Take 2 this times for real

Can't believe i just wrote poke instead of poker! I think a game of poke is something much different hahaha! Actually laughed out loud at that...ooooppssss! That'll teach me not to re-read before sending!!!

Day 7 woooo one week done and dusted. Not much to report, had some crazy gambling thoughts last night before I went to sleep. Been sleeping pretty well thank goodness and normally when I wake up the first thing I think about is how much money I lost the night before or what debts have I got to pay off this week...not been having any of that its felt really good to not wake up every morning and think about money.

Do you think that us gamblers are addicted to money?

I remember as a kid I was ridiculously good with money. I used to save all my change and count it out into money bags and deposit the few pound in my savings account. What the hell happened to me?! Maybe I should try that again and start appreciating the value of money again. It's amazing how all those coppers add up eventually!

Managed to move my entire high interest credit card onto my hubbys interest free one so we've got at a good 2 years to sit back and relax and save up some money without having to worry about hundreds of pounds of interest every month. Will be nice to have a pot of emergency money instead of relying on credit cards all the time.

Looking forward to a good weekend. Out on the town tonight and really looking forward to it 🙂 hopefully the weather picks up so I can enjoy quality time in the back garden with my little girl!

Shorty x

Hi Shorty,

Just thought I'd swing by and ask how you're getting on ?

Cheers

Hi Michael, thanks for checking in. Things not going too good so thought i'd stay off the radar for the meantime. No point in posting every day if I seem to have a blip every week! Not been gambling large amounts, a tenner here a tenner there but its still gambling and I've read other diaries on here where people compulsively keep lapsing and other cg's don't appreciate it so until I manage to go a few weeks then I'm not going to post. Really, it wasn't really working was it?! I still read the diaries everyday though. Like to see how everyone is doing! Am leaving my bank cards at work over the weekend so that will cut off the urge to deposit. Just can't really find that road that is going to keep me away from gambling at the minute. Glad you're still going strong 🙂 wish I was up at the 70 day mark with you! xx

Hi Shorty,

What an interesting thought that you mentioned about us CGs being very interested in money. Yes, I was the same when I was younger and loved to save small coins until they filled the jar. I still do with my coppers and 5ps and then treat myself to taking them down to the money machine in a well-known supermarket and using the voucher to buy some nice food.

It does not matter whether you have been gambling the odd tenner here or there, what really is worrying is that gambling small is a real problem for us CGs. We all know what gambling small WILL lead to so please be very careful with that thought, eh?

Have you self-excluded from online sites? This is one way that WILL stop you from being able to deposit any money. After my online gambling period earlier this year, I went even further and signed up then immediately self-excluded from any sites that I had never heard of. That was before I installed K9 which is free and is really doing the job.

You can get to 70 days, it just takes time. Take it one day at a time, eh?

All the best.

GT

Hi Gettingthere...after reading your post I just self excluded from the one access to gambling that I would have over the weekend...the mobile phone site that I can deposit £10 a day. Why waste £10 a day...in gambling terms its like 5p to me...but really I could put it towards the weekly shop or treat my little girl to a teddy. I know that with my cards at work I won't physically be able to gamble so even if I wanted to and tried every trick in the book it would be impossible...and the cards are going to have to stay in work for the forseeable future. I have self excluded from so many sites there can't be that many left! I did buy anti gambling software but I worked out how to override it so that was another 50 quid wasted!

Will see how I get on over the weekend. Hopefully if I get through the next few weeks without betting I can come back on the forum with renewed positivity...at the minute my posts would just be meaningless. xx

Hi

I really do not think your posts are meaningless , we are here to support each other and you need to make your diary work for you. I do not keep mine updated but I read every day 2 or 3 times every one else's and this is working for me at the moment. I have been gamble free for quite a while. I read something the other day which really hit home with me which I would like to share with you. Some inspiring person had written would you stay in an abusive relationship, I for one would not and have strong views about it, gambling is like staying in an abusive relationship. That comment has silenced any urges that I have had.

I just wanted to give you my perspective on things, I hope it helps.

Thinking about you

Kaza

Great news about you putting a block in in preparation for a vital weekend for you.

You are so right about the value of that £10. Yes in gambling terms, it's like pennies but in real terms, it's an awful lot of money. It's actually a nice dine in for 2 deal from a well-known food supermarket.

