Good on you for coming straight back with a new plan but is it enough? I know you can't self exclude per se from the scratch cards that are everywhere but what about speaking to the places that you buy them & telling them you have a problem & asking them not to serve you anymore? Or maybe printing off something that you can hand over the counter with a photo? Can you plan ahead & do your shopping online so you don't put yourself in harms way?
It's great that you have days without urges, problem is, they are going to continue to strike so ensure that your 'savings' are out of reach so that Mr Gamble can't persuade you to have a go @ increasing them!
Never give up on giving up! Keep fighting - ODAAT
ODAAT wrote:
Good on you for coming straight back with a new plan but is it enough? I know you can't self exclude per se from the scratch cards that are everywhere but what about speaking to the places that you buy them & telling them you have a problem & asking them not to serve you anymore? Or maybe printing off something that you can hand over the counter with a photo? Can you plan ahead & do your shopping online so you don't put yourself in harms way?
It's great that you have days without urges, problem is, they are going to continue to strike so ensure that your 'savings' are out of reach so that Mr Gamble can't persuade you to have a go @ increasing them!
Never give up on giving up! Keep fighting - ODAAT
Hi ODAAT,
How u doing?
Yeah I know, iv said to deano I think they should put shutters over the scratch cards like they do the cigarettes!.. my local shops know me but I would be too embarrassed to tell them to block me from buying them as much as I'd like to, I'm such a private person and get embarrassed so easily, but it wouldn't matter as I when I'm in the zone I'd still travel to wherever I need to, to feed my craving.. I do shop online a lot of the time, but u can also buy them with your shopping now and have them delivered straight to your door!!! I mean talk about making it easy!! My whole thought process of buying scratch cards has changed now, I'm back thinking how I was when I got to 52 days without them.... my savings are gonna go straight into my partners bank account so no getting to them lol...( and he knows about it) I will check in each day and record my feelings as I know this helps me massively xx
Got through day 1 today with no urges so alls good xx
Hi all, been a bit busy to write anything on my journal, but here I am 5 days gamble free and no thoughts of gambling what so ever.. now we all know that can change in a blink of an eye, but I feel like my mind set has reverted back to when I stayed gamble free for so long before, so I'm hoping it stays like that...
Keep strong everyone
We can't win because we can't stop!
Hi Deano, how r u doing?.. yeah that does make sense actually they are similar with bonus bits and all different colours and the fact they are all in rows in a line!.... well it's been a whole week gamble free I'm feeling good x
Well today is day 11 gamble free! Been a good fun day today with my kids... I really don't know if I'm not gambling due to being pre occupied, having things on my mind or just because iv turned a corner, I really hope it's because iv turned a corner I really do xx
Today is 14 days gamble free and I'm feeling really good... don't get me wrong iv been tempted by the scratch cards and think in a little way I always will be, but iv kept my guard up, and have now realised how little I spend when i walk out of a shop with just wot I need and no scratch cards... I don't know if this is the reason or not, but I have been planning wot I'm going to do with my kids at the weekends whether this is a distraction or not I do not know, all i know is I'm flying threw these days and I'm feeling really good xx
Woooohoo!! cannot believe I am at 21 days gamble free already!! It really has gone fast, I'm already noticing the difference in the amount I'm able to save for our family holiday this year...
Please everyone who's trying to beat the devil, just take it a day at a time and the days will just fly by without u even realising it...
Iv lived both lives and I sure as hell know which is better..
Keep strong everyone
We can't win because we can't stop!
Well here I am still beating the demon at day 24! .. I can assure the ones of u that are early days it does get easier around the first few weeks, although I'm still slightly tempted every now and again, the urges are less intense, and I just remind myself of the horrible times I was gambling and the amount iv lost...
Out for a nice meal with kids and family tomorrow life is good x
We can't win because we can't stop!
Well here I am back to day 1!.... not happy at all that I let the demons take over, started buying scratch cards again, which r my worst enemy, haven't gambled on the slots for a very long time and don't think I will ever go back to them.. it's the scratch cards that r my downfall, I really wish they could put them behind shutters like the cigarettes,life would be so much easier, when there's a new scratch card out it sparkles at me like a diamond, the temptation gets too much.. I started buying just a few £5 ones thinking I could control it like I always do, but started buying more and more, even saying I'll stop when iv won my money back, then winning it back and spending it the next day, what a fool I am, I seem to have in my head that just because I don't spend hundreds a week on them that it's not a bad thing, but the fact it makes me feel like sh#t when I buy them and the fact of the money I lose could go on holidays and my children is way enough to make me realise that it don't matter how much I spend, I still have the urge to buy them and if u have an uncontrolled urge for something, then that's called addiction... this is day one of the rest of my life gamble free once again.
We can't win because we can't stop!
Nothing says it as much as that quote..
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