Adult ADD and Money

One Key Focus Update

This is an update of my November 2009 post One Key Focus. In November I made it a goal to pay off my credit card debt within 18 months. I am happy to say that I have paid down my card by over 20% and I am on pace with my goal. It has not been easy to keep on track with this goal and I have still room for improvement when it comes to managing my financial goals. I have stayed on track despite dealing with the holidays and unplanned expenses. In the past when I had to deal with unplanned expenses it was difficult because I would feel like a failure when I could not accomplish one or more of my smaller financial goals on schedule.

Three things to improve in 2010.

I am not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. I find that January is not the best month for me to tackle major changes. I find I tend to focus on making changes around the beginning of Spring and the beginning of Fall.  For example this year, during the fall I have focused on getting more exercise, and while I was not perfect, I exercised a lot more than in the summer. During the winter my goal will be to maintain my current exercise regimen.

While I will not make resolutions, it is a good time for me to review and to refocus on financial goals I set in the fall. Here are three things I can improve on during 2010: 

1. According to my account at Mint.com, I managed to rack up close to $100.00 in ATM fees from making withdrawals at other banks ATM's. While I will not avoid ATM fees completely, it is reasonable for me to average less than two ATM withdrawals at other banks per month. I should be able to cut my fees for 2010 by at least in half. Many of the charges were due to lack of planning.

2. Stop chasing the ideal solution. There have been times where I spent extra time and gas money trying to find the ideal solution to my task. A couple of examples include:

• Buying extra christmas wrapping supplies because I was not sure how my wife wanted to wrap a present.
• Driving to an additional store to find a specific product, when the store I was at had a perfectly fine alternative.

3. Using Amazon.com more often. For many people this would seem counter productive, but we already pay a yearly fee for 2-day free delivery. There have been several times that I have gone out to just get one item that I could have easily ordered from Amazon.  Not only did I spend money on gas for the car but I often ended up coming home with several more items that I needed.

Virtual AD/HD Conference

My wife Tara McGillicuddy, SCAC, will be speaking at this event that starts tommorrow.

Now you can get all the tools you need to succeed from top experts, break out of isolation as you connect with peers who've been or are in your shoes, and save money as you attend the Virtual AD/HD Conference™ from the comfort of your own home!

The top experts and leaders in the AD/HD community are gathering for the Virtual AD/HD Conference™ this October 5-7, including:

   • Edward Hallowell, MD on “Married to Distraction”
   • Daniel Amen, MD on “A Magnificent Mind at Any Age”
   • Patricia Quinn, MD on “Women and Girls with ADHD”
   • Charles Parker, DO on “Paying Attention to Drugs for Paying Attention”
   • Kenny Handelman, MD on “Evidence-Based Alternative Treatments for ADHD” 
   • Along with presentations by Victoria Ball, M.Ed, MCC, SCAC; Ariane Benefit, MSEd; David Giwerc, MCC; Kate Kelly, RN, MSN; Judith Kohlberg; Tara McGillicuddy, SCAC; Linda Hilger,SCAC; Bonnie Mincu, MBA, SCAC; Evelyn Polk Green, MSEd; David Rabiner, PhD; J. Russell Ramsay, PhD; Nancy Ratey, Ed.M, MCC, SCAC; Linda Roggli, PCC; Roland Rotz, PhD; Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, MCC, SCAC; Rory Stern, PsyD; Ari Tuckman, PsyD, MBA; and Robert Tudisco.

A full conference agenda can be found on the conference website

This event is for everyone affected by AD/HD, including adults, parents, spouses, and professionals. Participants can choose to attend sessions live via teleconference or webcast, or listen to presentation recordings. There will also be opportunities to interact with your peers in dedicated forums and chat rooms.

Please join me for this unique event that promises to be both informative and fun! Register today!

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.