Money and ADHD - some cash hacks to help

Personal finance journalist Kara Gammell was diagnosed with ADHD twenty years ago. She has written a great article for Money Supermarket which you can read in full here.

Kara shares some of her top ADHD cash hacks and I chose my favourite three. You can read the whole article to find out the others.

1. Make it harder to impulse buy

Fact: Being impulsive is generally considered one of the most common symptoms of ADHD and can sometimes mean you buy stuff when you probably shouldn’t.

Frequent online shoppers may have our credit card numbers stored on our devices, or on certain shop's websites.

So, when it's time to check out, buying is way too easy.

The fix:  Un-store your information so every time you want to order something online, you must find your credit card and type in the info; this might be enough of a speed bump for you to slow down and think about whether you really need this item.

Alternatively, save yourself the hassle of going through all your shopping accounts and simply contact your bank for a new card.

The new card will have a different number. So, if you’ve registered your old card’s details online, these will no longer work.

Resist the urge to update them.

2. Just 15 minutes

The fact: Task Initiation is harder when you have ADHD, because tasks take more energy to get started – and managing your money can easily get overlooked.

The fix: Try the “Fifteen Minute Rule”.

The concept is simple, but it really works.

When it comes to tasks that you’re always putting off tell yourself: “Anyone can do 15 minutes.”

And then do it - start with just 15 minutes.

15 minutes is a length of time that isn’t intimidating - once you get going, chances are you’ll not stop when you hit the time limit.

Imagine a ball sitting on the top of a hill, for instance.

To get the ball rolling, you need to put some energy into pushing it first.

Naturally once the ball is rolling down the hill, it will pick up momentum as it goes.

So, think of it this way: the task is the ball and the 15-minute rule is the gentle shove that you need to get going.

And guess what? Suddenly, you’ve ticked another thing off your financial to-do list.

3. Automate for ease

The fact: ‘Time blindness’ is common for those of us with ADHD, and means that no matter how hard we try, we can struggle to correctly estimate how long it takes us to do something.

This can lead to lateness - and when it comes paying bills, that doesn’t bode well.

The fix: Rather than just ‘being slack’, time blindness is simply a result of less activity in the prefrontal cortex (the area of your brain that's in charge of things like focusing and making decisions), among other cognitive impairments.

So, make it easy and pay all your bills by Direct Debit so you don’t fall behind.

Or go one step further and set up a standing order for your savings.

And remember, many people say they can’t save because they don’t have any cash left at the end of the month – so have your savings go out on payday.

It means the money is out of your account before you’re aware of it and you have to live on what’s left over. After a while, you hardly notice the difference.

What’s more, some current accounts offer to round up your spending to siphon off cash for your savings pot.

I bank with Starling, and have opted into to Round Ups, which does what it says on the tin: rounds up my spending to the nearest pound and adds the spare change into a savings space of choice. 

For example: if I spend £14.50 on a train ticket and it will round it up to £15, and the extra 50p goes into my savings.

To reach your savings goals even faster, try multiplying the spare change you save – increase to x2, x5 or x10 in your app.

Setting it up is easy. Just head to ‘Spaces’ at the bottom right of your app either create a new Saving Space or choose an existing one then click ‘Manage Space,’ then ‘Round Ups’ and switch the toggle on.

I would love to know what you do to help with your spending or saving. Let me know!