ADDitude
ADDitude Magazine is a great resource for those people who have AD/HD and those who care about people with AD/HD. The magazine features articles from leading AD/HD experts. It also features many different areas in which AD/HD affects our lives.
Tonight I was a guest on Living with Adult ADD/ADHD Blog Talk Radio with Tara McGillicuddy. We discussed shopping and bill payment tips for adults with ADD. If you would like to hear a recording of the show please click here.
Here are three blog posts that I have read this week that are ADD friendly and deal with money issues that are common for adults with ADD.
A quick and easy way to control spending (Brip Blap)
60% of NBA Players Go Broke Within 5 Years of Retirement? (All Financial Matters)
Tax Cat: Help! I Owe The IRS Money And I Don't Have Any! (The Consumerist)
Decision making is a core skill that you need to develop in order to properly manage your money. At its root, money management is about making choices about earning, spending, and savings your money. Adults with ADD tend to have more difficulties with decision making than the rest of the population. When reading about money management, I think that most authors tend to assume that everyone who is reading their article has good decision making skills. The good news is that you can improve your decision making skills, here are a few tips to make better decisions:
1. Recognize when you are making a decision. Impulsive or habitual decisions are often overlooked when trying to figure out why you don't have the money to do the things you really wanted to do. Every time you buy a cup of coffee or buy a new DVD you are making a decision.
2. What do you really want to do? Developing goals and values will give you a framework to analyze your decisions. It is easier to make a better choice when you know what you really want.
3. Understanding the consequences. Any decision has the potential for both negative and positive consequences. Focus on the positive benefit of making a decision. For example if you had to decide between paying a student loan or your credit card on time, and you decided to pay your credit card, focus on the fact that you avoided the late fee and your interest rate did not go up, rather than the fact that your student loan is late. You need to realize that just because something negative happened as a result of your decision, it does not mean your decision was a bad one. Sometimes decisions have negative consequences no matter what you decide.
If you are able to consistently make better decisions with managing your money, it is very likely that your financial situation will improve over time.
WANTED : Guest Authors for Adult ADD and Money
Qualifications: I am looking for people to submit articles that are related to both ADD and Money issues. Examples of money issues include personal finances, money management, career, and business ventures. Your post could be about tips to help ADD adults, it could be about your personal experiences with managing your own finances, or it could be anything that you want to write, as long as it relates to both ADD and Money. The content does not have to be original, it just has to have been written by you. You do not have to be an expert or even have your own blog to be a guest writer.
Benefits: The ability to reach a unique audience that is passionate about dealing with financial challenges. Your post will be listed on YOUR ADD/ADHD NEWS, LIVING WITH ADD, and PFBLOGS.ORG, . Your blog or website will be promoted in your post and will be included in a list of guest writers on the sidebar.
If you would like to be a guest blogger please CONTACT ME
It can be quite challenging for an adult with ADD to deal with the day to day management of money. It often becomes impossible when you are dealing with unidentified emotional obstacles. There are two major areas where emotional obstacles can do severe damage to someone's personal finance. The first and most obvious area to look at is emotional spending. Examples of emotional spending can include shopping at retail stores, drinking and eating out, gambling, beauty treatments, and entertainment. Most people associate emotional spending with lavish purchases, but for many people it involves lots of small purchases to make them feel good.
From time to time everyone spends money to make themselves feel better. There is nothing wrong with indulging yourself every once in a while, but if you find yourself always spending more money than you planned, it could help to identify the reason behind your spending. MP Dunleavey at MSN Money states several reasons why people emotionally spend money:
Once you have identified the reason, it will be easier to stop yourself from emotional spending. However, in most cases you are going to need to deal with the root cause of why you want to spend money to make yourself feel better. Even if you are able to stop yourself from emotional spending, other bad habits like drinking, smoking, or overeating could replace your emotional spending.
Lately I have been having trouble getting motivated and organized with issues with my life. In 2006, for Christmas someone gave me a very nice personal paper organizer. Last month, in the spirit of true procrastination, I decided to crack it open in the hope that it would help me to better organize and keep track of my appointments. I wrote down all of the tasks and chores I wanted to achieve in the next week. I must have spent a good half hour figuring out what I wanted to do and filling in my calendar. The next day I accomplished most of my tasks that I wanted to do that day, and then I have not opened the organizer since then. The system that works best for me is just a plain old notebook. I can write long term goals on the back of the cover and write down my short term and daily goals to help me complete tasks and chores. The system does not work all of the time, but no system in fail proof.
