Part 300: Six Years Later

Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE. In Part 300 I discuss another important financial milestone, and discuss the morally bankrupt gambling industry.

Weekly Update

It feels like I’m speeding through the weeks at the moment, and it’s another week down on the journey to FI.  It’s not been the most eventful week as much of my spare time is taken up with walking for my Step Challenge.  

The one notable event from the working week was meeting my team in person for the first time.  I was interviewed and hired remotely, and apart from one day an office at the start to pick up my equipment with the other new recruits, I’ve not met anyone in person.  

I’m the only one from my training group that is in my team, with the other recruits split up across other teams.  As such, I had never met any of these people in real life.  The meeting was in the Wakefield office and for those who don’t know, it’s about 25 miles away from Sheffield.  You would think that our rail network would have a swift and direct route over such a short distance, right?

Oh my sweet summer child… The rail network in the UK is a shambles.  I had to take two trains each way, and for some reason the journey was roughly ninety minutes long on the return leg.  It’s insane that in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Romania, Belgium, and the Netherlands, they have cheap, efficient, and speedy public transport including trains.  In the UK, unless you are wanting to travel in a straight line from Leeds or Manchester to London, you better prepare for multiple changes of train and to pay eye watering amounts for a stressful journey.  

Anyway, back to the meeting.  It was great to meet people face-to-face because, as great as video calling is, it’s just not the same as real life interaction.  Don’t get me wrong, I love working remotely and would never change that, but it’s nice to get together from time to time.  

On Saturday Oana and I went for a long walk to one of the satellite villages on the outskirts of Sheffield.  It was a nice walk through some woods and by the time we got there, we were very hungry. We had a choice between a couple of pubs and a cafe.  We went for the cafe and I ordered waffles with bacon, maple syrup, and blueberries.  Oana got some sort of flatbread.  The waffles were drowning in maple syrup and it wasn’t pleasant.  Normally, I’d expect the syrup to be served in a little pot so you can pour it on yourself.  This was swimming in syrup so much that the bottom of the waffles were inedible because of how sweet it was.  It was on the verge of being greasy.  

Six Years On – Overcoming Gambling Addiction and A Turning Point Towards FI

I’ve touched on mental health, money, and resilience plenty of times on this blog, but something I’ve not discussed as often is my past struggle with gambling addiction. It feels like the right time now, not because it’s easy to write about, but because it was one of the defining battles of my life so far, and a crucial fork in the road that eventually led me to the FIRE movement. It’s part of my story, and it shaped how and why I began the journey to financial independence in the first place.

I didn’t fit the stereotype of a compulsive gambler. I wasn’t living out of my car or betting away my last tenner. But I was hooked. Gambling had become a secret, slippery part of my routine. It was almost entirely online betting on football, and sometimes visits to the casino’s blackjack tables.  It gave me an escape; a false sense of control when life felt unpredictable. But more than that, it became a coping mechanism for stress, boredom, and eventually anxiety and depression.  Looking back, I now realise it was probably a coping mechanism from decades of masking my autistic self.  It started with “just a bit of fun,” and it ended with me chasing losses and feeling physically sick when the screen showed zero balance.

I lost money, of course. But more than that, I lost time, focus, self-respect. I was lying to myself about the damage it was doing. I convinced myself I had it under control, that I could stop whenever I wanted. But addiction doesn’t care about logic. It’s cunning and quiet and, more often than not, it grows in silence.

The turning point wasn’t one dramatic event. It was the accumulation of small, sickening moments of regret. Watching another deposit vanish into the void. Deleting and reinstalling apps in a cycle of shame. Losing sleep. Feeling hollow. What finally broke the cycle was not sheer willpower. It was reaching out, consuming information, and allowing myself to be vulnerable both with myself and with others.

The first real lifeline came through a podcast. The After Gambling Podcast, hosted by Jamie Salsburg, became a quiet companion during my workouts at the gym. There was something powerful about hearing his calm, honest reflections on addiction while I was pushing myself physically and trying to take back control of my body and mind. Jamie had been through it. He wasn’t preaching. He was sharing. That distinction matters, because when you’re struggling, you don’t need a lecture. You need connection. And that podcast gave me that along with practical insights and a sense that recovery was not only possible, but worth it.

From there, I sought out more perspectives blogs written by people who had clawed their way out of addiction. I started to see patterns in their stories that mirrored my own. The hiding. The shame. The self-loathing. But also the resilience, the rebuilding, and the redirection of that compulsive energy into something healthier and more productive.

Opening up to people I trusted was the next step, and by far the hardest. I’d built an identity around being dependable, knowledgeable, sorted. Admitting that I was struggling with something that felt so irrational felt like blowing a hole in that persona. But when I did open up to Oana and to my parents, I was met with empathy, not judgement. And that’s when the healing really began.

Because addiction thrives in secrecy, but recovery thrives in accountability and connection. Once I stopped carrying it alone, it became manageable. Not easy. Not overnight. But manageable.

It was around this time that I discovered the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement almost by accident. I’d been looking into ways to manage money better, trying to reclaim control over my finances and put some distance between me and my old habits. At first, FIRE just seemed like an interesting concept. But the more I read, the more I realised that it offered exactly what I was craving: structure, purpose, long-term thinking. All things that addiction strips away.

Starting my FI project gave me something new to obsess over but in a healthy way. Instead of the next bet, I was planning for the next savings milestone. I was tracking expenses, investing mindfully, and learning to find satisfaction in progress rather than instant gratification. That mindset shift was profound.

Gambling is all about now. It’s fast, emotional, impulsive. FIRE, on the other hand, is slow, rational, and intentional. Where gambling gave me fleeting highs followed by crushing lows, FI gave me steady peace and the quiet joy of watching my efforts compound over time.