You will get through this weekend, just make sure that you keep yourself busy and stay far, far away from any possible temptations.

And should you be faced with a choice whether to gamble or not, shout out a determined "NO!" After all, I had to make one of those choices only this morning.

All the best, enjoy your gamble-free weekend and I look forward to hearing all about it come Monday.

GT

Well no cards = definitely no gambling. If I can keep that up every weekend I should be flying.

Well today is day 8 for me...the leaving the credit and debit cards at work trick is DEFINITELY working and will be carried on for the forseeable future. I know that this is the only thing that is going to work for me because deep down I know when the pain of the last loss subsides i will want to gamble again. I am nowhere near of the mindset that I hate gambling and will never ever ever do it again so until that day cutting off access to sites and funds is the only way I can abstain.

Even though I haven't been posting I have been reading lots of diaries. I wonder about those people who started a diary and then 2 months later just fade away.

I think having to go all weekend without my credit and debit cards makes me spend less money as its much harder to part with cash than it is to stick something on the plastic so this new method to stop me gambling may also have other positive affects!

Have a good weekend all...I'm going to keep posting now...feel like the recurring blip phase has passed now....hopefully xx

Well today is day 13 for me. I should be pleased but to be honest my lack of gambling isn't down to willpower its been down to me putting so many barriers in place it is actually impossible for me to make a deposit. Was fine up until yesterday and then went on a massive binge to try and deposit! Failed which is a good thing but i feel like i NEED NEED NEED to gamble aarrrrrggghhhhh the urges are so bad right now 🙁

Hi Shorty,

Haven't heard from you for a while - just thought I'd ask how you're getting on ?

Thought it was about time that I resurrected my diary! been a while since I posted...was in the routine of falling off the wagon and thought it pointless to keep posting! Its been 14 days since I had my last bet. I haven't lost a great deal of money even though I haven't posted for a while and I haven't actually gambled that many times but I still wasn't in the right frame of mind to quit. Now that I have been royally screwed over by an online site I actually don't think I would trust another site again so a few hundred pound in losses may have actually led to the key to quit this thing!! To be honest I haven't even been thinking about the debts which is VERY VERY strange for me. Normally its the first thing I think about when I wake up and the thing that keeps me awake at night but for the past 4 days I don't even think I've thought about them once...it's like someone has just turned off something in my brain and my goodness does it feel amazing!

I really hope that the way I'm feeling now lasts I don't want to get another few months down the line and think that another few hundred quid won't matter.

Here's to the rest of 2011 without gambling!

Hi Shorty8,

Keep going - 14 days is excellent progress. The longer you stick with it, the easier it gets. I, like you have fallen off the wagon in the last few weeks - September has been a bad month ! But I haven't lost any cash, but my CG tendencies have come to the fore recently, when I didn't cash in a win that would have sorted out a credit card. Anyway, a little bit more of the debt paid - still up my eyes, and still struggling - Xmas coming up and that.

Thanks for your post Michael...we seem to be having the same sort of rollercoaster ride with this recovery process!!

Day 15 today....absolutely no thoughts of gambling whatsoever. Still feeling like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders and just happy to be making minimum payments on everything at the minute. Keeping my head above water is priority number one and I know that I can do that. If I lose anymore money then things will just get too put of hand and I really don't want that horrible feeling I had back in May when I was totally out of my depth.

Booked a holiday yesterday! Really wanted to get something in the diary for next year so the family had something to look forward to. Paid a £300 deposit...realisitically I've lost time times that in a weekend on roulette. Only got to wait until the end of April lol! Gives me some time to get Xmas out of the way and save up for the final payment. When I was at the peak of my gambling I would never have considered booking a holiday!!! Why would I want to go and sit in the sun sipping cocktails when I can sit in my front room on a laptop and lose thousands of pounds.....my goodness I really had lost my mind!!!! I guess this is what they mean when they say you shouldnt focus too much on the debt and try and treat yourself when possible.

I was thinking of an idea to try and help us CG's....how about a service that you contact if you want to self exlcude from ALL sites instantly. I know there is computer software but there are ways around that...if there was one central company that you could email that was in contact with all the gambling sites that would just make life so much easier! I have self excluded from about 20 sites and I can guarantee I'd find another!! Anyway...just a thought...not sure it will lead to anything lol!

Have a great non-gambling day everyone 🙂