Here are a couple of suggestions for developing a system for dealing with your finances.
1. One system does not fit all. We all have different styles and different ways of dealing with challenges so it makes sense that what works for someone else might not work for you. You might have to experiment with different systems of managing your money until you find something that is right for you.
2. Only perfect people can have a perfect system. If you like your system and it works most of the time, don't beat yourself up if you forgot to pay a bill, or you spent to much money on your last shopping trip. Expecting perfection will doom you to failure when you do not live up to a unrealistic goal.
Here are a couple of interesting posts related to ADD and Money Management:
I'm writing to open a discussion about the problems that ADD present regarding money management. As a middle aged guy, I look back and realize that, among other factors, ADD has had a strong negative impact on my ability to manage my money. READ MORE >>
Also, the UMASS study found that 67 pct of adults with ADHD compared to the control group (15 pct) had trouble managing money. READ MORE >>
Are you a spender or a saver? An impulse buyer, or a scrooge when it comes to spending? Develop self-awareness about your budgeting and spending habits by considering these points: READ MORE >>
Financial Planning without other life planning is like being on a rudder-less ship. If your financial boat is sinking it is important to make short term financial decisions to keep your ship afloat. Keeping you financial ship afloat basically means being able to pay all of your bills today. Keeping your financial ship afloat is something that everyone should strive for, however if this is all that you are able to do, then you are struggling with your finances.
Without having long term goals you will lose the motivation to save money, and to pay down your debt. You will also be more likely to make impulsive spending decisions. Long term planning does not have to complex or complete, it is something that you can change at any time. Basically you need to start be answering a few questions:
What do you want to do with your career? Perhaps you are completely satisfied with your career or maybe you have the desire to move up in your current field, you might want to switch fields or even open up your own business. This will give you the incentive to cut costs if you want to switch fields or save up enough money to go to school or to open your business.
What do you want to give to your family? Perhaps your goal is to spend more time with your family, to able to help out your children with their college education, or to be able to buy a home for your family to grow up.
What do you want to give back to your community? You want to think about this in both time and money.
What other goals will make you happy? Do you want to visit Europe, become a black belt in karate, have your own art show, or restore an antique automobile. It is likely that you will need some money to help you achieve these goals. This will also help you to think about whether to spend extra money on other things that might not make you as happy.
This is obviously not a complete list of long term goals, but these are the major areas that will affect your financial planning, and will give your financial ship the rudder it needs to go in a positive direction.
I know you still have about two months until you have to file your U.S. tax forms, but now is a good time to think about taxes. Many adults with ADD would rather scrub the floor with a toothbrush then work on preparing their taxes. Here are some tips to help make taxes less taxing: ( pardon the pun)
1. Set up a folder ( green, black, or red are good colors) or a box where you will put all of the tax forms that you are receiving now and put it with all of your other important documents.
The "Attention Deficit Disorder" blog carnival is a collection of recent blog entries about Attention Deficit Disorder. The reason that it is called a carnival is because each week the carnival travels to a different host Blog.
Here are the Blog posts the were submitted to the Carnival:
ADD Libber presents Dieting and ADD go together like drinking and driving posted at ADD-Libbing
Robert Besaw presents Managing My Day The ADD Way posted at lifedoodling
Amy Adkins Bock presents My Markers Take Me To My Happy Place posted at ADDled
Alvaro Fernandez presents How Strong is the Research Support for Neurofeedback in Attention Deficits? posted at SharpBrains
Bryan presents One Boy’s Struggle: PUBLISHED ~! posted at ADDER WORLD ADD ADHD Positive Thinking
Here are additional posts that I liked:
Financial Tips for Keeping ADHD People Organized
Adult AD/HD Ambitions #4: Find Focus First
Adult ADD is an Explanation, Not an Excuse
Patron of the Arts of Distraction
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE A FUTURE HOST OF THE "ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER" CARNIVAL PLEASE CONTACT ME
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