Online casinos are a great form of entertainment. They allow you to play games and enjoy yourself, whilst also promising the chance of winning a life changing amount of money at any given moment. However, what always needs to be remembered is that when you play at an online casino, you’re spending real money.
It can be easy for casino newbies (and seasoned gamers too!) to dive straight into the games, then get caught up in playing, and only after realise they’ve spent much more than they intended to. We don’t want to kill anyone’s vibe, and we don’t want to sound like nagging parents, but we do want to make sure that all our players know how to stay safe and play responsibly.
That’s why we think it’s very important to understand how to create a successful gambling budget plan – and stick to it! In today’s guide, we’re sharing tips and tricks which should help you control your spending, whilst still benefiting from all the fun the casino has to offer.
1. Make A Plan
Of course, the first thing you need to do to make sure you can stick to a gambling budget plan is to make one — duh! Making a strict plan allows you to be in control of how often you’re playing and how much you’re spending each time you do. In turn, this allows you to manage your general finances and make sure that you’re gambling habits aren’t going to affect other areas of your life.
To make a successful gambling budget plan, you need to be realistic. Look at your income and your outgoings and decide what amount of money you can responsibly dedicate to depositing at a casino. It’s no use setting yourself a budget that’s higher than what you can afford, as this will only lead to problems down the line. On the other hand, if you set your budget too low, you’re going to end up spending more than you promised and then feeling bad about it.
2. Make Use Of Depositing Limits
If you’ve made your budget plan, but you’re not convinced of your own will power, then making use of pre-existing deposit limits is the next step. Every casino you visit, Fortune Frenzy included, will impose some sort of daily depositing limit on its players. However, these are generally set quite high because they’re more to do with the payment method than they are to do with making sure that players don’t spend too much money.
That being said, at Fortune Frenzy we offer all our players the option of setting their own limits on how much they can deposit per day. Once a deposit limit is set, we won’t allow you to fund your account with any more money until the next 24 hour period, so it’s a iron-clad way of making sure you don’t go over budget. You can chat to our customer service team at any time about this, and these limits can be adjusted to suit your needs.
Another way of making use of existing depositing limits is to opt for payment method which only allows you to transfer so much money per day. Pay by phone billing services, like Boku, have a strict £30 limit for all players. This was put into place to make sure that users can’t rack up too much debt over the course of the month (as you only pay for your deposits once you receive your monthly phone bill), and so it’s the perfect way to curb excessive spending.
3. Limit Your Time Spent Gambling
Another great way of limiting how much you spend at the casino is to limit how much time you spend playing. Of course, for gaming fanatics this is easier said than done, but believe us, it really works! Set yourself a time limit for playing, based around what you can afford. It may be that you only play for an hour, as opposed to several, or that you play for half an hour each day, instead of your usual nightly session.
Limiting your time automatically limits your spending, as once the time is up, you can’t play anymore! If you’re worried that you may forget what time you need to log out by, set an alarm clock when you start playing. Unlike the other methods, however, this way of budgeting requires a lot of self discipline.
It’s all too easy to simply ignore the alarm, or justify five extra minutes when you’re on a winning streak. If you think you’re in a position where you think this will work for you then great, but if you think you may not be able to be strict enough on yourself, then use this method in conjunction with the others.
4. Never Spend Beyond Your Means
One of the most important things to remember when gambling, whether you’re intending to stick to a budget or not, is to never spend beyond your means. This means that you should never be spending more than you can afford, or that you have in your bank account!
Never borrow money in order to gamble, never spend on a credit card without knowing you’ll be able to pay for it at the end of the month, and never use Boku deposits if you’re unsure that your phone bill can be paid.
We know that we’re verging on sounding preachy here, and let’s be honest who’s not borrowed a few quid from their mates when they’re skint, but this is solid advice. The beauty of gambling is that you never know when you’ll win or lose money, yet when you’re playing with someone else’s then this appeal can become a nightmare very quickly.
