ADHD and Your Money
ADHD and Money
Most financial management or budgeting tips rely heavily on following a rigid routine of financial rules. And they typically don’t account for neurodiversity. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a type of neurodiversity that impacts a person's executive functioning and emotional regulation. When a person struggles in these areas, they might find tasks that are rote, repetitive, or require lots of organization and time-bound obligations challenging. Financially speaking, most money tasks require a lot of executive functioning and emotional regulation.
ADHD Money Problems
Money management relies heavily on organization, prioritizing, managing financial tasks, planning, and steadily sticking to a plan. With ADHD, the focus is on what is happening at the moment, so it can be hard to think about how a change in financial behaviors now will provide positive benefits 10, 20, or 30 years into the future. Other financial problems that might impact folks with ADHD are shopping impulsively, forgetting they’ve purchased something and accidentally buying duplicates, struggling to stick to one budget app or spending plan, and having difficulty organizing financial tasks and records.
Some money problems associated with ADHD fall into the two categories of executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation.
Money-related executive functioning ADHD problems include:
Disorganization
Might look like: Being disorganized might make it hard for a person to keep track of bill due dates, scholarship deadlines, or paper and digital receipts.
Problems prioritizing
Might look like: Ordering financial tasks in order of priority can be challenging for people with ADHD. They might struggle to balance saving up for an emergency, paying down student loans, and investing in their future.
Poor time management skills (difficulty tracking time, dates, and deadlines)
Might look like: Difficulty tracking how long a task will take and keeping track of deadlines can make it hard for a person with ADHD to stay on top of financial deadlines
Problems focusing on a task or struggling with multitasking
Might look like: Inability to stay focused on a task for a long period can make things like creating a budget, getting in touch with an estate lawyer to create a will and trust, or choosing a retirement plan can lead to avoidance.
Poor planning
Might look like: Trying to juggle too many tasks at once and not knowing how to organize can lead to overwhelm and financial frustration.
Money-related emotional regulation ADHD problems include:
Impulsiveness
Might look like: Purchasing vacations, clothes, tools, or other items on a whim or not thoroughly reading through a financial product before buying or signing up for it.
Excessive activity or restlessness
Might look like: Struggling to stay focused long enough to hear or think through all of the financial implications of a specific choice
Low frustration tolerance
Might look like: Struggling to manage their emotions if a financial plan feels overwhelming, boring, or not applicable.
Mood swings
Might look like: Experiencing excitement at finding the right financial plan, followed by feeling defeated when taking steps to execute that plan are too laborious
Trouble coping with stress
Might look like: Low frustration tolerance, struggling to tolerate the amount of stress that comes along with managing personal finances.
8 ADHD-Friendly Money Management Tips
Here are some of my favorite ADHD-friendly money management tips. Like all of my financial tips, take the ones that work for you, and leave the ones that don’t! ADHDers are pretty darn good at finding creative ways to make difficult things work for them, so if you’ve been managing your ADHD and finances for a while, you might see that you already do some things on this list.
Automate, Automate, Automate
Keeping track of bill due dates, Roth IRA deadlines, and knowing which receipts need to be saved versus trashed is enough to make anyone’s head spin, but when you have ADHD you can end up completely frozen in decision overwhelm.
Instead? Automate as much of your financial life as possible.
Put all of your bills on autopay. This requires a bit of work upfront because you have to know how much you make every month and ensure you have enough in your checking account to not overdraft when your bills are on autopay, but it saves you the headache of managing varying amounts and due dates.
Autosave for short-term goals. Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to different savings accounts buckets to help you save for emergencies, travel, or a new goal, such as buying a newer vehicle or household appliance.
Enroll in automatic retirement contributions at work. BONUS if you can enroll in a service that automatically increases your contributions each year
Use services that help
If you have ADHD, you might be particularly prone to signing up for free trials and forgetting to cancel them before the fee kicks in. Outside of a calendar reminder to ping you to cancel your subscription, you can also try services like Bill Shark to help you negotiate your bills (they do all the negotiating on your behalf–if they negotiate your bill down, they take a fee based on a percentage of the money they save you), subscription buster via the Upwise app (you tap on the subscriptions you want canceling and they cancel them for you) or a Chrome plugin like Unsubscribe me.
