How to look after your piggy bank

Last week I decided to re-mortgage the house, I raided the savings account, withdrew everything from the childrens’ University Fund, then sold all my shares ….and then I lumped all the cash I had on the favourite in the 1:30 at Kempton Park.

 

 

Of course I’m kidding! That would have been bonkers, and practically inviting financial disaster.

 

Staking absolutely everything you have on just one horse is an example of bad money management. Granted, it’s an extreme example, but I reckon it got your attention, didn’t it?

 

Yet far too often your typical punter is guilty of poor money management. On a much lesser scale admittedly, but is it any wonder that in the long run the average punter loses money betting on horse racing?

 

I’m frequently asked by my readers “how much” they should put on each bet, and “do I have a staking system?”, or “how quickly can I give up my job and just bet on the horses?”.

 

It seems plenty of people like to pay lip service to managing their betting bank-roll, but it never ceases to amaze me how so many people are still acting so recklessly with their money when it comes to betting.

 

Best intentions

 

It strikes me that the perennial losing punter is a little like the over-weight bloke, who sets out on January 1st with every good intention of losing his beer gut.

 

 

He has a few salads, maybe even pays a visit to the gym. But more often than not come February he is back to his comfortable eating habits, and the weight continues to pile on.

 

And it will often be the same with the average punter – he has developed bad habits that have, over time, contributed to a steady flow of money out of his bank account and into the cash-till of his local bookmakers. To become a winning punter he must change his ways.

 

Over the course of the next few weeks I’m going to examine some of the bad betting habits that contribute to an unhealthy bank balance. But before the next instalment, I’d like to ask you a question… what would you say is your greatest weakness when it comes to losing money on the horses? Leave a comment below.

 

For more articles like this and a week of free horse racing tips just visit my website at ReddRacing.co.uk