Have you ever gambled yourself into problems ?

[Ian Hislop]

I've done it. Way more times than I can remember. 

Have you left yourself with no food to eat (for you or your family) while the gambling industry turned the other cheek ?

[Mentholdan]

None of the above but I do remember many many years ago I got hit with a surprise rather large tax bill. It wa a week or so before we were due to fly out to Spain for our holiday. On the day we were due to leave I only had a couple of hundred quid, nowhere near enough for the 2 weeks holiday so I said to the missus I’m going to have a bet on the nags and if it loses we won’t be going, I wasn’t going to spend 2 weeks with hardly any spending money. I did a £100 win double, well I had to get the taxi to stop off at the bookies to collect the £900 winnings on the way to the airport.

[BlindHaze]

As a teenager, I think I blew my first ever full time pay packet in a few days on mostly gambling….

Personally, I lack self control on most fronts and need to keep myself disciplined. Each pay day, I leave myself a certain amount each month in my current account that covers buying lunch, going to the pub, playing slots - pretty much anything that’s not a necessity. If I spend it, well that’s it, it’s done until next pay day - that’s enough to keep me within my means. The rest goes to a different account which covers the bills and rainy day money. If the boiler blows up, I can cover it from there.

I have no loans, no overdraft and no credit cards. I only spend cash that’s mine, but still wake up once in a blue moon with regrets about a hangover or chasing a bonus on Eye Of Horus…. 😉