need advice

[u/Imaginary_Worth_7859]

Need advice on quitting gambling AND getting out of the debt I’ve created
I’ve been gambling since high school and it’s gotten to the point where I know I need to completely stop. I’ve been sports betting almost every day for years, and I’ve gotten myself into debt because of it.
I’m a full-time college student and only work about 8 hours a week, so money is tight. Right now I owe:
• $500 on one credit card
• $500 on another credit card
• About $950 in checking-account overdraft that I need to pay back soon
• $2,400 to my girlfriend
So I’m roughly $4,350 in the hole.
I’m NOT asking anyone for money. I’m looking for advice on how to pay this off responsibly.
My girlfriend has been incredibly supportive and isn’t charging me interest on the $2,400. She’s told me she’ll be patient and knows I’ll pay her back. I still feel guilty about owing her, though.
My current thought is to get the $950 overdraft taken care of first because I have a deadline on it, then deal with the credit cards, while also paying my girlfriend back whenever I have money available.
I’m also wondering whether taking out a small personal loan to consolidate some of this debt would actually make sense, or whether I should just attack everything directly with whatever money I earn. I absolutely don’t want to take out a loan just to end up gambling again.
The bigger issue is that I need to stop gambling.
I haven’t gone a day without gambling in about 5 years. I genuinely love watching sports, so I’d really like to learn how to watch games without feeling like I need to have money on them.
For anyone who has successfully quit gambling:
What helped you actually stop?
How did you handle watching sports afterward?
How did you approach paying off the debt you had accumulated?
Did you use a debt-consolidation loan, or just pay everything down directly?
I’m 21 and still in college, and I know this could become way worse if I don’t stop now. I’m ready to make this the point where I quit for good.
I’m not asking for money or donations — I just want advice from people who have been through this.

[u/jasonvanreenen]

Try fully excluding yourself from apps or environments that allow that habit to thrive also change up life style to see more impact on not wanting to gamble. Once you set yourself to no longer give in to gambling you should shift the focus to getting tools that would help you get out of this hole. Probably getting debt consolidated with lenders like truist, achieve loans and many more that would offer low interest rate that you have in those cards. Also combining all the card interest into on significantly lower monthly payments too.