First of, I do feel a few people jumped the gun a bit with calls for you to get help. They did so though with nothing but good intentions, so by no means a critisism; just my take. I will say this though. Even if it doesn't qualify as being a problem gambler as such, since it isn't impacting your life and economy in a negative way, it's still the first step there, in gambling money you're not intending to time and again. Whether this means you should seek help, stop altogether, or keep going while trying to adjust, I don't think is for me, or anyone else as far away as an internet forum, to say. You're in such a middleground that it can only be what your own gut deep down is telling you. And not in terms of what will make you "happy" right now, but rather what will give you the most satisfaction in life long-term.
If you do keep going at it, FWIW here's my completely subjective and unscientific suggestion.
- Decide what your goal is here. And feck off with (specific) numbers! Those are nice, once they're actually in your bank account, but very much secondary at this point. Is the goal to: Prove you can beat the market/the system? Make lots of money? Make a bit of extra money?
- Make a realistic estimate of your average daily or weekly or weekly ROI on your bankroll if you only trade and don't gamble away money. Project that forward. And then do it again where you take away 50%, 75% and 90% (representing the gambling). It doesn't work for everyone, but compound interest is a huge factor and will show the witting away through gambling to be about more than the money right now. Clearly there's no guarentee that your trading can be scaled up for compound interest to work that way, so for illustration purposes only.
- Unless the above makes you hellbent on making gambling 0%, then fiddle with the numbers and decide - also based on what you came up with for the first one - which percentage you'd be okay with taking from trading profits and having a bit a gambling fun with. If you win and build, all the better. And it may just make you more selective. Should you go on and take a larger percentage away, after the original gambling percentage is gone, or even feel a strong urge to do so, then the initial question will be answered. You do have a problem and should seek help.
- Compound interest and bankroll building aside I can not speak highly enough of taking a bit of focus from the frustration of pissing it away gambling by setting an amount or percentage every month to go to one or more things. Buying records, books, going to a football match (without gambling on it, but just cause) or whatever you're into. Better yet, buy your wife a fancy dinner. Even if she's not the type to say it, if this is something you're spending your time on, care about and a part of it is eating away at you, then she's feeling it. Women tend to be bloody, annoyingly intuitive like that. She probably deserves it
The dinner, not feeling your frustration
- Oh, and I'll join Shaun's liberal train of thought. Take something out every month and give to charity. However little. Along with the previous point, it'll serve as a reminder that at the end of day it's just a bit of game theory and only numbers, which happens to represent money. That in turn could, and should, make a positive impact on the life of both yourself and others, and certainly not by a cause for frustration.