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Everyone loves those stories about people walking into the casino with a bit of cash and walking out with a life-changing win. The chance to turn a little into a lot is part of the allure of gambling, and many people hear those thrilling success stories and get starry-eyed over them.
But if you’re a new gambler, I’d suggest setting the bar low for yourself when it comes to winnings. Your goal should not be to get rich quick, but to never risk going broke. One of the easiest ways to mitigate the chances of that is by creating separation between your important finances and the money you can afford to spend on gambling and other leisurely activities.
Like with many other hobbies, the most talented and extreme people can turn gambling into a career. For the rest of us, it should be treated as no different than watching a movie or playing a video game. Neither of those activities involves putting your life savings at risk, so why should gambling?
New gambler or old, setting up a secondary bank account where you can hold all of your allowed gambling spendings and earnings will save you a lot of stress in the future. It may sound complicated and time-consuming at first, but you can actually arrange this in just a matter of minutes.
Banks aren’t the same as they were a decade ago, and new “millennial” banking alternatives can make signing up for a secondary account easier than you probably think. In this post, I’m going to tell you how to do all of that to minimize the risk of gambling addiction.
Losing Is Part of the Hobby
A harsh reality you must be willing to accept before you ever begin gambling is that you’re going to lose. Knowing this alone should be enough information to make you want to take protective measures. Losing the cash that you were going to spend on fast food isn’t a big deal, but losing what you needed to pay your medical bill definitely is.
There is no catch-all formula for determining how much you can personally afford to lose. Only you know that, so it’s up for you to decide. Gamblers have a way of overstating how much they can risk because many have difficulty facing the reality that they actually will lose.
If you want my opinion, the best way to create a gambling budget for yourself is by taking out a reasonable percentage of your paycheck and placing it into your gambling account. It’s no different than if you had a savings account. This amount should not exceed 20% unless you’re very comfortable and feel financially stable for years ahead of you.
Remember, when it comes to gambling budgeting, it’s better to allocate less than more. Until gambling income actually takes over your real job, consider yourself a hobby gambler. As a hobby gambler, winning small amounts like $50 shouldn’t come with any bad feelings. Losing always feels worse than winning feels good, so always set your budget based on projected losses.
Creating an Account Is Easy
I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to deal with financial setup procedures. It can be time-consuming and intimidating. Creating a secondary bank account that you can use to store your funds for gambling isn’t complicated, though.
Millennial banking solutions are on the rise. If you aren’t exactly sure what a millennial bank is, the phrase often describes a bank with the following features:
- Completely functional online and by mobile
- No fees (maintenance, overdraft, etc.)
- Easy setup, often with on-the-spot approval
Examples of some of the popular millennial banks are Ally, Simple, and Chime. I recently signed up for an account with Chime, and it was a five-minute process before I was able to log in and begin using my new bank account.
Some of the features that these bank accounts offer can even help you stay safe while gambling in other ways. For example, many millennial banks don’t provide overdraft “protection.” They actually don’t allow you to overdraft at all; your transfer will just be declined. That can save you a massive headache in the future. True overdraft protection is to not even risk those scary fees.
Don’t allow the stress of organizing your finances to be a crutch or excuse. It’s not fun work, but it’s a quick process. The best part is that there’s really no downside, so get on it!
You Can Track Your Funds
This may be the most convincing reason of all. When you use your checking account for both your living expenses and gambling, tracking where your money is going at all times becomes increasingly difficult.
You shouldn’t be gambling if you don’t work. If you do work, you should have expenses moving in and out of your bank account regularly. This can make it difficult to understand where exactly point A and point B are on a weekly or monthly basis. You may be gaining or losing money much faster or slower than you realize due to your balance constantly fluctuating.
With a separate gambling account, it becomes much easier for you to track how much money you’re putting in and how much you’re earning or losing. Should you choose to, it allows you to work with clean, round numbers that can make doing on-the-spot math very easy, too. You can’t do that when using a bank account used for everyday purchases and payments.
Being able to monitor your wins and losses is a massive perk. You can impose limits where dipping below a threshold means you’ll stop gambling for some time or rising above a threshold means you’ll lock in some of your earnings by making a transfer to your other account.
It Can Help Beat Addiction
Sometimes, all it takes is a slap in the face from reality to notice that addiction is overtaking your life. After all, the first step to beating gambling addiction is determining that you suffer from it.
Creating a secondary gambling account allows you to more easily visualize just how severe of a problem gambling might be. If it doesn’t keep you from losing all the money you’ve put into it, at the very least you don’t have the excuse of not knowing what you’re doing to yourself. The numbers are right there in front of you.
Addiction is a tricky thing to pinpoint, and even upon properly identifying it, many people struggle with accepting that it’s real. In gambling, that struggle can run your life into shambles if you don’t quickly take control. With a separate gambling account, you can’t look at a $10 balance and deny the obvious. That’s a lot better than seeing a $10 balance on your only bank account. Don’t let it happen.
Closing Remarks
Addiction and financial hardships are not things you want to take a chance on. Gambling can be a lot of fun and can be incredibly rewarding, and even though it’s a hobby for most people, it’s still not something to take lightly. There’s a reason that there’s a minimum age to gambling, just like with smoking and drinking. These things can ruin your life if you let them.
A cardinal sin of gambling is playing with more money than you can afford to lose. Doing so is usually a result of gamblers allowing their emotions to get the best of them after a big win or tragic loss. It’s completely avoidable if you follow the instructions I’ve laid out for you in this article.
Creating a separate gambling account is going to put you in a position to take control of yourself as a gambler. It’s one of the most healthy gambling habits, so put your foot down and do the right thing. Track your wins and losses more easily. Set a responsible budget. It’s all easy, and it’s all worth it.
Now that you’re ready to get the ball rolling, take a look at some of our recommended gambling sites. They’re a great place to break you’re new account in.
