How to protect your finances from a gambling spouse
A spouse's gambling habit can instantly drain massive sums, like an $18,000 insurance payout, and even cost them their job if they sneak away to casinos on the clock. To stop the devastation, the non-gambling partner is often forced to take total control over all household finances and limit their spouse to cash on hand.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Taking total control of household finances and restricting the spouse to cash on hand.Did this help you?
- 2Freezing family credit reports to prevent the addicted spouse from taking out hidden loans.Did this help you?
- 3Removing all traces of money from the home and locking accounts with dual authorization.Did this help you?
- 4Calling the former employer with a burner phone to test what they actually say during reference checks.Did this help you?
- 5Going to rehab or support groups like Gamblers Anonymous.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My husband did something so dumb. He was on the clock actively claiming to be working, slipped across the street to a casino and was caught there at the blackjack tables. He was fired for it and I’m obviously livid.”source ↗
“It’s been a constant point of contention in our marriage. Hence why I control all of our finances and he just has cash on hand that he earns and continues to use.”source ↗
“The hardest thing I ever had to overcome was my ga.bk8ng addiction.”source ↗
“I had an friend who was an gambling addict, and its scary. He lost his business, his job, gf, and all his money. The second this guy would get money he would gamble it.”source ↗
“My sisters husband found her stash while she was under anesthesia for a double carpal tunnel release. He managed to burn through an 18,000 insurance payout for the repair of flooding (that he didn’t correct before the lines broke due to no funds from gambling) in less than 3 days.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Is debt relief better than bankruptcy after gambling losses?
- 2How do I stop spending all my money on gambling?
- 2How to stop an aging parent from compulsive online shopping and debt
- 4Traveling with someone who is always on their phone
- 3How to tell a friend she can't bring her toxic partner to my wedding
- 4Partner won't help with the puppy and keeps threatening to get rid of him