Time to quit for good

Thanks Equinox,

£2,500 a year isnt a lot to some and is not a lot compared to some of the stories have read on here but its 10% of my salary and im not saying i will save that £2,500 a year if i manage to stop but i will at least be able to save half of it and spend the rest on myself instead of throwing it away to the bookies.

Up until i started this thread a few weeks ago i lost all value of money, i would go shopping and not buy myself something because it seemed a lot to me at the time but i would then go and lose £200 the next day gambling without realising what i was doing until it is too late.

The main thing for me in quitting is having a normal life back and not letting gambling rule my life in so many ways, its not the money lost which i regret the most its the days and weeks wasted.

Hi CM3003

Well done on your jouney to a gamble free life. Read some of your posts, yeah £2,500 a year may not seem like a lot in comparison to others. But you could of easily ended up lossing a lot more, going into debt & losing a lot more than just finances. Seen it happen so many times. Best wishes on your gamble free future, stay strong.

Hi Mattick,

Yes there has been many times where i almost lost it completely. The most i lost in a week was £1,000 and it could have been two or three if i hadnt stopped and thought about what i was doing. For me i havent lost money in the past gambling every week , it has been in chunks, i seem to be able to have it under control for around 6 weeks and then bang lose between £200 and £500 in a few days because of boredom.

This has been the first time i have started a diary and it has helped a lot, i also ordered a new debit card and my girlfriend scratched off the security code so there is no way of depositing online anymore which i always found too easy in the past.

Day 18 : £135.00

Watched the football last few days and no urges. I keep saying to myself we cannot win, that in the long run whatever i do win i will only eventually give back so no point.

Day 19 : £142.50

Bit of a win yesterday, Natwest refunded me £820 for overcharging me interest on a loan i took out with them in 2012.

If it had happend a month ago i would deffinately have thought i had some spare money to gamble with but havent even thought about it, put it straight into savings account.

Day 20 : £150.00

Hi CM3003 - congrats on achieving day 20, plus winning the bonus Christmas gift from NatWest!

Reading you post makes me appreciate just how much better it is to be gamble-free - because you're dead right, it would have been so easy to stick that money on a gamble which would have ulitmately resulted in it all being lost.

Thanks Equinox, it has come at a good time for sure, didnt expect it so was a nice suprise.

For anyone struggling, you can stop gambling, I am only on day 20 but its the first time i have gone this long without a gamble for 5 years and yes I could give in at any moment but it deffinately wont be for a while as I am not missing it at all, dont have any urges and am more focused on spending my time and money on more important things.

You seem like similar to me CM3003 , can go ages without gambling than boom, soon as my eye is off the ball. Well done on making it to 20 days. I used to have a problem with online gambling a few years, didn't take too long to lose interest completely. Hopefully be the same for you.

Thanks, online gambling is just too easy to get carried away, always starts off with me depositing a tenner and if i get on a bad run them deposits turn into £50 then and a couple of times even £100 and i dont think of the deposits as real money, i would never gamble more then a tenner in cash in a bookie but online it doesnt seem real to me until ive lost it all and realise what i have done, i am just relieved to not be able to gamble online anymore.

Day 21 : £157.50

Day 22 : £165.00

Weekend gamble free

Only one thought about gambling Saturday morning but soon went.

Day 23 : £172.50

Day 24 : £180.00

Month ago I would watch a game and have to have a bet at some point to add extra interest but now I can put the game on and can watch with no urge at all.

Day 25 : £187.50

Good work I love how you're counting your savings. I have put 27 quid away this week and will be putting 150 away on Friday. Almost 200 quid I would have more than likely gambled away but now I am saving.

Good luck keep it up x

Thanks, its not all about the money saved but its a big part of it. Keeping track every day is helping me stick to it, every Friday I withdraw £50 and put the cash away in an envelope, ill be at £200 saved on Friday.

What I have realised though by quitting is how much of my time it took up, I would spend an hour or two each night after work gambling and on weekends up to 3 hours a day.

Now I do a lot more with girlfriend and friends who I have ignored a lot over the last few years.