Adult ADD and Money

3 Really "stupid" ways I have wasted money this year

From time to time everybody makes mistakes that cost them money. All of my "stupid" ways that I have wasted money this year have been caused by either being distracted or not paying full attention to what I was doing. I share them with you so that you can learn from my mistakes, and so that you don't feel that badly when you make mistakes with managing your money.

1. At the self check out in the grocery store I requested 20 dollars cash back with my purchase. After I left the store it took me 10 minutes to realize that I forgot to take the cash from the dispenser.

2. Again at the grocery store, I left a candy bar that I had purchased with the clerk. The clerk had left it out for me, and I forgot about it.

3. At a sandwich shop I got charged for two large sandwiches when I had ordered two small ones. I did not realize this till after I got back home with the sandwiches.

It does absolutely no good for me to dwell on the errors I have made. The only thing I can do is learn from the mistakes I have made. While I need to be on the lookout to avoid these specific errors again, the main thing that these errors had in common is that I made all of these mistakes when I was both tired and hungry. I need to take steps to limit purchases when I am more prone to make spending mistakes.

3rd Year Blogoversary

I find it very scary and frightening that today is Adult ADD and Money 3rd Anniversary. It means that I have been truly blessed with great readers, guest authors, and a wonderful wife who has supported this blog. I would like to thank you all for taking time out of your day to read this blog and I hope that I have helped some of you on your journey to financial freedom.

I would like to share with you the first article I wrote in this blog.

Shopping Lists

Before you go out shopping write down everything that you want on a list. (Stick to the list) It will help to limit impulse buys. I was tired today and forgot to write down a list and I purchased cookies that I did not need to buy. Almost all stores are set up to take advantage on shoppers who are impulse buyers (One of the main traits of adults with ADD). I think setting up a list is more important when you are planning on going shopping at large department or warehouse stores, there are many times that my wife and I have gone to the store with the intent of only purchasing a few items, but left with a cart full of items that we did not need. (We seemed to always forget one of the items that we went there for in the first place)

Before you go out shopping write down everything that you want on a list. (Stick to the list) It will help to limit impulse buys. I was tired today and forgot to write down a list and I purchased cookies that I did not need to buy. Almost all stores are set up to take advantage on shoppers who are impulse buyers (One of the main traits of adults with ADD). I think setting up a list is more important when you are planning on going shopping at large department or warehouse stores, there are many times that my wife and I have gone to the store with the intent of only purchasing a few items, but left with a cart full of items that we did not need. (We seemed to always forget one of the items that we went there for in the first place)

Working the System

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.

 

Two Years Ago today...

Two years ago today, I started a little blog called Adult ADD and Money.  I am proud of myself for maintaining this website and for being able to share my ideas and viewpoint with others. I am amazed that I have been able to make a little money while doing this. I am thankful when I realize that I have made a small impact about how some of my readers think about and manage money. Since I have been busy lately and I do not have time to create new content, I will share with you the first article that I wrote for the blog.

Before you go out shopping write down everything that you want on a list. (Stick to the list) It will help to limit impulse buys. I was tired today and forgot to write down a list and I purchased cookies that I did not need to buy. Almost all stores are set up to take advantage on shoppers who are impulse buyers(One of the main traits of adults with ADD). I think setting up a list is more important when you are planning on going shopping at large department or warehouse stores, there are many times that my wife and I have gone to the store with the intent of only purchasing a few items, but left with a cart full of items that we did not need. (We seemed to always forget one of the items that we went there for in the first place)

Charitable Donations (Walk for Hunger)

Sometimes I feel guilty about the small amount of money that I am able to donate to others. It can be difficult to find money to donate to charities when you are trying to straighten out you own financial situation. However, there are other ways to give back to charities, this year I am planning to walk in the The Walk for Hunger a 20 mile fund raising walk in Boston. This will help me in a couple of ways. It gives me a fitness goal so that I am motivated to get in shape for the spring. Establishing an exercise routine will likely save you a lot of money in reduced medical costs in the future. It also give me a way to raise funds and awareness for a charity that I believe in, so that I can feel better about what I give to others.

The KISS Principle in Action

For those of you who do not know, KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. This weekend I had paid off another credit card, leaving only 2 active credit cards. A few years ago I was responsible for making payments on 10 credit cards each month. Not only was it more difficult to keep track of when I paid the cards, but I found it overwhelming to decide what card I paid off first.

