The weird situation of people in debt that still gamble

[alani123]

I saw my cousin the other day playing slots on a very shitty website the other day. It was just a few days after payday.
I asked him in the kindest manner I could to explain himself, since he's deep in debt to a bank for a loan he took, why would he gamble instead of saving to pay back his loan early.

Apparently his bank doesn't give any benefits for early repayment. Even they had an insurance clause in their contract that in case of early repayment the inflation adjusted increases are not only forced in the payment, but also calculated based on a worse case scenario.

So my cousin argued that with the little he could save by the end of each month, there was zero point saving a few dozens of dollars in this economy. He just things he will keep playing slots because in case he wins big he can pay early just to not worry about the loan. Otherwise he just actually wants to lose this money because in case he misses a couple loan payments the bank will even try to compensate the pennies he would have left in his bank account and he doesn't want to let them do that. In his mind the money given to the casino is something the bank won't be able to recover.

This whole situation helped me realize many people who actually gamble do so with amounts they see pointless as saving, but also at the same time many of these people are in very dire financial situations already.

[ColdLava40]

This whole situation helped me realize many people who actually gamble do so with amounts they see pointless as saving, but also at the same time many of these people are in very dire financial situations already.

I was just thinking about similar case of a friend.

Gambling shouldn't be a reason for us to not pay back oue Dept. Infact, we will be increasing the chances of not paying back because of gambling.

That's where responsible gambling should come in. Having an unpaid dept but still gamble recklessly without concern of paying back, when it finally dawn's on such person, they will have no choice but end up making terrible mistakes.

No money is too small to save. If you are in dept, every penny should count, don't left your gambling habits control how you think when you know you are already in a deep mess.

[mindrust]

it seems you are talking to an addict. These people need professional help. You can’t talk them out of gambling so easily. They don’t care. They can blame everything and everyone but themselves. In this case, your friend blames the economy. He already lost his hopes and he seeks the solution in gambling which is a huge huge mistake. Call his parents maybe… Or try to direct his interest to something else but do it subtly. I am not telling you to manipulate him but even that would be better than playing at a casino 24-7.

[Nwada001]

Is there really any amount that's pointless to saving? Because as far as I know, no matter how small that money is, it can add up to something, especially when the goal is to clear up a loan, but your cousin doesn't look at it that way; his mind is already made up and considers himself to be doing something useful, and saving that little is like doing nothing at all, using the little chance he has to win as an encouragement, not knowing a lot of money is going down, which could have helped to fasten his debt repayment, and in such situations, winning barely comes; it will be playing upon playing with the hope of hitting it some day.

[Agbamoni]

Your brother has lost it. This is the reason I advise people to stay far away from debt, because it doesn't end well. I understand your brother was a casino player before he got into debt, but the reason why the first thing that comes to his mind after payday is to gamble is because of his debt. The money is not enough to pay the debt after expenses, which makes gambling the fastest way to get the money. Unfortunately, the road that looks easy is actually not the right road. He may keep playing for months and not win a single dime to pay back that loan. The debt is living rent-free in his head. He has to cool down and save up to pay back the debt.

[Wiwo]

Is there really any amount that's pointless to saving? Because as far as I know, no matter how small that money is, it can add up to something, especially when the goal is to clear up a loan, but your cousin doesn't look at it that way; his mind is already made up and considers himself to be doing something useful, and saving that little is like doing nothing at all, using the little chance he has to win as an encouragement, not knowing a lot of money is going down, which could have helped to fasten his debt repayment, and in such situations, winning barely comes; it will be playing upon playing with the hope of hitting it some day.

There is pointless amount, like dust amount which even the blockchain acknowledge, what the point is that the amount of money that you can not use for any other important thing is what should be used to gamble with.

Some people who are heavily debted tend to take that approach of gambling with such an amount with the hope that they will win something big to settle the debt.

But most times their condition keeps getting worse, gambling is a game of losing more than you win, so taking gambling as a source of financial support.

[Findingnemo]

So my cousin argued that with the little he could save by the end of each month, there was zero point saving a few dozens of dollars in this economy. He just things he will keep playing slots because in case he wins big he can pay early just to not worry about the loan. Otherwise he just actually wants to lose this money because in case he misses a couple loan payments the bank will even try to compensate the pennies he would have left in his bank account and he doesn't want to let them do that. In his mind the money given to the casino is something the bank won't be able to recover.
~

It doesn't make any sense.

