Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group

Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...

971 Members
6,389 Posts
0 Online
Addiction & Recovery
/ Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group

Things to do Besides gamble

Dracona
Dracona
This is just my list, a list of things i used to enjoy, and things i still enjoy but usually dont have the money too cause i would spend time and money on gambling. and another list, of things i need and want to spend money on besides at the tables

HOBBIES

Ride horses/buy nice horse tack
Taking my daughter to the park
spending time with friends
making short movies
taking pictures
excercise regularly
do my artwork
Kayaking
sell on ebay/buy
get wood furniture from good will and sell it back after painting it

SPENDING

savings
clothes shopping
eating out
buying things for my daughter

Things i want to buy

Kayaks
new saddle
excersise equiptment
photography equiptment/video
new hairdo
Art equiptment

it just feels like i never have time to do these things, but i really have all the time in the world... if so much of my time wasnt spend on gambling or thinking about gambling.
Dracona
Dracona
keep the list going!!! what can you do?
deleted_user
deleted_user
What a great idea - I'm going to make a list like that.
bear22
bear22
Yes indeed we loose sight of all these things when we are gambling. I made a similar list when I decided to quit in Jan this year. It's a great way to get back to reality and start enjoying life again the way it should be. In addition ir makes you set goals and when it's achieved it feels great and gives you that sense of achievement. Way to go!
deleted_user
deleted_user
good idea. I am adding a list to my journal. I need that reminder.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Great list. Isn't it funny how you never have money for anything, but boy, get in front of the machine and it's like nothing. I need a haircut terribly - cost will be around $20. I really didn't have it last week so I didn't get one, but didn't think twice about overdrawing my checking account by $200 to sit in front of a machine. Isn't it twisted how we think? Such a horrible sickness. That said my list:
Get a haircut
Get an oil change
Buy flowers to plant in the yard - this will actually keep me busy too!
Save some money to go see my son
Sell on Ebay and use the money for someothing USEFUL instead of feeding the machine with it or using it to scrape through the week for cigarettes.
deleted_user
deleted_user
All those things are things that too would love to do, but i can't, I blow all my money on gambling and late charges, over draft fees...Sad, i do make good money and have nothing to show for it. I'm trying to get it together.....I'll make my list, it will be very similar to yours.
deleted_user
deleted_user
You're right keep thinking of other things to do to keep your mind off gambling.
I'll add reading self help book it helps me a lot. I recommend a book
by Jimmy Cabrera. "What's in your backpack? Packing for success in life".
Dracona
Dracona
anything but gambling... right now im HOPING some checks dont go through till friday when i get my child support checks. and these checks were written to work, at the casino where i work none the less, and i could be fired if i dont have the money in the account. shit shit shit.
but once this is all said and done, and i make the money for rent and such... then i cant start on my list.

ill spend the 100 or more dollars it costs to highlight my hair, i will get a pedicure with friends. i will go on drives with my daughter.
i will buy a new car sometime, instead of driving around thsi mazda with a bad transmission and broken cv joints that could die any second.

im tired of struggling. im tired of bouncing money around so i can pay gambling debts. its ridiculous.
Dracona
Dracona
and tessie... i know it seems unfeasable now, but you can do all of these things and more...

trust me, i made good money too a couple years ago. i should have been able to save 3000 a month or more.

and i slept on a mattress on a floor, had no food in the house, hand me down furniture, and hardly any clothes. and never any gas in my car. i would go to the gas station with change.
i pawned my video cameras so i could have gas money, then went to gamble...
we know how you feel.