I won’t say I’m “cured” because that’s not how recovery works. But I will say I’m free. And as of 24th July 2024, I marked six full years free from gambling. That anniversary means more to me than any financial milestone ever could. It represents six years of showing up for myself, of doing the work, and of living in alignment with the values I’d long buried under a pile of digital betting slips and false hope.

If you’re struggling with gambling, or any kind of compulsive behaviour, please know that you’re not weak.  You’re human. But you do need help, and it is out there. Whether it’s a podcast, a conversation, or a quiet shift in priorities, you just need a starting point. For me, it was all of those things. And they helped me reclaim not just my money, but my mind.

For those who think this is all a load of bullshit, I want to leave you with one bit of information.  Suicide rates amongst problem gamblers are much higher than in the general population.  In the UK, in 2023, there were approximately 7,000 suicides, with between 5%-10% of those estimated to be caused, at least in part, by problem gambling.  Other estimates suggest that there are a little over 400 gambling related suicides each year in the UK.  If we go with 400 as a definite figure, that means that since I gave up gambling, 2,400 people will have taken their own lives because of this issue.

The gambling companies, for all their claims of responsible gambling, have engaged in predatory behaviours for years, preying on the vulnerable.  It’s wrong.  It’s evil.  If you don’t believe me, pick up a copy of Jackpot: How Gambling Conquered Britain by Rob Davies.

Why You Should Never Trust a Caller Who Claims to Be from Your Bank

This week, I want to take a quick detour from the usual mortgage and FIRE topics to talk about something that affects every single one of us: scams.  No, I’m not talking about bags of crisps being mostly air, or planned obsolescence.   I’m talking about phone scams.

More specifically, phone scams, and the kind where someone calls you out of the blue claiming to be from your bank.

It might seem obvious that these are dodgy, but I’m constantly hearing of people, often intelligent, financially literate individuals, who’ve been caught off guard by these scammers. Why? Because the tactics are increasingly sophisticated. They sound professional, the number might look genuine (thanks to caller ID spoofing), and they often already know your name, your address, or part of your card number.

They might say there’s been suspicious activity on your account, and you’re at risk unless you act now. One of the most common lines is that you need to move your money to a “safe account” immediately.

Let me be absolutely clear:

Your bank will NEVER ask you to move money to a different account to “keep it safe”.

They will not pressure you to make decisions quickly, and they will not ask for your full password, PIN, or card reader codes over the phone.

So what should you do if you get a call like this?

1. Hang up. You’re under no obligation to be polite. Just end the call.
2. Wait at least 5 minutes (or use a different phone) and then call your bank back using the number on the back of your card or via their official website.
3. If you’ve already shared sensitive information or moved money, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.

These scams are designed to create panic. But if you remember that no legitimate organisation will ever rush or threaten you into making a decision, you’re already one step ahead.

So this week’s message is simple: trust your instincts, question everything, and don’t be afraid to hang up.

Stay safe out there.  If someone knocked on your door and told you to move you money to another bank account, you wouldn’t do it.  So don’t do it if someone calls you.

Diabetes UK Step Challenge – Update

I’ve now done more than 400,000 steps, which is almost a quarter of the way to the target.  I’ve had 17 days where I’ve hit or exceeded the daily target, and the other 8 days I failed to hit the required daily target.  To be fair, though, of those 8 days, 5 of them were the first 5 days of the month when I was struggling with covid.

If you would like to donate to Diabetes UK, you can find my donation page at the link below:

https://step.diabetes.org.uk/fundraising/davids-fundraising-page1055

What I’m Doing

Listening: The Future by Naomi Alderman.

Watching: Manifest (Netflix).

Reading: Mickey 7

We got two episodes into Manifest and binned it off.  It’s not the worst show I’ve ever seen, but it’s in the mix.  Badly written, acted, and directed.  It’s just a horrible mess of predictable plot and “smell the fart acting”.

If anyone has suggestions for good shows to watch on Netflix please let me know in the comments.  

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Financial Update

Assets

Premium Bonds: £19,000.00.

Stocks and Shares ISA: £117,649.56.

Fuck It Fund: £500.29.

Pensions: £100,557.93.

Residential Property Value: £239,368.00. 

Total Assets: £477,075.78.

Debts

Residential Mortgage: £177,949.31. 

Total Debts: £177,949.31.

Total Wealth: £299,126.47.

My pension fund has finally got into six figures, at a little over £100k.  Sadly, I did not quite hit £300k total wealth in time for Part 300 of this blog.  

The numbers are insane though.  In just three months the figure has increased by £25k.  This is what happens when you start to accumulate decent amounts of value in your investments.  Compound growth is incredibly powerful.  No doubt there will be ups and downs moving forward, but it’s still nice to take a moment and appreciate the progress made on this FI journey.

FI is not that far away in the grand scheme of things.  There are just a few things that need to happen.  The first is we need to secure a new fixed rate on our mortgage for the next few years.  The concessionary deal I was allowed to keep as part of my redundancy is coming to an end later this year.  Hopefully, I can get a good rate.

The second item on the list is Oana getting a job.  Even if it’s just something part-time, that extra income will help supercharge our journey.  At the moment my wage is covering our joint cost of living.  A modest boost to our income, say £500pm, is an extra £500pm available to invest and speed things up.  Other than that, it’s just a waiting game and trying to economise where possible.

That’s all for this week.  Thanks for reading.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my former, current, or future employers, nor should they be considered advice.

If you want personalised financial advice, seek an appropriate professional.  If you are in financial difficulty, seek advice via the resources below:

StepChange

MoneyHelper

Biolink 

You can now find all my social media pages by checking out my Biolink:

bio.link/davidscothern.