Is finance hard or is it ADHD?

For this week’s Top Story, we are looking at how Canadians with ADHD can manage their money in simple, clear ways. 

Money and ADHD: It’s usually not a match made in heaven—maybe a situationship at best. Financial harmony is possible, however, when you find a financial system that works for and rewards your neurospicy brain.

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Tom Holland, Greta Gerwig, Simone Biles—more and more celebrities are sharing that they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That’s powerful, because it helps normalize a condition that impacts one in every 21 Canadians.

Yet the majority of people with ADHD aren’t diagnosed until they’re adults. By that time, they may feel shame or frustration about money challenges, not realizing that financial procrastination or avoidance, impulsive spending and disorganization are common among those affected.

“Traditional financial tips are often restrictive and rely on doing the same thing consistently every day or tracking every expense, which is the kind of sustained routine that’s hardest to keep with ADHD,” says Danielle Abbott, a financial coach and founder of Damsel Financial Coaching in Dartmouth, N.S.

“ADHD can also involve black-and-white thinking. So when you ‘fall off the wagon,’ like forgetting to pay a bill, it can feel like all is lost and you might as well not even try.”

If you can relate, use these tips to turn your money woes into wins.

Find financial systems that work for your brain

DON’T assume that past financial mistakes mean you’re destined for poverty.

DO get advice that’s tailored to how you’re wired.

“I try to help people understand that no matter how many budgets they’ve tried to follow and failed, there is still hope,” says Sherry Andrew, a financial coach who has ADHD and is the owner of Money Mindset Financial Coaching in Woodstock, Ont. “It’s not because you’re broken. It’s because the systems you’ve tried weren’t built for your ADHD brain.”

Everyone’s support needs are unique. Canadians with ADHD can have different mixes of inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive symptoms, as well as coexisting conditions with their own challenges, such as autism, dyslexia or dyscalculia. Andrew herself has dyscalculia (difficulty with numbers) and always has a calculator up on her screen.

Working with experts like Andrew or Abbott means that financial meetings, recommendations, tracking, motivation and accountability can all be personalized for your strengths and support requirements.

Sort your cash and skip spending guilt

DON’T stuff all your money into a single bank account.

DO create separate, no-fee accounts to reduce mental math.

“When we see money sitting in a single bank account, it can be hard to think of all the things it may be needed for, so it’s easy to spend and then experience regret,” says Abbott.

Instead, having a separate fixed-expense account, a spending-money account and one or several accounts to save for future expenses like a vacation or a house lets you see your cash at a glance. Impulsive spending can be a problem for Abbott’s clients with ADHD, but this system lets them watch their savings grow and buy things guilt-free using their spending account.

Others use cash-in-jar or cash-envelope systems, with a separate jar or envelope for each spending category, to avoid doing damage at the store. “Having that separation really helps with so many differently functioning brains,” adds Andrew.

Debit is your friend

DON’T put every purchase on plastic for points.

DO use your bank card for the majority of purchases.

Racking up credit-card rewards may provide a dopamine hit, but it’s not worth a negative bank balance and missed payments. Using your bank card routinely makes it easier to see how much cheddar you actually have and avoid overspending.

Managing your credit-card balance also requires extra executive-functioning steps with potentially little return. As Andrew says, “If you’re carrying a balance, the interest negates any rewards that you’re getting.”

How play can pay

DON’T bore yourself with traditional saving goals.

DO gamify your saving.

Automating monthly or biweekly transfers into investment or savings accounts makes it easy to grow your dough, but novelty-seeking ADHD brains appreciate unique approaches, too. For example, challenging yourself to spend $10 less a day may be more successful than nagging yourself to save $300 a month, which can lead to overwhelm and procrastination.

You don’t have to go it alone

DON’T underestimate the power of support.

DO consider how investing in a money coach could help you save.

Paying for ADHD-specific financial advice and ongoing support may seem like a cash drain, but setting up systems you can use for life can be priceless. Systems and accountability can help offset what Andrew and others call “ADHD taxes.”

That’s lost money due to distraction, impulsive spending and other issues related to the disorder. “But it’s also things like having fewer executive-functioning points at the end of the day,” she says. “So, maybe we have a stressful day and we’re starving, so we spend on ordering food in.” That cycle “tends to create a lot of shame.”

Getting support can stop you from spiralling into perfectionism, avoidance and overwhelm, too. It’s not uncommon for people with ADHD to get a financial shock, like a big bill, and hyperfocus on creating a perfect budget to solve all of their money problems at once, for example. But if the budget’s not realistic or the person setting it doesn’t know how to implement it, they may abandon it after a week or a month.

Budgeting doesn’t have to be beige

DON’T just stare at boring spreadsheets.

DO make things fun and visual.

Life is better in colour, as the saying goes. And that applies to watching your savings and investments grow. Abbott’s clients with ADHD get a boost when they use a fundraising-thermometer-style colouring sheet to reflect financial progress. Other people like the bright visuals in money-tracking apps like Monarch, too.

Make money dates a thing

DON’T hide your credit card statement from your bae.

DO have weekly or monthly check-ins.

Tension can arise whether you let your partner handle all the finances or keep your money (and debt) separate and secret. Instead, be upfront about how ADHD impacts your financial patterns and how your partner can support you. Abbott recommends a monthly or weekly money date to stay on track and avoid arguments or surprises.

Your business money isn’t brunch money

DON’T mix business with pleasure.

DO keep separate accounts for self-employment or side-hustle income and expenses.

Blending small-business and personal expenses can make it difficult to stay on top of either. Organize them into separate accounts and name them. This separation—and the help of a financial expert—can bring structure and clarity to help manage the ups and downs of business revenue and stabilize personal cash flow.

Treat yourself a little

DON’T try to save every cent that you earn.

DO put money aside for fun—and enjoy a celebratory splurge when you reach a goal.

Planning to spend and splurge may seem counterintuitive, but a strategy that’s too restrictive can backfire. Abbott’s method steers gung-ho clients away from perfection and gives them permission to spring for that Aritzia top or Peloton app.

“Impulsive spending can be a problem with ADHD, so we plan for some of it on purpose, which reduces shame when it happens,” she says. “The cut-everything, go-all-in approach isn’t sustainable.” (To be honest, it’s not sustainable for many without ADHD either.)

Likewise, rewarding wins helps build healthy habits, for neurodiverse and neurotypical brains alike. Giving yourself a treat when you’ve hit a savings goal or reviewed your budget makes it easier to stay motivated.

ADHD brains may resist a slow and steady approach to managing money initially, but it’s worked for Abbott, Andrew and hundreds of their clients. Building a personalized plan that works for your unique support needs is the gamechanger. As Andrew says, “It’s about setting really small steps and finding ways to get some dopamine from each one.”

Read more from this issue of The Get:

1. What is free time? How much third places cost Canadians?
2. Prof Matthew Bidwell on how to keep and quit your job
3. How Albertans feel about the referendum and their personal finances
4. How hard is it to fix errors with Uber and other rideshares?