I get the part of winning big to change his life 180 but if he is not interested in saving the money to repay the debt early, he can do something else with that money right? If I read it correctly, he is spending a few dozen so I am assuming it is $50 for the least. He may not buy a whole bitcoin but he can definitely buy $50 of bitcoin every month and see after a year or two he has made any returns on it.

It may look risky but it sounds better than completely wasting the money because he doesn't want to repay the loan early.

[rdluffy]

Many things don't have much explanation (at least in my opinion)
If someone is addicted to gambling, you won't be able to make them understand that you don't mix loans, money for bills, and gambling for example

I've known people who gambled everything they had, without thinking about anything else, there's no point in explaining
There's people that gamble the entire payment in one day
Everyone have their own excuse in this case

[Alphakilo]

it seems you are talking to an addict. These people need professional help. You can’t talk them out of gambling so easily. They don’t care. They can blame everything and everyone but themselves. In this case, your friend blames the economy. He already lost his hopes and he seeks the solution in gambling which is a huge huge mistake. Call his parents maybe… Or try to direct his interest to something else but do it subtly. I am telling you to manipulate him but even that would be better than playing at a casino 24-7.

Am sure the cousin in question is a grown adult and would hate to be manipulated against their will because he believes what he is doing by gambling, is fair and of no consequences right now as already stated. You are also right that it is addiction talking from within and am sure there has to be a better and more stimulating experience to encounter for him to change his mind about his current gambling choices.
All gamblers have the hope of winning big money one day and that's why they see the pennies they spend as nothing not knowing that it accumulates to much in no time.

The worst is being in debt and gambling as a means to earn more money to offset the debt, this in some situations can cost him his job and if he has a family he is responsible for, can destroy that too by such reckless habits.
When gamblers gamble for fun, I believe they win more and are happier than when they gamble to offset debt or fund their lifestyle and that's just the way I see it.

[Floxynice]

This whole situation helped me realize many people who actually gamble do so with amounts they see pointless as saving, but also at the same time many of these people are in very dire financial situations already.

The case with your brother isn't that he doesn't care about his debts; your brother is already in a mess. His mind is already messed up. It is obvious. Who finds himself in such debt but prefers to lose his money gambling rather than clear his debt? That is not a normal behaviour.

The earlier he is given the necessary help he needs, the better for him and the entire family. If he somehow loses his job for any reason, he doesn't seem to me like someone who would quit gambling; he will incur more debt just to gamble. That young man is addicted. Help him.

[blockman]

He's so wrong about thinking there's no benefit for early repayment. There's so much benefits into doing that when he's already paying that responsibly early enough. The bank will see how early he's into payments and if he's not defaulting in it. It's about the mindset and responsibility that he has taken with that loan. If that's the kind of thinking he has for not paying early and should have gambled with the money, it's likely that he'll default in it because of how he badly wants to recover his losses and will spend the money that he's about to use for paying his loan. So it won't be surprising if he gets into another trouble for having that thought.

[Hispo]

Is there really any amount that's pointless to saving? Because as far as I know, no matter how small that money is, it can add up to something, especially when the goal is to clear up a loan, but your cousin doesn't look at it that way; his mind is already made up and considers himself to be doing something useful, and saving that little is like doing nothing at all, using the little chance he has to win as an encouragement, not knowing a lot of money is going down, which could have helped to fasten his debt repayment, and in such situations, winning barely comes; it will be playing upon playing with the hope of hitting it some day.

Honestly, that kind of people who believe it is pointless to save money in small quantities are mediocre and do not understand that every penny one can save it does a lot in the long term in order to get us out of poverty. The Cousin of OP is probably addicted to gambling and does not want to admit it in any way shape or form.

Someone who is in a state of debt with one back is not supposed to be gambling at all, bot even pocket money.
To me it is kind of a matter of common sense... Money used to gamble is only supposed to come from a source of abundance, and someone who is in debt does not have any abundance to give to anyone or any service, like a casino or a bookie.

