Clearing Gambling Debt

Often, once we seek help, we are drowning in debt.

It sure FEELS like drowning.

If you're anything like me...sitting down and facing it all...is extremely difficult.

THere's no way out of overwhelming debt without a plan...and to make a plan....we must face all of the facts.

that means....sit down....list what we owe...what our expenses are...what our income is, and make a budget.

the b word.

I'd never lived on a budget before....i lived on credit cards.

when i first stopped gambling...the debt was overwhelming and the budget was depressing...

but...it didn't take long before SOME progress was being made.

and that felt good.

I was gambling, on average, a couple hundred dollars a day....so....if I took a CONSERVATIVE number....like $100....every day that I didn't gamble...I figured I WON that much.

one week of no gambling, I was up $700
two weeks in....$1400
once I hit the 30 day mark $3,000

now....it wasn't REAL money...I mean....at my 30 day milestone, I did NOT have three grand in the bank...but....I was NOT in as much debt (by at least $3000) than I WOULD have been.

we are REALLY good at that 'one day at a time' mentality when it suits us...you know...it's only a hundred dollars....that isn't gonna put a dent into my debt...I may as well, blah blah blah

If you haven't already had a look at the link I recently added for the Top Compulsive Gambler Sites For Recovery you might want to check it out...or even if you HAVE....if you are looking for debt management solutions, I have added a couple of forums that seem to have great resources.

but...

is consolidation the answer?

I don't pretend to know what YOUR answers are....I can only share with you what I have done and what I have seen.

It is extremely common for us to get ourselves in a situation that seems desperate.....and we find a way to consolidate...

maybe...a new credit card offer comes in with an introductory rate...transfer the balances from your high interest rate cards.....or
maybe take a second mortgage (or third) on your home....

the thing is...
once we do that.....we now free up the ORIGINAL lines of credit.

oh yeah...we SWEAR we won't do that...

but...inevitably, we find a way to justify it...'now that I have a clean slate, I'll be able to CONTROL it' blah blah blah...

so we end up in debt.
we take out a consolidation loan
then...we rack up more debt.

NOW...we owe what we owed BEFORE (when we were freaking out) PLUS we owe the consolidation loan!!!

get organized,
make a plan

one of my friends says a great roadblock for her was to STAY BROKE...

once she caught up on her bills....she began to pay EXTRA on them...so that she didn't have money in the bank...temptation.

having money
or credit
can be a trigger.

it's important and it feels great to begin to free ourselves from the debt...

just...
be careful.

be AWARE.