Feelings of guilt re: family

[USGrant]

Two ruling factors when dealing with guilt about poker and personal relationships, and you addressed both, 1) stakes/bankroll 2) time playing poker. I think you should establish with the family regular times that you will be playing poker, then stick with those times. This way, there are expectations on both sides. If you worry about how the $400 could have paid bills, then you're probably playing at stakes higher than you can tolerate. With stakes, it's as much a function of what you can psychologically tolerate to lose as it is a function of what you can actually afford to lose.