Organizing Your Finances: Practical Financial Strategies for People with ADHD
Throughout this month we have focused on money management. Today we are focusing on the practical, simple, and effective quick tools for managing finances without being overwhelmed. If you are just beginning your finance and money management journey or in the middle of it, here are some ADHD – friendly simple tools and tips that will help you meet your financial goals. Choose one strategy to help you move forward with your goals.
Use automation and technology
There are many easy tools to set up for your income, expenses, and budgeting. Take time to set these up and review them monthly. Using automation and technology frees up your time and sets in motion your plans. One of the most important steps is to pay yourself first with an automated savings account.
- Automatic Payments: Set up automatic payments for bills to avoid missing due dates.
- Automatic Savings: Use automated transfers to save regularly without having to remember to do it manually.
- Budgeting Apps: Apps like Mint, YNAB (You Need a Budget), or PocketGuard can help track spending and stay within budget.
- Reminder Apps: Use reminder apps or calendar alerts for bill due dates and financial tasks.
Simplify and Streamline
It is easy to be drawn into complicated accounts and single-line budgeting. Keep your system as simple as possible. Know what numbers matter most in your accounting and your taxes. Make your system easy to subdivide into manageable chunks of information. Make your accounting sheets as visual as possible with color coding to track your plans.
- Consolidate Accounts: Reduce the number of accounts to manage by consolidating them when possible.
- Minimalist Budgeting: Focus on a few key categories to make budgeting simpler and easier to follow.
- Consolidated Information: Create a consolidated sheet of all your accounts to access these at any time.
Visual Tools
Money can seem invisible. Make it easy to “see” your monthly and annual income, as well as your savings.
- Visual Budgets: Use charts, graphs, or color-coded systems to make financial information more engaging and easier to understand.
- Spending Journals: Keep a visual spending journal to track where money goes and identify patterns.
- Color-coded spending: Keep a log of what you spend with colors to match your feelings about the funds, such as green for income and red for expense.
Seek Support
Finding trusted advisors will help you with your financial goals. Your advisor can coach you through setting up your system, help you be accountable, and help you learn new strategies.
- Financial Advisor: Work with a financial advisor who understands ADHD and can provide personalized guidance.
- Accountability Partner: Have a trusted friend or family member help keep you accountable.
- Support Groups: Others who struggle with finances and keep you accountable to your goals.
Find your path to organizing your finances with a system that works for you and routines that help you manage your resources.
If I were starting today, I would probably get an app that I could use when I am out and about. Being older, I always worked with paper receipts. I use Quicken and log everything in. Once you have a system set up, entering info isn’t that hard. I really love being able to see all my accounts at a glance, and being able to look back and ahead. There is something that feels “safe” about having a system like you describe. Worth the investment to get help if you can’t set it up yourself.
We are all justifiably concerned about being hacked on these accounts. While we will always have paper, we can take small steps that make it easier for us. Just having mobile deposits has been life changing for me.
Like Seana, I use Quicken to manage our accounts. It’s helpful for me to code each expense. Regarding tax time, it’s easy to pull the reports needed within seconds, which is a huge time saver.
Also, using auto pay and auto savings have been game changers. I especially appreciate the auto savings piece. It’s a great way of helping our future.
Quicken is easy to use so I think that is why it is such a positive choice!