I didn't have enough to cover my bills.

Now I don't even care about the fruit machines in service stations and pass them with no bother. I stopped on my way up tonight to use the toilets and saw a guy with a wad of 20's feeding the machine and felt sorry for him.

My weekly drive that used to take 5 hours because of my stopping to gamble is now back to a 3 hour drive and I've realised that I hardly spend anything when I'm not gambling!

I'm feeling happy and will keep you updated with my recovery!

Congratulations on 3 weeks mrdaniel1 🙂

I would have told that bank where to shove my account as surely it's for 'us' to decide how much we want to withdraw each day! I only kept my credit card too when I turned over my finances & even though it is one that I can take cash out on (unlike the one I have for my Mother), it has the best rewards & OH could see in an instant if I had of slipped!

Lovely to hear you feeling happy 🙂 Remember though that our addiction is evil, it will try & lure you back when you least expect it so keep your guard up & never let it back in! 3 hours sounds so much more manageable than 5 🙂

Keep walking on by, keep strong - ODAAT

Last night I almost crumbled. I left my card at home but had 7 quid on me. Obviously not a lot of money but I stopped at the services on my way to work for a toilet break.

I left my wallet in my car but on entering the services realised that the 7 quid was in my pocket. The urges were unbelievable. My mind was dying to play on the machines..

I walked past and whilst on the toilet could think of nothing else other than the machines. I was half defeated and thinking that it was the end of my 29 day gamble free run. I didn't think that I would be able to stop myself going in on the way out.

I stopped outside the gaming zone and my body was almost throwing itself onto a machine but I managed to drag myself away.

It was an eye opener of how strong I need to be to beat this. I was telling myself that I didn't want to but was persuading myself in my head that it was only 7 quid... Crazy!

A warning for me to make sure I have no cash on me when I go in the services!

Firstly a big congratulations on your continued abstinence mrdaniel1 I have a similar problem with the roulette machines in the bookies. The feeling of losing money on these machines is awful so a gamblers logic is to feed them to win it back but then you find yourself more money down. You are doing great and just think how proud your partner is of you! Stay strong and here's to another gamble free day for everyone 🙂

Nt, new beginning and JoeyS thanks for the support!

Another week done! 6 weeks without gambling now! The 50 day milestone is fast approaching and I have no doubts that I will reach and surpass it.

Over the past couple of weeks I've kept away from temptation. My partner still has my debit card so I can't withdraw cash, but even when I have change on me I don't have strong urges at the minute which Is good.

I still think about gambling every day, quite abit, but it is more thoughts than urges. The lads at work are big gamblers and are constantly asking if I want to go down the bookies or if I want them to put a bet on for me. They say it's only a couple of quid... they don't understand what I'm trying to achieve. It's like telling a recovering alcoholic he can have a bottle of vodka. But I'm resisting and holding strong.

Hope it continues and I don't fail..I will update on day 50..

Just passed the 50 day mark!

Extremely happy with this and my urges aren't too strong at the minute. People at work and friends at home are supportive of my challenge and that is helping me along. I'm still in my overdraft so not seeing the real benefits of yet as I feel my money situation is still poor, but Ive almost cleared my 750 overdraft in a month. Il be glad when I'm out and can start having some savings for once!

Looking onto the next milestone of 2 full payday months without gambling. But that won't be until the 2nd may!