26M been gambling with loans/credit for the last 2 years, good job in sales making 120k/year. Managed to rack up roughly 90k in unsecured debt. 44k between 5 loans and 40k between 5 credit cards. Most of the cards are on 0% promos until June 2026 at the earliest. My bank account is -2600$ and I have $3300 in minimum payments (student loans, car payment, personal loan and credit card payments) due for January. I’ve already banned myself from all the gambling apps I could. Bankruptcy? Debt settlement? Work 80 hours a week and stop whining? I’m so lost
Gambled with personal loans and credit cards at rock bottom
byu/Low_Remove1563 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Low_Remove1563
21 Comments
First, get professional help for gambling addiction.
Second, make a budget to cut everything nonessential and free up money to repay your debts.
Third, figure out ways to significantly increase your income.
Addiction therapy would be my start
Have you gotten help for your gambling addiction? Because if not, there’s no point in doing anything else right now.
Increase income, and decrease expenses. Sell things you don’t need.
The following provides a great foundation to build on.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/)
I fucked around and found out 4 years ago, and lost around 130k… i told my wife who called me all sorts of names.. and i promised not to do it again.
Silver lining: in the last 4 years my income has gone up by almost 50%. What i’m trying to say is that you’re young, and you’ll bounce back, 90k seems like a GIGANTIC debt now, but in 10 years when you’re making 200k+ it will seem small by comparison.
Learn from this, and move on with your life.
In a similar position and was debating BK but ended up cutting things down and trying to increase income because you can only pull the rip cord once and it does have lingering effects (not as bad as people think;more social stigma than anything). I was fortunate enough to be able to down size pretty quick but I’d suggest talking to a BK lawyer and seeing if you have a case.
Also use AI to talk you through options (not let it decide for you;give it as much context as possible) and get information it’ll give you options.
Again this is personal financial so you gotta dig deep to make the decision. Best of luck and I’m sure there many more people in the same boat.
Also yeah gotta come up with rules for yourself to not get you back in the same loop.
This is well beyond “banned myself from all gambling apps”. Just like an alcoholic can’t ever have another sip of alcohol, you can no longer gamble, even a little bit. No lottery cards, no penny-stake poker, no friendly wagers, no individual stock picks, etc. And you absolutely have to go to Gambler Anonymous meetings. Start there and then work on climbing out of debt. Assuming you are going to GA meetings, and are committed to that journey, then the next step is trying to find a higher paying sales job. Gamblers are often some of the best closers (dopamine rush) so you need to shuffle your way into a higher-paying industry. Doubling your salary, and keeping your cost of living the same while you pay down debt, will be the quickest way out of the hole.
Also look for a debt consolidation to get that monthly into one payment and lower. Also therapy and really find some activity that is healthy and go all IN. Find people who do it online. Go to meet ups. Just try going all in on something for 30 days. Hiking, riding a bike, soccer, he’ll try archery. Make that your 30 day addiction. And seriously, try yoga every morning. Also cut alcohol.
Then (and people will hate me for this maybe) look at John Ramsey baby steps. Also, open a Roth IRA if you don’t have one and start with $25 or so in VOO or other index funds. It will hit different when you are just putting money in and NOT day trading. In 5 years you could be debt free and have $100,000 in retirement. Don’t give up. And bankruptcy is not just a golden ticket. It could bite you eventually if you meet a partner and want to do something. Gambling is real. We are living in Biff Tannen’s America and it’s a poison. GL OP
Definitely get help with your gambling. I started gambling at 28 and didn’t stop until covid (which basically forced me to stop) when I was about 43. I don’t even know how much money I lost at the casino during that time period at least 200k or more. If that had been invested I would be set for retirement, instead I’m way behind. I’m late 40s now and finally have a net worth rather than being insolvent. At this point, you may want to look at bankruptcy. I never filed bankruptcy personally because I didn’t qualify but you may qualify with that amount of debt.
Do not use debt settlement first as they require your accounts to go delinquent first before they can negotiate a lower pay down.
First, write out a budget. make sure you list out every single thing on there. Next, review every single charge on there. Understand your budget. Then, make sure all your necessities are paid first: your housing, car, and anything to keep that job.
Call the credit card companies for a one time hardship plan. Once you’re done with each of the cards, reassess if you can make it.
Make a table of all of your loans including the 0% APR cards and their eventual APR after the introductory rates. Once you have a budget with exactly how much you pay every month, and you have these APR rates, come back and we’ll help you with a plan to pay off those debts.
I hate to break it to you but 120K in a sales role isn’t a “good job” in light of these numbers. Unless the bulk of your comp is base salary (which is unlikely in sales) your income is completely unpredictable and one down quarter away from a complete disaster.
What makes you good at sales is probably related to the need to gamble. So there is a behavioral imbalance- this underlying trait produces good income but it overproduces debt, which cannot be supported by the income, and beyond the unsustainability does not allow for savings and future planning.
The framing in the post is transactional- a short term cash flow problem and a long term debt strategy problem. But underlying behavioral change is not transactional, it is holistic.
If what you want is to change yourself, you will probably have to engage with treatment and in that treatment perhaps start to get prepared to find other work. Maybe it is possible to keep the one and lose the other, but you would need to work with someone on that. Very often these two are connected.
The alternative to holistic behavioral change is probably criminal activity.
All I have to say is I’m sorry for your situation but appreciate you for helping me put my post college situation into perspective. Only have one 10k car loan without any other credit card debt or negative balances… Really hoping you keep pushing everyday, but stop gambling dude you will end up homeless eventually if you keep the antics up
Bankruptcy only AFTER getting help.
Stop paying on all of your debts and stop using all credit cards. Every single one except maybe the car unless you’re ok with them repossessing it and it’s not required to get to work. This is important for a bankruptcy process
With those payments now gone, go for about 3-6 months on just cash for living expenses. If you can do that without using any credit and ALSO dig yourself out from a negative bank account, only then should you declare bankruptcy. If you do it without changing your habits first you’ll just go right back into debt again.
can someone articulate why BK is not an option here??? Sure he cannot get the car or house.. but who cares, he has no money and will not have any money for foreseeable future. What is the downside of doing that?
Ensure that it’s not side effect of some medications.
I think at this point I’d go bankruptcy especially if you don’t have many assets. But more importantly get help for gambling first.
Most bankruptcy lawyers offer a free consultation. At the very least I would start there and see what they say about your options.
Then work up a budget and see if there’s any realistic way you can dig out. If you can’t do so in a reasonable time frame, like 5 years, and the attorney thinks you’ve got a good case for bankruptcy, then i would go that route.
And yes, get help for your addiction, step 1 is to stop the bleeding.
Get addiction treatment first. That is your number one priority. You need to stop the bleeding, and this is primarily a mental health issue, not a financial one.
Once you are solidly in recovery, bankruptcy is a good idea, but it’s a complete waste if you haven’t actually solved the underlying problem.
Uber after work and on weekends, until you can find a higher paying 2nd job. Ban yourself from all gambling apps and casinos
Yikes, better use that 100% gambling debt deduction for this year’s taxes (I reallllllly hope you’re documenting your gambling) before it’s reduced next year. Call the issuing companies and explain, let them know you have no assets and it will likely become zombie debt. Your credit is gonna be ruined for the next decade but with enough patience and dedication you can work your way out of this. Also quit gambling dude, it’s literally engineered for you to fail or else casinos would be broke…