Hopefully, his cousin will eventually mature and realize there are highest priorities in life, besides of quick dopamine from gambling.

[Stalker22]

~
So my cousin argued that with the little he could save by the end of each month, there was zero point saving a few dozens of dollars in this economy. 

Do you really believe what he saying?  Do you honestly think he is trying to play some clever game with his bank?  No, no, he is a gambling addict plain and simple.  Just think about how ridiculous his excuses sound.  Even if his bank has a predatory early-repayment penalty, giving his money to a casino isnt the only other choice.  He could literally just hide those few dozen dollars under his mattress where the bank could not get to them.

[Dogedegen]

I saw my cousin the other day playing slots on a very shitty website the other day. It was just a few days after payday.
I asked him in the kindest manner I could to explain himself, since he's deep in debt to a bank for a loan he took, why would he gamble instead of saving to pay back his loan early.

If you knew all the stories that happen in the world with these things, people are crazy. I remember listening to someone trying to get a bank loan next to me, trying to assure the bank guy that he will not gamble the money away when most of his activity on his bank account shows that he is gambling regularly and way over his head. The person has become so delusional from gambling that they believe that the bank does not see the history in his own account or that they would just believe him on his word and give him the money.

This whole situation helped me realize many people who actually gamble do so with amounts they see pointless as saving, but also at the same time many of these people are in very dire financial situations already.

Even if some people think about that, that does not mean that it is true. Actually saving in this economy is fair enough if the alternative thing that you would do with the money is even worse than saving under bad conditions. Think about some of the discussions that go in other parts of the forums. Most people do not have any kind of emergency fund, backup funds or anything like that. They should be saving up to create those funds with those small amounts of money that are leftover first, and only then should they consider to gamble. If one wants to, one can find always a 1000 justifications why it is right to gamble and in each case it is going to be wrong.

[bitbollo]

this is pretty normal and a clear way to continue to lose money. as mentioned it's pretty hard to save a small amount of money...
likewise... you will just not get out of your debt+you will never get bankrupt.
I find most of the time even pretty useless to talk about. Playing games like this is just another way to "take dopamine".

[DPHOR]

That is one thing you must see in gambling especially those who see gambling as their only means of survival they wouldn't mind taking whatever amount from the bank as loan to satisfy their gambling desires and when they are not able to pay you would see Bank sell back their property or something that stood as collateral to the loan, and even if they present as collateral is higher than the amount they took you would see them selling it just to make sure they recovered their borrowed amount.

[Sanitough]

People have different strategies to earn, and gambling is never an exception. And having a current debt is not an excuse, especially for those who have really passion in gambling and for those who have seen at some point that they are also making good profits.

However, its a different thing if you have a huge debt, and at the same time you are also addicted to gambling. It will not make a positive outcome in the long run. It could even lead you not paying your current debt and create another debt. Gambling is never bad, but it could creates worst scenarios if one is gambling irresponsibly.

[Ziskinberg]

The way your cousin deals with gambling and how his mindset works towards paying his huge debt, it's obvious that he's currently facing gambling addiction. Addicts turn to make weird things that we think are so stupid, but the thing is, we can't manipulate them and let them follow what's right for us, because they are no longer in their proper mindset.

Do not leave your cousin for now and monitor him, and never stop giving him suggestions and advices until he'll be back into his senses and prioritize things that need to be prioritized while ignore the unnecessary ones.

[Italian Panic]

I also know people who find themselves in a situation where they ask relatives and friends for money so they can keep gambling, or worse, steal from friends and relatives just to keep playing. These situations are borderline, and before they descend into such behaviour, someone needs to convince them to seek  help. Very often, families are ruined, and worse still, by those who are losing vast sums of money yet think they’re winning, only for it all to end abruptly with a little tune telling you that you’ve lost everything. If you’re not doing it for fun, it all becomes very dangerous.

[noorman0]

Is this a legal banking practice in your country? This has also happened in several loan cases at my local bank. It's usually just a special clause outside of the formal written agreement, depending on the agent handling the initial loan proposal, and the customer can't refuse due to necessity.
I hope you can help him with a better idea, however, his idea of ​​diverting money to gambling doesn't alleviate his loan problems.