Funky Finances | ADHD Information

Hello

As an ADHDer, I really struggle with keeping my finances straight. I am constantly goofing up my budget, checkbook, bills etc. I get stuck in those check places because it is a quick fix. I get overwhelmed by the mail and don't look at bills. Anybody out there have the same experiences? What have you done to get things straight?

I have 2 bank accounts. One for my bills and the other for things like groceries, etc. Then I have my paycheck deposited in the 2 accounts. I previously figured out how much needs to be in the "bill" account each month. All of my bills are set up to be paid automatically from my checking account. It's a free service from my bank. On the ones that fluctuate, I sit down when I get the bill, log in, and change the amount. I already have them set up to be paid an average amount.....just incase I forget. That way at least they receive some money that month. So far this has worked wonderfully!!!! I just got married and my husband is amazed at how easy it is. On the grocery etc account, I know that I can only spend whatever is in there on a monthly basis. It's like a forced budget.

Hope this helps!

I have the same problem that is why my husband handles the banking. It seems that every time I try to help out I mess things up, pay the wrong person or pay the wrong amount.

I have been band from the check book.

Hi SUPER T! And welcome!

When I read that, it damn near gave me a panic attack. Just the words finance, checkbook and O.M G.....getting the mail and seeing bill after bill, letters of car and health ins. due ...AND AT AN INCREASED RATE! (of course my hubby always got raises, you know those merit and the "cost of living raises") Now ME, a raise?...not in this life!

I don't want to ramble, so I'll just say most of my married life I handled all that stuff b/c thats what wives did. That was many yrs. before I was DX'ed with ADD and I had never even heard of it than. I just KNEW somehow I was different, but I would "get it" if I tried harder. Well we both know that never happend. For 15 yrs. I was trapped in a personal hell of keeping things running smoothly. I was able to cover my many f**k ups b/c computers haden't taken over yet, so I could usually convince a real person to " give me a little longer, I'll correct whatever mistake I made". I was ALWAYS overwelmed and I also hid bills in hopes they would go away

So you can see I have had the same experinces, but 3 yrs before we bought a house, I was DX'ed. Than my Hubby admitted that he thought I might be having "a little trouble" handling all the finances, so now he does it all. He actually balances the checkbook with no problem! Hell, I never balanced one!

Sorry I coulden't help you solve your problem, but you are not alone. It's a common problem with us ADHD/ADD folks Sorry, I know I'm rambling, but have you ever had to change banks b/c the tellers hated to see you walk through the door? I must have done that at least 10 times in that 15 yrs. Florida has many banks, so thats still a secret. Again, welcome! You'll find we all have alot in common.

I hear ya- I in no way should ever be put in charge of the family finances. I tried it for several months, and after night after night of tearful struggles, bounced checks, late payments, never balanced account etc. I gave up and handed it all over to my husband.
So, my answer is to have someone else do it for you. Its the only thing that ever worked for me.[QUOTE=Adultadhd]

I have the same problem that is why my husband handles the banking. It seems that every time I try to help out I mess things up, pay the wrong person or pay the wrong amount.

I have been band from the check book.

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That is me-I have bounced so many checks I have probably spent thousands of dollars on bank fees-it is so embarrassing!

What do you mean theres no money in my account. I still have checks left...

You are not alone.

The separate checking accounts sounds great...BUT...The thought of setting it up .

My boyfriend does it for me .

What a flashback this brought on! Before I met my husband, my finances were a mess! He set me down and showed me very basic ideas to implement. Then when we got married, he took over the finances. As soon as I get home, I hand him any receipts, I check with him before buying anything (at least I typically remember to 99% of the time). We've found that setting up a folder system works well for us. We have folders for every month where we put in all receipts and bills paid. That way we can go back and find anything we might need.There is a class next Wed night at www.addclasses.com about Adult ADD and money management. [QUOTE=super t]

Hello

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You have a budget???? Youre WAY ahead of me!

Thanks for the input! I like the idea of two accounts-with bills automatically taken out. I will have to give that some thought.

The following is suggestions I have for those of you who have problems with checks bouncing and for those of you fortunate enough to have a credit account:

Last week I cashed someone else's check to me so I could pay on my Visa...which I used to pay rent when I had absolutely NO income and am still trying to pay off! Otherwise, I don't use my visa at all.

Anyway, their check was returned for insufficient funds, and my checking account also didn't have enough to cover it...so my overdraft protection from the attached Visa to my checking acccount covered the insufficient funds. Of course, that put the amount to cover the check, plus and fees, on my Visa 'cash advance.' However, this amount cannot be paid off until the 'purchases' on my visa are paid off first, leaving a cash balance at a higher interest rate than my purchases.

What I found out, tho, is my bank just began something where you can 'split' your visa account, so that one can be just for overdrafts, and one for purchases. This way, I can pay off the cash advances or overdrafts (which are at higher rates) before paying off any balances on my Visa purchases. Very convenient.

So any of you that may have problems with checks 'bouncing,' may want to see if your bank offers the 'split' credit card account for this purpose.

Another thing I've discovered, for those who have credit card accounts, like Visa...periodically, I will ask my bank if they can lower my interest rate, since I've been with them for some time. I've gotten it down from the original 21.9% to 6.9%. I expect to get it even lower. They will never offer this, but are willing to do it if you ask. After all, they don't want to lose your business and the competitiveness with other banks is incentive.