Matty, I\'m glad I didn\'t see this thread until now - the first bit had me seriously worried for you. Luckily the CMON family have rallied with excellent advice all round and I\'m glad to hear you more positive.
I can truely relate to a couple of your issues - student debt messed my life up for a long time - I had (and still have) an almost compulsive spending habit that led to various overdrafts, credit cards, store cards, loans etc which took years to get on top of. In fact, I have to thank the Mrs for taking control of finances as I probably wouldn\'t be solvent if it weren\'t for her. Maybe you could get Laura to help manage you money for a bit - women can be very good at it
Also, when I was growing up, my mother also had alcohol problems. I was young and didn\'t know how to cope with it so it just led to me distancing myself from her anytime. It wasn\'t until she suffered a serious medical problem and nearly died that we got close again. The fact that your mum has consciously made that step towards sobering up (no matter what the cause) is very positive and gives you the opportunity to rebuild your relationship with her - a chance not everyone gets. Make the most of it, she\'s going to need a lot of support and it won\'t always be easy but it will be worth the effort.
I sincerely hope that you\'re able to see that light at the end of the tunnel (it\'s not another train coming, it is the sun shining on Byker!) and remember there are a lot of positives in your life too that you shouldn\'t neglect - Laura, your education, you\'re ranked way above me... for now
Best of luck mate and, why not, a friendly hug too {{{Matty}}}