Gambling has left me with nothing - Jan2017

TT_Newbie

After reading numerous threads on the forum I couldn't find one directly linked to my situation. I realise as a whole everyone on here has the same goal but I hope anybody in my situation may get a little comfort in reading this and realise they are not alone ...

I live at home with my parents which at the age of 25 frustrates me like mad, as you will see at the moment I have no choice. At the age of 18 I got my first Job in a bookies locally. I loved it, my parents wanted me to go to Uni but I wanted to go out and earn money. Within a year I was deputy manager of the shop and for my age I was earning quite a nice wage, what I didn't realise was i had also acquired quite a horrible addiction ... Gambling.
Being around gamblers and gambling 5 days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day really wasn't good for me ... I have since left that job around the age of 21 and I am in my current position as a Sales team leader at an office wholesaler and I really enjoy it. However the addiction remains, I am nowhere near as bad as I once was however I have managed to get myself into a lot of trouble .....

I have Payday loans ... Long term loans ... credit cards ... Overdraft ... 2 store cards. It feels never ending and to be honest the way I feel at the moment it is never ending. The amount I owe at the end of these two months (Jan & Feb) outweigh my wage, I am going to have to borrow from Family members to try and keep my head above water, my problem being .. its not the first time I have had to do this and these family members will not take kindly to any requests. I feel deeply ashamed at having to ask them.
After the 2 months things should get easier as the payday loans reduce in quantity dramatically.

I have wrote this Diary firstly for advice from fellow members and also hopefully it will help people to follow me over the next 6 months get back on track with my finances, which have been in a bad way for around 5 years now.

As people know with gambling I have always felt as though i was in control of it, I never realised that was far from the truth until the last few weeks. I can't cope with the sleepless nights wandering what i will do at the end of the month!! It is a horrible addiction I will beat and hopefully at the same time survive my financial crisis.

Currently Owe - £8500
Monthly Wage - £1450
Payday Loans - £3000
Long Term Loans - £3000
Others - £2500

UPDATE - I have now blocked myself from ALL gambling sites and believe me there are many ... I have 2 year bans with nearly all of them and a lifetime ban with a few. This means other than going to a shop I have NO way of gambling.

sourcrates

Hi,

Welcome to the forum, i`m no expert on the gambling side of things, but i hope you are taking steps to deal with that.

As for the debt, you should take steps immediately so that these loan companies cannot empty your account this month, cancel direct debts, cancel debt cards, cancel the constant payment authorities, anything and everything so they cant take the money.

You should not be borrowing from friends and family to cover this, you need to take responsibility now, and the only way you can do this is by defaulting on the payments.

In your situation i would recommend taking advice from stepchange, who are a free to use debt charity, they will look at your budget, and recommend a debt solution for you, which is affordable, in your case, most likely a debt management plan.

I suggest you dont delay doing this, write and let your creditors know your struggling, and taking advice from stepchange, they will automatically hold your accounts for 30 days at least, so search for the stepchange website, and make that call.

consultant31

I agree with Sourcrates.....don't borrow from family or friends any more, grasp the nettle and take whatever flack is coming at you.

I have not (fortunately) ever been in your position, but I have been the family member handing out the loans and from what I can see, it really doesn't help long term. In fact I feel rather like I've been enabling the person to carry on with their reckless way with money.

My son-in-law was a gambler who only stopped when his wife finally said enough was enough and he would have to leave the family home. He finally realised that if he didn't stop he would lose everything, family, home, job...the lot!

We are all so proud of him, it's been almost a year now since he last had a drink (which was closely connected to the gambling) or showed any interest in gambling.

It can be done, if you want to badly enough. Tell your family that you want to work it out alone but that you'd be grateful for their support. I'm sure you'll find they'll be there for you

Good luck