Time to stop

Hi CW,

No i havent told her yet but I am going to do it at the weekend. Like i have said before I usually go to her with everything, when im happy, when im sad and to not be able to talk to her about this has been hard. I guess it will get harder the longer I wait though.

My mum and dad are no longer together I am going to tell my dad as well.....I am thinking the more suport I have the better chance I have. Neither of them live anywhere near me these days but we talk alot as we are quite a close family.

Thanks for all the support guys.
Damian

Well day 9 is here and im still as determined as ever to stay away from plaving any type of bet at all. I have come to the conclussion that for my recovery I have to stay away from any form of gambling as evetually my addiction takes over. No little football bets, no poker games, no horses at the grand national.....nothing at all.

Tomorrow i will reach double figures and I have my first couselling session arranged through gamcare. I tend to keep alot of how i am feeling in and i think it will be good for me to get everything out.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Day 10 and double figures reached.

First counselling session at 3 today and before that get to spend the day with my boy.

Still no real thoughts of gambling at all and long may that last. Not getting too far head of myself though.

On the tram home from my first counselling session and boy did it feel good.

Talking to someone who understands what you are going through, no judgement and no reason to hide anything.

Would recommend it to anyone who has doubts about doing it.

Day 11 is here and just a quick post as I have a busy day planned.

Travelling down to Birmingham to meet some friends and to go to a football match.

No thoughts of gambling at the moment and life is definitely improving.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Day 12 and busy day ahead.

Taking my eldest to his football shortly and then need to do some work and then get packed up to head away again for the week.

Nearly reached the two weeks without being anywhere near a blip.

Day 13

Back away for work today and had a long drive this morning.....some reality starting to sink in aboutt he amount of money i had lost and will be paying back over the next 4/5 years but still trying to stay positive.

Hoping to hear about a promotion i wa sput forward for in the next week or two so that should help....fingers crossed.

hey matey,

almost at the 2 weeks mark ! 🙂 though the reality is sinking in it's better to have realised and started the recovery now than to be still digging that hole, trying to dig upwards but always ending up lower lol 🙂

hope the promotion comes in for you .. it will help financially .. though don't let that make you think of any spare "gambling" money .. it crossed my head once but easily dissmised it and now looking towards the extra to enjoy life with..

sure the next few weeks will clear your mind yet further and you will start to think of it as a bad dream and you have woken from it a better man.

Kris

Yes Kris.....now it's time to start dealing with the reality and not just feel happy that I am not gambling.

I have now put everything down on a spreadsheet and boy does it look worse when it's all written down in front of you.

I know I've said it to myself a hundred times......I'm such an idiot.....how did I let this happens again 🙁

This will be the last time though....I'm more determined than ever!!!

indeed matey.. I would advise looking towards an IVA .. it allows you to keep your house / car and i'm amazed how much they allow for everyhing else ! my payment if accepted is less than just one of my loans were originally ! strange i was allowed £700 a month worth of credit but apparently can only pay less than 200 back a month ...

Again that was a personal thing that worked for me .. I was tired of the debt and I guess when it got bad i did try to gamble my way out ,. got close once . but how many times can all of us say that .. but alas we put it all back in anyway and some.so to not get credit for 5 years works for me i can live more than comfortably for 5 years with more money than i would have had lol..

and yeah ive had the same thoughts.. but its a slide a steady one that starts of with managable amounts then goes down hill till we get to the bottom.. and which point we look back and see a silly ride.. one i won't be queueing up for another go on ,,

keep the chin up... have you called your creditors to see if they will help? i know when i first called they froze interest and charges .. that could help you out loads.. the more weight you take off the easier the journey will be

Kris

Thanks for the advice Kris.....makes alot of sense.

Im going to write to the credit card companies this week and see if there is anything they can do to help me. Everything else i can manage, just about, so once i get a reply then i will decide which way to go.

Well day 14 is here and i've hit the 2 week target.

I can already see the difference at work as I am getting my head down and getting really stuck in again. No sneaking off to the toilet for a hand at blackjack and no distractions. My sleep and eating are rapidly improving as well....so all in all life is definitely starting to improve.

Long chat with my mum last night and happy to be able to tell her the whole story.....hiding nothing. Been a long time since i have been able to be 100% honest abou money.

26th January 2016 will be a date i never forget.......if I keep going it will be the last day i ever placed a bet of any sort.

hey,

I bet the chat really did help mate 🙂 its nice to get it all off your own shoulders..

congrats on the 2 weeks.. what a milestone .. and things will only get better.. you've accepted what is done is done so no reason to look back .. all forwards onto a nice life without gambling... another 2 weeks will bring even greater rewards emotionally 😉

whats the next target ?

kris

Taking it day by day at the moment but my next real target is to tell my partner.

Agreed to discuss it with my counsellor this week.....I just fear she is going to think our whole relationship has been a lie.....but I guess this could have been avoided if I'd been 100% honest with her before. We are due to get married next year and there is no way I could go through with it without her knowing.

Last thing I ever wanted to do is hurt her......

Day 15

Another day forward and another day with no gambling. The days are slowly building up.

Had some news about my promotion yesterday.....said I should have a decision in the mail by 19th of Feb, so fingers crossed.

Have a good day everyone

Well got the news early and got the promotion I was after.....payrise isnt want I was really after.

Think it might be time to start looking outside of my cirrent company.

Looks good on my CV though 🙂