Young man pissing away savings
My addiction started with online crypto casinos and options trading as a young adult. I never had any success options trading, but we'll get back to that. Several years ago I turned a free daily dollar into a few hundred. After several sessions I had amassed thousands through an insane stroke of luck which I had not realized at the time. I won the equivalent of my current salary in a matter of weeks and turned it back into next to nothing. At the time I really did not understand the gravity of what I did, the money did not even seem real.
I started full time work out of college ~2 years ago. I recently paid off debts, which were not tied to gambling, and have had an extremely hard time staying away from pissing away what should be my savings. I have been religiously maxing out my 401k, Roth, and HSA thank god. These being taken out of my paycheck before I can touch it / locked in accounts I can't withdraw from is wonderful. Most residual funds I have pissed away trading options. I have stayed away from online casinos through self exclusion, this urge has faded rather well. I would consider myself financially literate and generally a frugal person but seriously constrained by my own impulsive decisions - gambling.
I go through phases of building up savings and getting excited about my financial position. I have budgeting sheets that I use to calculate and project balances. Several times now I have moved savings to a brokerage account and lost thousands with options and day trading, chasing get rich quick nonsense. Each time it brings me great pain but I have not been able to let it teach me a lesson. As a result of this, I really do not have an emergency fund. In addition to this, I am coming to the realization that if I keep this up I will never be able to support a family, buy a house, or accomplish any of my life goals. I want to get past this and I want to be able to bear the fruits of my labor.
My urges seem to arise out of a combination of social media (reddit (WSB), IG reels, X) and boredom. I travel intensively for work and often do not have things to do or be excited about. I will lose thousands of dollars trading options at my desk at work when I have nothing else to do.
I'm really seeking tools / strategies I can use to prevent another savings purge. Also, I would love to hear your testimonies and how you came out on the other side.