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Book Available on Amazon
Money and ADHD
Over the past decade it’s become obvious to me that there is a hot button issue around adult ADHD. It’s a topic that impacts every adult with ADHD at some point. It’s controversial. It involves big corporations and profits. It’s the M word.
Talking openly about it is difficult because there’s so much guilt, shame, fear,… All of which is the result of not knowing. Of not understanding how it works. And not understanding the difference it can make in your life.
And of course not knowing where to get it, or how much is enough, or whether you’ll become addicted. The M word. M as in money.
Oh, you thought I meant Medication? No, there’s lots of good, solid information about medication. Money and ADHD? Almost nothing.
Managing Money and ADHD
NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT, SO I WILL
Please, be honest, with me: how big an issue is money in your life?
Or rather the lack of money? How much does scarcity impact your daily routines and your biggest dreams?
They say money makes the world go around. I can tell you that lack of money grinds it to a halt. They say time is money. So why do we spend so much time and make so little money?
MY YEAR END WAS THE KIND THE MAYANS PREDICTED
Until recently I’d viewed financial matters as punishment. Like homework for adults. Borrrrrrring!!!
Naturally, when it came time to do my taxes, a month or so after the deadline, I had dutifully collected 1000 receipts and stored them randomly in 37 different boxes, files, shelves, and even the odd crumpled heap. A place for everything and I had no idea where that place was.
My financial system became a hot topic amongst mathematicians working on chaos theory and fractals. A file neatly labeled ‘Car Expenses’ might contain receipts for gas, repairs, taxis, commuter trains, and parking, plus a map of Manitoba, the warranty for the paper shredder, my daughter’s science project, an article about electric cars, the death notice of someone I’d never heard of, and 2 sticks of Juicy Fruit. Apparently I chew gum when I drive. Or the file might be empty. Often there were three different files in three different places, all labeled, “Car Expenses 2019.”
Managing Money | EVERY YEAR I WAS SHORT OF MONEY
No matter what my income was, and it fluctuated a great deal, I was always short of money. It’s embarrassing to talk about. I’d rather talk about medication. And I found people in general would rather talk about anything but money.
The people who request more information about money always ask me quietly, when no one else is listening. They are embarrassed. The failure to provide for yourself and your family crushes your self-esteem. But, like so many aspects of ADHD, the suffering can be reduced.
As Dr. Stephanie Moulton Sarkis explains in her book, ADD and Your Money, there are simple things that make all the difference. ADHD-friendly things. Learning a bit about money, especially your own money, is actually interesting. You just gotta let go of the embarrassment and guilt and crap.
For other resources on everything ADD check out our recommendations here
Best,
Rick
I happen to be working with my own accountant and ADHD psychiatrist on dealing with the IRS and Illinois Department of Revenue for understanding this condition, and giving leniency of waiving penalties and interests on those with back taxes (failing to file), and have shown they could turn their life around with proper diagnosis, medication, and counseling. it will be very interesting to report on their decision, which is currently pending an extended review.
I love money, I love budgeting, I love taxes – the problem is that I can do everyone else’s but not my own! I watched the webinar last week, and I still haven’t done my assignment. I want to do it with my husband but he wants nothing to do with money. We are both impulse spenders and we need to get ourselves under control before we lose the house.