Online Lottery Games

[whattodothen]

I have days when I feel exhausted and overwhelmed with things I have to deal with. Saturdays are the worst.

I then think I'll have a go with the online lottery games (instant win). If I could win some money I would feel better.

At the moment I am spending £5 here and there but it's adding up and I usually lose money and feel out of control and annoyed with myself.

I have the occasional win like £20 and then I end up gambling away most of my wins as I think I'm on a winning streak.

This is day one of giving up this addiction. Anyone been here and have any advice? I'm hoping to get some counselling soon.

That's a tough one. You can out a cap on the amount you transfer as a short term solution.
Longer term it's about moving away from the idea there's a quick fix for feeling the overwhelm and changing what you do for yourself at that point.
So is there something you could do to feel better at that point? Would saving up the money and putting it into Premium bonds help?
I hope the counselling helps but in the meantime look for something which swops out the source of the dopamine hit.
Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I think I'm going to have to try going cold turkey for a while.

It sounds like you definitely have an unhealthy relationship with gambling, possible addiction or potential to be.

You can get help from the uk website gamble aware.

They will signpost to other agencies too if you need. Your GP should help but services are stretched so it might be better to find another route to help.

My relative was addicted to gambling.

Could you put the money you feel tempted to spend in a new online savings account instead of the lottery? At first you'll only have a low number to look at in the account but pretty soon that'll add up to hundreds in the account. Could seeing that saved number be the same hit as trying to win that saved number on the lottery?

And make a deal with yourself, once it gets to £100 or £200 or whatever then use the whole amount on something you want. A day trip or a fancy restaurant or shopping. Anything.

Then start putting away those £5 that you otherwise would've gambled in tge savings again until you hit the next savings milestone.

If you see that savings pot as a game in itself- trying to reach the the £100 or £200 or whatever number - could that satisfy your gaming need?

By all accounts you will guaranteed have more money to spend doing that than gambling it and something to look forward to in terms of spending. If you're going to spend the money at least have something you really want in return to show for it. Could be really fun!

Sign up to gamban, they block all access to betting sites. Also sign up to gamstop!

You can block yourself on lotto online for upto 5 years. The problem with them all being online is the easy access!

Definitely look at the gamblers anonymous website etc and think about what might be underpinning this.

Also I now transfer anything I consider spending on lottery tickets into my premium bonds account, it's much nicer seeing it building up in there, with the small chance of a win. The money isn't gone though,.unlike gambling

(I save into a savings account until I have the £25 to transfer as premium bonds)