Hi i-did-it and Johnny,
Thank you for your words of encouragement, and thank you for being active in my thread. Your words are always encouraging.
Day 26,
26 days since I have placed a bet in a casino (in person or online). Feels pretty good. This is the longest I have gone easily within the past year. My next paycheck is in 5 days, and I should have been caught up with everything, even have $1000 emergency fund. I am going to withdraw that money immediately and put it in my safe. After self excluding myself from every casino around, I find it is ok if I have cash on me. In fact, it is safer for me to get the money out of my accounts, because online casinos are always lurking.
I actually had an urge the other day, the first one I’ve had since starting this thread. I was staying up late because I wasn’t tired, and then thoughts started to come to me, “you’ve been doing so great, why not relax and enjoy yourself a bit.” This addiction is really sinister. I was conscious of my thoughts, and decided that I would write a post here instead. It was also a nice reminder that it was a bad idea because I had betfilter on my laptop. I can still play on my phone, but I reminded myself why I wasn’t doing that anymore.
I think the reason I got this urge is because I’ve established a line I would not cross. Too me right now, a couple payday loans are okay, but once I have those, that’s it. That obviously needs to stop, and I am paying off two that I have next paycheck. I will have a very large amount left over for what should be saving for a house, but I think this is why I had urges. I need to get in the habit of paying myself first. But also, I need to pay off my debt, which shouldn’t take too long as long as I dump excess money towards it. You gotta have a plan with money, and act on it the second you get it. Otherwise, it will just as easy leave you. Hope everyone is doing great.
Best Regards,
Nick