Relapsed and now accumulated debt

Long story short, basically started gambling again ~7 months ago with a $2000 deposit. Ended up making a profit of over $70,000 start of April (last month) only to lose it all in 1 night, along with my $10000 worth of savings and now also accumulated myself a $12000 credit card debt. Right now I have under $100 until tomorrow's payday.

I have worked out my financial budget and in order to pay off my CC debt in 12 months, I will be living off ~$400 a fortnight for food, fuel and hopefully some savings.

Anyone ever been in a similar position and able to share some light on such frugal living as this will currently be the hardest financial year for me. I am turning 28 this year and really need to start focusing on getting through this year before I am able to save and feel human again.

Sorry to hear that you started gambling again. It is saying that you had a profit of $70K or that I was up so and so, but then lost it, what gives us the idea that gambling is possible. All the "if only I didnt'..." is what keeps this addiction alive. The bottom line is that we all lose in the long run or else gambling would not be a billion dollar industry.
In terms of paying off in 1 year, why rush? Life is much more important than money so why rush and try to get it over in year? I am not sacrificing my living and plan to pay off my debts in about 10 years or more. It doesn't really bother me. I am happy right now and still owing many tens of thousands. I know you are young and often we are very impatient when we are young, but if you step back and see what is really important to your life, that debt won't cause you that much anxiety. Just work on not gambling and your recovery and you will be fine (but thats another HUGE topic, basically this entire forum)

I agree w/ Aries, trying to pay it off in a year isn't a good idea. If we just make ourselves miserable our recovery will be much worse and we'll be more likely to go back.

HI Aries, really well put on how to view your debt and understand that it won't and can't be paid off over night. I feel that has been one of my major challenges in not be able to stop gambling. I keep seeing that next big win as the only way to climb out of my debt and live a normal life again.

Patience is really key here, I am going to have to live with debt for several years but live my life gamble free. I appreciate your view on this. It's true, we are impatient when we are young.

donegambling - good luck! Take your time and you will work your way out slowly. That's my plan right now, slow and steady one day at a time.

HI Slumvillage,

I too wish you luck. I have been successful in getting a balance transfer on my debt over 3 cards, so that is definitely a huge weight off my shoulders in terms of the interest I would have had to pay.

The thought of my losses is still a burden on my mind these past couple of days, though it doesn't tempt me to gamble. I have just been paid two days ago and have decided to stick with my budget plan to pay off this debt in 12 months. This will be a rather tough year but it only makes me look forward to the future where I am debt free and I am just glad knowing that I can do this in 1 year.

I hope this year will teach me the value of money again and if I am able to live through this tight budget for a year, it'll definitely have a future impact on my future savings which I highly look forward to.

I will stay strong and update from time to time.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post.