Aim to be debt free with a balanced life

[Temet_nosce]

With a quick glance it seems like there are quite a few challenges posted by rather wealthy people here. I am unfortunately in a different situation, I have debt of approximately 6.9k euros + mortgage on my apartment. On top of this, I gamble for a living, so I have a quite a volatile situation I am in at the moment. I also have bipolar disorder, which looking back at my life makes sense, with the kind of rushed and impulsive decisions that I have made regarding both personal finance- and other life decisions.

I am in my mid 30's and I have no education. I plan to keep focusing on my current profession at least short to mid term, after which a career change could be in order but first and foremost I want to settle this financial mess that I am in and start building some buffer to have more flexibility in the future for studying or job change.

I will post more in detail about my goals and plans, but for now all I can say is I am excited to try to tackle my debts and trying to be organized with my life.

Tomorrow I will go to a live sport event and my goal is that once it's over I will go right away to work, and not stay around the center for a cup of coffee or anything, it's so easy to give into something like this for me since I am self employed and setting boundaries isn't my best suite.

Another goal for this and next week is to track every single cent that I use and that I earn as well as every hour that I work to have more of an understanding of my financials.

[JAYSLOL]

IMHO, “gambling for a living” is likely the biggest contributing factor to being broke in your mid-30s rather than the having a coffee after an event. It’s great you want to get a handle on finances and get out of debt, though, I wish you well with that.  I know it’s easy to see some members here with their million dollar FIRE accounts and fancy tech jobs, but that’s not the reality for most people here.  I work a blue collar job landscaping, and have nowhere near six figure income, just a very steady and dedicated approach to saving and investing and avoiding debt.  I know if I had let it get to me that other people on the forum had better jobs and better incomes that I could never match, I wouldn’t have put effort into the right areas, and instead looked for shortcuts like some people I know in my circle of friends in the same position who have seriously hurt their future by avoiding reality because their path wasn’t as easy as others. 

[Temet_nosce]

Thanks for the response. Yes, I see that that in the bigger picture there are wide spectrum of different income levels here, probably just the big numbers like, "1M to 2M race" jump up more. Also I was first contemplating writing on a different forum that was solely a subforum for getting out of debt so the vibe was different. "Gambling for a living" in my instance means playing poker, which I have done now for 10 years. It has been somewhat of a struggle for the last couple of them, so that is why considering looking into another profession has been crossing my mind.

And the having coffee after an event thing is a structuring leak that I have in my life that keeps re occurring. Like, I have not decided which days of the weeks I plan to work, when do I have my freetime etc.

Usually I play weighted towards the night time, so having clear boundaries on things like these is vital for me.

So I am really in a extremely tight situation with my financials right now and can't even call myself a professional of any sort with a clean conscience but here is roughly what I am looking at:


816€ on poker accounts
106€ on bank account

Goal is to win 2300€ before 04/08. My rents are due 8th & 11th of april and I need to first clear those before I can start deducting my debt.

Positive note is that starting expense tracking has already made a positive impact on my habits. I have cut down small expenses that are unnessecary.

[RWD]

So I am really in a extremely tight situation with my financials right now and can't even call myself a professional of any sort with a clean conscience but here is roughly what I am looking at:


816€ on poker accounts
106€ on bank account

Goal is to win 2300€ before 04/08. My rents are due 8th & 11th of april and I need to first clear those before I can start deducting my debt.

Positive note is that starting expense tracking has already made a positive impact on my habits. I have cut down small expenses that are unnessecary.

Hi, I have a family member who had a successful career as a professional gambler (they've even been on TV) and they are friends with other very successful professional gamblers (one even had a private jet). So I have quite a bit of insight into this. You are not currently in a financial position to be a professional gambler, regardless of how good you are.

