How to pay off gambling debt and rebuild your finances

There is a number in your head. The amount gambling cost you. Maybe it is a few thousand. Maybe it is tens of thousands. It feels enormous, permanent and impossible to look at.

I know that number. Mine was more than 40,000. I gambled for over eight years, and for a long time I did not want to know the exact figure.

This page is the plan I wish I had been given. Not a quick fix. A way to get from the shapeless dread to something you can actually work on.

Step 1: stop the leak first

You cannot pay off a debt while it is still growing. This sounds obvious. It is also the step most people skip, because they want to start repaying straight away to feel better.

Before you pay back a single pound:

• Sign up to GamStop, and install a blocker such as BetBlocker or Gamban on every device.
• Turn on the gambling block in your banking app. Most UK banks build in a delay of 48 hours or more before you can turn it off again.
• Delete saved card details from every gambling site.

More on each of these in How to block gambling sites, apps and bank payments.

If you have just lost a big amount, your salary or your savings, start with Just gambled away my paycheck. What now? and come back here when the first shock has passed.

Step 2: write down the real number

Most people with gambling debt know roughly how much they owe. Very few have written down the exact amount. Keeping it vague feels safer. It is not. A vague debt stays huge and shapeless. A written-down debt is a list.

Take one sheet of paper and list every debt:

• who you owe,
• how much,
• the interest rate,
• the minimum monthly payment,
• the date it is due.

Credit cards, overdrafts, loans, buy now pay later, money owed to family or friends, rent or bills you are behind on. All of it.

Step 3: put the essentials first

Not every debt is equally urgent. Some have much harsher consequences if you fall behind.

Pay these first: rent or mortgage, council tax, energy, and anything that could lead to losing your home or your supply being cut off. Also court fines and child maintenance.

Then the rest: credit cards, loans, overdrafts, money owed to friends and family. These still matter, but missing a payment here usually has less serious consequences than missing rent.

If you cannot pay the essentials, get free debt advice now, before anything else (step 5).

Step 4: build a small, honest budget

Write down what comes in each month. Then what has to go out: housing, bills, food, travel. What is left is what you can use for debts.

Be honest. Leave a little room for the things that keep you going, like a birthday present or a coffee with a friend. A budget with no room at all tends to collapse within a few weeks.

Then decide the order in which you pay off the rest. There are two common ways: smallest debt first (the snowball) or highest interest first (the avalanche). Both work. For many people coming out of gambling, seeing a whole debt disappear early helps them keep going. Snowball or avalanche for gambling debt? works through a full example.

Step 5: get free debt advice

You do not have to work this out alone, and you should not pay anyone to help you.

• StepChange and National Debtline give free, impartial debt advice. National Debtline is on 0808 808 4000.
• In England and Wales, a debt adviser can apply for Breathing Space for you. For up to 60 days, most creditors must stop contacting you, and interest and charges are frozen while you get advice. You still have to keep paying ongoing bills like rent and council tax.
• Citizens Advice can also help, including with money you owe to the council.

Be careful with companies that advertise "write off your debt" or charge fees for a debt plan. The free services above can set up the same arrangements without taking a cut.

Step 6: do not borrow to fix it

When the pressure is high, a new loan can look like a way out. One loan to clear the others. A payday loan to get to the end of the month.

While the gambling is still recent, new credit is a risk. If the urge comes back, the money can go the same way. And a loan that clears your cards often leaves you with the cards free to use again.

The same goes for the thought that one good win would solve it. If I had won it back, I would have gambled it again. Seeing that was what finally broke the thought for me.

Step 7: talk about the money you owe to people you love

Money borrowed from a partner, parents or friends weighs differently. There is no interest rate, but there is trust.

Have the conversation. Not with a vague promise, but with a plan: how much you owe them, how much you can pay back each month, and from when. A small amount you actually pay every month rebuilds more trust than a big amount you promise and miss.

If they want to see your bank statements for a while, let them. Openness works better than promises. How to tell someone you have a gambling problem helps if you have not told them yet.

Step 8: make the progress visible

Paying off debt is slow. Months of small payments where nothing seems to change. That is where people give up.

So make the progress visible:

• Write down the total every month, on the same day.
• Cross off every debt you clear.
• Count the money you did not gamble. It adds up faster than you think.

In the app, your debts sit next to your days free, and you see the line go down month by month.

Celebrate the steps, not only the end. The first debt cleared. The first month on budget. The day you open a letter without your stomach turning.

How long does it take?

That depends on how much you owe, what you earn and what you can live on. It can be months. Often it is years.

That is not a reason to wait. The first month changes more than you think. You know the number. The leak is closed. Someone knows. From there, every payment is real progress that you cannot gamble away the next evening.

Start today

One sheet of paper. Every debt on it. That is step one.

Tomorrow: turn on your bank's gambling block and call StepChange or National Debtline.

That is enough to start.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start paying off gambling debt?

First stop the leak: GamStop, a blocker on your devices and your bank's gambling block. Then write down every debt with the amount, interest and minimum payment, pay essentials like rent and council tax first, and get free debt advice.

Where can I get free help with gambling debt in the UK?

StepChange and National Debtline (0808 808 4000) give free, impartial debt advice. Citizens Advice can also help. Avoid companies that charge fees for a debt plan.

What is Breathing Space?

A scheme in England and Wales that gives you up to 60 days in which most creditors must stop contacting you and freeze interest and charges while you get debt advice. A debt adviser applies for you. You still have to pay ongoing bills.

Should I take out a loan to pay off gambling debt?

Usually not while the gambling is still recent. New credit can go the same way if the urge comes back, and clearing cards with a loan often leaves the cards free to use again. Get free debt advice first.

Sources

• National Debtline, Breathing Space
• StepChange Debt Charity
• GOV.UK, New scheme to give people in problem debt breathing space