Give yourself the best chance of success by keeping your money safe and secure from relapse.
It is easier to resist gambling if you have an effective plan in place to keep your money safe when the temptation to gamble becomes difficult to resist.
Having access to money is a significant risk factor for gambling when people are experiencing stronger urges to gamble. At this time, the gambler finds it difficult to resist gambling. Many of our clients admit that money becomes like monopoly money. For example – ” It didn’t feel like real money, it just felt like tokens or something, so before i knew it, my money was gone.”
It is important to make sure that you cannot access your money if you have experienced strong urges.
Money management doesn’t have to be forever. If you commit to treatment and eliminate your urges to gamble and your thinking returns to normal, money will have value. For example – When clients complete treatment, money is no longer a trigger for gambling.
“Money has value – I don’t have the desire to gamble when I have money.
“Money is now building up in my account”
Carrying cash is the one main factor that can tempt people to gamble and lapse. Limiting and controlling your access to cash for a short time can is an effective way to stop the gambling cycle. Here are some few simple strategies to get you started :
- Visa Gift cards –purchased at a post office – provide a handy way to purchase items without having direct access to cash, which can be a temptation to gamble.
- Purchase Coles/Woolworths gift cards for daily needs.
- Take Banking Apps off your smartphone
- Cancel cash withdrawals on your credit card.
- Pay bills by direct debit or ask someone to pay bills for you.
- Ask someone you trust to hold money for you so that it is not easy to get access to gamble.
- Speak to a financial counsellor
- Leave all access to money at home when you are going into risky situations.
- Lower daily withdraw limit on your accounts.
- Ensure bills are paid directly from your accounts before you can access money.
Talk to your bank about some ways to avoid using money for gambling. For example, some banks :
- Are now allowing customers to block gambling transactions.
2) May be able to ban the use of gambling services on your credit card.
Some banks ban the use of gambling services on their credit cards with altogether. These banks may allow the use of their debit cards for gambling services.