About a year ago, I was tired of being overwhelmed and I decided to transfer the balance of several cards to two cards that gave me a low rate for transfers. Not only did I reduce the interest I paid, but I had cut the number of cards to keep track of from 10 to 5. It was also easier to pay down debt because I could focus on paying down the cards with the smallest balance, because those cards had a higher interest rate than the credit cards that I did a balance transfer to.

I focused on the credit card with the smallest balance first and paid the minimum payment on the rest of the cards. Once I paid off a credit card I could take the monthly payment I was making to the paid off card and add it to the minimum payment that I was making on the card with the next smallest balance. Using this system I was able to pay down three credit cards in a little over a year.

Even though some stores offer tempting incentives like no payments till next year, or 0% interest on your purchase for the next year. I know that it is not worth the extra hassle or the potential cost to my future credit balances.

Cash Free Monday Failure

This week has been a failure so far when it has come to going Cash Free for a day. I know that many people will look at this entry, and say " what it wrong with this person ", how hard is it to go without spending money for a day. The truth is that is should not be that hard to go without spending money for one day. The problem is with some of my poor spending habits. This week I was not feeling well and have managed to slip back into some old fast food and snacking habits. Since one of the goals of going cash free for a day was to change old habits, I have added another goal to shoot for next week, and that is to bring in my lunch to work for 4 days next week.

Many people develop habits because they are trying to compensate for a weakness or an emotional issue. Adults with ADD are more likely to develop habits (both positive and negative) because they generally have a higher level of anxiety, and they develop the habits in order to deal with stress in their lives. ADD adults could have also developed habits in order to compensate for caused by ADD.

Gerard Montigny has an excellent article titled "ADHD & NLP: Understanding and Changing Habits"  that adults with ADD should read if they want to start changing their habits. Douglas Cootey also has a very timely article "Can You Stop Disability As Easily As You Stop Biting Your Nails? " that has tips to help an AD/HD adult control undesirable behavior.

Cash Free Wednesday (Gimmicks work)

Cash Free Wednesday was a success for this week. The main reason that it worked is because:

1. It was clear and concise. ( Many adults with ADD fail to set clear goals, so there is no way to tell if you are accomplishing your goal)

2. The goal was broken down to its simplest form. Therefore I was not distracted by trying to work on another way to reduce expenses yesterday. ( My main goal is to reduce spending, this goal is to help control one behavior related to reducing spending.)

I was reading an article by Liz Pullman Weston on 10 easy ways to save money. One savings tip that I loved was to put any of the new 10 and 20 dollars bills into a jar or piggy bank. The theory is that a person was likely to come across a new bill about 1 out of 10 times. Therefore you wouldn't miss the amount you saved in your day to day life. There was also a quote to explain why gimmicks like Cash Free Monday seems to work so well: 

"The thing is, gimmicks work -- at least when it comes to our often-irrational relationship with money."

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Cash Free Wednesday Pt 1

( I decided to go Cash Free on Wednesday instead on Monday because of Memorial Day and because of the fact that I needed to go food shopping on Tuesday)

The reason I am writing an update now is because I want to go to the vending machine so bad right now and grab a cola. I got over my biggest obstacle for today by brown baging lunch, but I am missing my afternoon caffine hit, and I am starting to feel it. I know I could have brought a can of soda from home, but I didn't need to spend the money on useless calories. I WILL NOT SPEND MONEY TODAY. I WILL NOT SPEND MONEY TODAY. I WILL NOT SPEND MONEY TODAY.

Cash Free Monday Update

Recently I had tried an experiment where I would try not to spend any money on Monday.(For more information see Cash Free Mondays). I failed in my first attempt not to spend any cash on Monday. The reason I failed is that I forgot to pack a lunch on Monday and ended up buying lunch instead. (I need to Eat more Meals at Home) The day was not a total waste because I avoided some of my usual spending habits including my regular trip to the convenience store.

It is especially important for adults with ADD to focus on the progress made rather than to focus on the failure. Everyone makes mistakes in life and seeing how money management is a reflection of life choices, everyone make mistakes managing their money. I will attempt to not spend any money next Tuesday, hopefully with better results.