Years ago I was visiting the mansion of one of those multi-millionaire gambler friends of family and they talked about their betting philosophy. They said, "if I have $100 available I will make a bet of $1. If I win that $1, then maybe I will bet another $1." You need a huge amount of capital to be able to absorb losing streaks. I watched my family member go through $1,000 in a matter of minutes on a mildly bad streak. Five-figure losses over a trip to Vegas was not unheard of either (probably closer to six figures in today's dollars if you account for inflation).

If you're playing poker online these days you're likely often playing against bots/AI. They can play with perfect strategy and you stand no chance long term. I don't see a safe way to take 800 Euros and win 2300 in barely a week. Even if you play perfect strategy yourself there is a huge element of luck in the short term and it is truly gambling. You just don't have the required bank roll to risk higher stakes games.

What is your backup plan if you can't win 2300 in the next week? You are running much to close to the wire and need some stability asap.

[dandarc]

You're right that you cannot call yourself a professional gambler. Professional gamblers put a fair amount of effort into managing their bankroll, and if they need to produce $1,000 per week in income to support lifestyle, they likely have a bankroll in the tens of thousands of dollars, not a bankroll less than what they need to win each week just to keep the rent paid and the lights on.

Might be time to re-think your career, or at least start doing some kind of job that pays reliably until you get your base.

[JAYSLOL]

816€ on poker accounts
106€ on bank account

Goal is to win earn* 2300€ before 04/08. My rents are due 8th & 11th of april and I need to first clear those before I can start deducting my debt.

Positive note is that starting expense tracking has already made a positive impact on my habits. I have cut down small expenses that are unnessecary.

*Fixed that for you.

I definitely understand being in a tight spot financially, but it sounds like you are gaining the understanding that relying on winning as a career path hasn’t been working, and I think the sooner you fold and cash in those chips, and take on some real work, even if it’s more challenging for you, the better off you will ultimately be.  Also, rents?  Multiple rents? 

[Temet_nosce]

Thanks for the adcive, I understand this sounds bizarre. Rent for my apartment, or mortgage, I own it but I pay for the bank (english is my 2nd language so I don't know all the terms).

Other rent is for an office where I work.

Today 5 hours of work, +76€ and 11d ticket. Many mistakes and momentum is off but lots of good things happened as well. Such as meditation, walk between to catch some air, healthy diet etc. Feels like a momentum shifter to the right direction.

[JAYSLOL]

Thanks for the adcive, I understand this sounds bizarre. Rent for my apartment, or mortgage, I own it but I pay for the bank (english is my 2nd language so I don't know all the terms).

Other rent is for an office where I work.

Today 5 hours of work, +76€ and 11d ticket. Many mistakes and momentum is off but lots of good things happened as well. Such as meditation, walk between to catch some air, healthy diet etc. Feels like a momentum shifter to the right direction.

Ok, so you have a mortgage you pay monthly, how much is that? How much is the rent for the office?  Why do you need to rent an office?  Is it a poker room? 

[Tass]

It's not really clear if you posted this just as a personal recording/accountability mechanism, or if you want help and feedback. I'm going to offer some feedback, but if you're not interested in that, feel free to say so and I'll move along.

Your situation is a financial emergency. It's solvable, but only if you are willing to break away from the behaviors that got you into the emergency in the first place. You need to be prepared to take drastic action.

Questions:

• To echo JAYSLOL, how much is your mortgage, and how much is your office rent?
• It sounds like your obligations are far greater than your cash on hand. One way to solve that is by increasing your cash, but another is by decreasing your obligations. How hard would it be to break the lease on your office, and what consequences would that have?
• Who is hiring in your area? In a tight job market, you may be able to walk onto any minimum wage job, be working within a day, and be paid within a week. No job is below you right now.
• How did you go from being able to qualify for a mortgage to the situation you are now in?
• From here, it's impossible to know whether to believe you that gambling is your profession rather than an addiction. Have you ever had concerns about addiction? Has anybody ever expressed concern about your gambling?

Hoping to double your money in a week is wishful thinking. Are you going to keep wishing, or are you ready for a concrete plan to leave this situation behind forever?