Here we go!

Hi mate

Not brilliant pal- had a relapse last friday, so have stopped posting. I still read but cant bring myself to post.

The relapse lasted a weekend and i lost £150, and once again obviously our lass found out. I m pretty sure she would have thrown me out but the fact i was working away obviously meant she couldnt do that. The thing is i know i cant get away with it anymore- she has access to all the accounts but yet i still do it! i scare myself sometimes.

Anyway i went home and once again we had a long chat, (words are so cheap now tho). I explained why (i think) i did it and explained i just found it too hard to go "cold turkey". Anyway once again we are working through it. and looking forward to christmas. I am 11 days gamble free now and same as last time am not getting the urge at all. I know there are testing times ahead but make no mistake i am now on last chance saloon with my family, and any decision to gamble is a decision to throw the people i love away.

Thanks for your concern tho pal. Hope you are well.

At least you're being honest with the Mrs, it's a start. Don't beat yourself up over a relapse, just do what you can to avoid a repeat. Self exclusions are worth doing, without doubt. I found the best thing early on, give yourself no access to cash at all.

You can do it mate, keep talking about it. Post on here, we've all been there. Keep talking to the Mrs, mine took me for a few drinks on 1 month, bought me a small gift for 100 days. Tiny steps, but felt really positive.

Cheers pal will do.

So far so good- not many urges at the moment and thats now 16 days done.

22 days done! Still looking towards that month mark. So far its been easy- got back into the gym and trying to stay positive.

We are still very skint so i made a major step of contacting stepchange the other day. The lady on the phone was very helpful and supportive. We began by listing all my outgoings and what i spend where and on what (anyone who has ever contacted them will know what im talking about). She gave me some basic advice saying we spend too much on telecoms and absolutely nowhere near enough on food and clothing etc. At the end however i was pretty deflated as there were no real options available to me. An IVA was absolutely out of the question as i have never defaulted or missed any payments so probably wouldnt be accepted. If i entered a DMP my monthly debt outgoings would probably only be decreased by £100 but that would ruin my credit file for 6 years. I honestly dont think its worth it. So i accepted the fact right there that i was going to stick to what we were doing, paying the debts back over 3 years. I will then be £1200 better off a month. I cant wait for that day! Its gunna be a long old road.

Went into work today and told the boss i wouldnt be attending the xmas do. Absolutely no money to throw at a P**s up.

Anyway onwards and upwards. Pretty low today (probably just because its monday) Will check in soon.

Peace

I did the DMP back in 2009 and one of my credit cards didn't actually default until 2014 - so I have another 3 or 4 years left of being declined for credit in future. If I could go back and give myself some advice I would tell myself to avoid a DMP - you're right it does screw with legit funds that you will need, like for a car in a couple of years,or a mortgage etc - you end up paying through the nose for even small amounts of credit because mainstream lenders won't touch you. Try to keep in touch with your creditors individually before they default you, keep them sweet and give them a plan and you will keep away from that dreaded default and the passing on of your debt to another agency. It may be tight to manage now - but just keep doing the right things, don't get yourself any more heavily into debt and try to keep current obligations at bay. Be better in 2 or 3 years when you're through the worst and can still get what you need for life at a decent rate.

Fair play to you Colt, taking responsibility and looking at your finances. It's a tough thing to do but a necessary one. I'm in a similar boat having to pay out a lot every month and it will take another 3-4 years to clear but that day will come if we stay away from gambling and keep working on improving ourselves! I don't like Monday's either, well mostly the mornings lol.

All the best

Wow hi all!

Havent commented on my diary for a while- just been so busy!

Can happily say however that i havent gambled- SO THATS 117 DAYS! and the urges are all but gone- still a mountain of debt to get rid of but still fighting strong and the numbers are excruciatingly slowly going down.

Goin away with work for 6 months in four weeks, thats the next marker date to get to.

Peace

144 days still going strong.

Still ultra skint but its easing- mainly because i am getting used to living on 20 quid a week. Have other things to think about aswell at the moment, six months away next saturday, gunna struggle not seeing the Mrs and the kids but its part of the job i suppose. Staying strong- getting somewhere now. Just need that 144 days to be around 800 and ill have truly made it.

Peace

Well done for all those days GF i do hope your still GF. Keep it up. Do it for your children

Well what a year. The last time I posted I was just about to go away with work. 6 months later xmas and a new year later and it’s still all good.

425 days. This year will be huge. Gunna be skint still paying the debt, but I’m confident I can do it.

Good luck to everyone out there fighting the good fight

430 days!!!

Im on my way!

450 days.

I wasnt going to comment again until 500 days but certian things just strike you every so often that really hit home how far i have come. I have been ultra skint this month- my wage was paid into my account early before xmas and so was my wifes- that means we have lived nearly 6 weeks on one wage. Couple that with new year kids birthdays and other day to day expenses aswell as the debt repayments we are constantly making- we have been ultra skint!

Anyway my point is 2 years ago this is when i would have turned to the bookies to gamble and try and make some money. I havent thought about it once! So proud- 16 months and i will have cleared 70 grand of debt and we will be £1500 better off a month!! The first two months of that will go on a nice holiday for my family. They deserve so much more because they have saved my life.

The little glimmer of light that i had 2 years ago is now a tunnel!

Hi mate well done this gives me hope that I can change. The light is small at the end of the tunnel but you have to keep going no matter how bad it gets.

Well what a lovely surprise- log on and find my days are 501.

Still going strong.

work and kids are keeping me busy.

yeah! alright. 501 looks good on you. I can't wait to have a similar surprise, it's gonna be awhile. t2