Body Doubling for Money Tasks
Body doubling is a type of accountability or productivity tool where you pair up with someone else to help remind you to stay on task. A body double (not to be confused with a stunt double) is a friend or partner who works simultaneously in the same room (e.g., your coffee table or at a library) or virtually. You can set these up independently, but if you’re like me, you might want someone else to do the connecting. I use a service called Focusmate (use this link for 1 free month). Focusmate is a virtual co-working platform that pairs you with an accountability buddy in a 25- 50- or 90-minute session. You can sign up the same day or in advance. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been using Focusmate to help with my tasks. For folks with ADHD, doing financial tasks with a body double can help hold them accountable to the task at hand.
Timers and Deadlines To Encourage Hyperfocus
With ADHD, it can be hard to focus on completing a financial task if the consequences or rewards are years away (I’m looking at you, student loan debt and retirement savings). But when we harness the power of ADHD hyperfocus, we can accomplish a lot. Use timers or deadlines to help nurture a hyperfocus session where you can focus on completing a financial task. For example, set a timer for 25 minutes and challenge yourself to look at your banking and credit card statements to ensure everything looks correct. Or give yourself a deadline of 24 hours to choose and open a high-yield savings account.
Compassion for Your Neurodiverse Brain
ADHD brains aren’t all bad. ADHD gives us access to wild creativity, hyperfocus bursts of energy, and deep empathy. When (not if, because you are a beautiful human) you make a financial mistake, try to focus on compassion for how your brain is built rather than begrudging it. A good way to do this is through a “cognitive reframe.” A cognitive reframe is a quick technique to shift your perspective to a kinder, or at least more neutral, one. For example, if a person with ADHD missed a bill’s due date, rather than saying to themselves, “I missed another bill payment, typical dumb me,” they could try, “Even though I missed this bill payment, I can set up auto-pay so it doesn’t happen again. I might have missed it because I was out enjoying yesterday’s beautiful weather. I’m thankful my brain is so interested in enjoying the moment.”
Impulsivity Spending Fund
Trying to tell an ADHDer to “stop spending impulsively” is ripe with shame and, frankly, just isn’t realistic. Instead, I’m a fan of creating an “ADHD fund” or a “splurge fund.” This is where you have a specific amount of money that you set aside every month and allow yourself to splurge without totally throwing off your spending plan. There are numerous ways to do this.
ATM Method You can withdraw cash from the ATM at the start of the month and pad your wallet. And when it’s gone from your wallet, that’s the cue that you’ve hit your limit.
Reloadable card method. Get a reloadable debit card and load on a specific amount at the start of the month. Use only that card for impulse or unplanned purchases.
Bucket method. Move money into a separate savings account or “bucket.” When you want to shop impulsively, open up your banking app to see how much is in that savings bucket. If you have enough in that bucket, go ahead and make the purchase it!
Keep a List and Take Your Time
The dopamine rush of buying something new is particularly rewarding for folks with ADHD, so keep a running list of the things you want to buy, and give yourself a period to cool off before purchasing. The cool-off period could be 24-72 hours, and if you still want that item after that cool-off time and can afford it, you can permit yourself to purchase it. I make a Google doc list of things I want every year on my birthday. Items on there have ranged from a new pair of winter boots to a Dutch oven, but it serves as a point of reference when I get the itch to add something new to my shopping cart. Throughout the year, I open up the Google doc if I want something. If the widget that I’m itching to buy is on my list and I can afford it, I buy it! If it’s not on my list, I institute a cooling-off period. Most of the time after the cooling-off period, I don’t make the purchase.
Set a Reminder
“Out of sight, out of mind” isn’t just a cutesy saying when you have ADHD; anything hidden away can magically disappear to a person with ADHD. To help you avoid missing out on money-related tasks, put a monthly reminder in your phone with a list or checklist of things you need to do. This could be “mail check to my landlord,” “return items in my trunk to TJ Maxx,” or “check junk drawer for household items before going to Costco to buy them.”
ADHD at Work
If you are neurodiverse at work or support those who are neurodiverse, it’s important to have strategies in place to support you. As someone deeply invested in talking about and highlighting the importance of understanding diverse needs and challenges–and a person with late-diagnoses ADHD– I can speak to your organization about ADHD and money. Reach out today to bring this conversation to your organization or community.
ADHD and Money Reminders
Neurodiversity in all forms can be a gift. ADHDers don’t have it all bad when it comes to their money. Between their creativity, excitability, and hyperfocus, they have a lot of amazing superpowers that can be beneficial in helping them manage their money.
If you or someone you love has ADHD and struggles with aspects of personal finance, you can submit a question that I might answer on an upcoming “Ask Mind Money Balance” episode!