Why Money Matters Are So Challenging for You

 . . . and What You Can Do About It

by Russell A. Barkley, PhD, with Christine M. Benton

Adapted from Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell A. Barkley, PhD. Copyright © 2010 by the Guilford Press. Reprinted with permission of Guilford Press, www.guilfordpress.com.

YOU DON'T PLAN TO END UP in financial trouble. You may, in fact, keep resolving not to go shopping today and not to buy anything advertised in an Internet pop-up. You might tell yourself today is the day to transfer some money from checking to savings. Maybe you tell yourself while you're at it you might as well see if you have any bills that are due.

So why don't you follow through on those convictions? Because ADHD won't let you. It's time to take charge - of your ADHD and your finances. Start by bringing into crisp focus how the deficits caused by ADHD steer you wrong - and how you can steer yourself back in the right direction. 

Adults with ADHD and Money

Our research has found that adults with ADHD:

	Made a lot of impulse purchases.
	Had high credit card balances.
	Exceeded their credit limits more than others.
	Made bill, loan, and rent payments late or not at all.
	Had their cars repossessed more often than others.
	Had lower credit ratings.
	Were more likely to have no savings.
	Were less likely to save for retirement.
	Bounced checks more often than others.
	Often failed to save receipts that could document money-saving tax deductions and other documents for their income tax returns.
	Lost friends after borrowing money and not repaying it.

The Four Executive Functions that Foster Self-Control

Scientists in the field of neuropsychology call the capacities behind self-control executive functions. They’re the actions directed at ourselves, the mental activities we engage in when we think about our future and what we should be doing to get there and to make it better. Many adults with ADHD exhibit delayed development of each of these four executive functions.

	nonverbal working memory (using the mind’s eye)
	verbal working memory (using the mind’s voice)
	self-regulation of emotion (using the mind’s heart)
	planning and problem-solving (using the mind’s playground)

Money and the mind's eye

Impulsive shopping can become compulsive shopping when your nonverbal working memory is weak. You can't picture what happened the last time you bought an expensive item you didn't need. You can't bring the future into sharp enough relief to put off the purchase till you've saved the cash. You haven't developed the self-awareness to realize that walking into an antique store for you is like opening the gates of hell. The mind's eye is particularly important in controlling the impulse to buy things you don't need or can't afford.

Try to resist spending money by keeping a photo of a long-term goal (a vacation spot, a home, a bike for one of your kids, etc.) in your pocket to pull out whenever you feel the urge to buy. You might train yourself to say out loud before you pull out your wallet, "Hmmmmmmm, do I really need this?" Then you could turn on your imaginary wide-screen TV and watch a film of yourself opening your credit card bill last time you overspent.

Your finances and the mind's voice

Remember, the mind's voice is your backup when the mind's eye is myopic. If you find yourself feeling the urge to pull out your credit card and you really can't call up a visual picture of what happened last time you overspent, interview yourself. If you're in a store, leave and do this on the sidewalk. You won't get hauled away for being delusional; people will just think you're on your cell phone when you talk to yourself about whether this purchase or withdrawal is wise.

If you tend to put off bill paying even when you've set an alarm to remind you to do it, this is another time you can talk to yourself about why you need to do it right now. The mind's voice is also the facility that allows you to formulate and use rules. Set certain rules about spending and saving and then repeat those rules to yourself quietly when under pressure from your ADHD to break them. Or write them down on a card you keep banded together with your credit card so you can't access the credit card without the rules card.

The mind's heart in the world of money

Are you an emotional spender? Are you the person who always buys a round of drinks at the pub when you're feeling great? The one who "needs" a new outfit when down? If you're mad at your landlord, do you "show him" by "forgetting" to pay the rent? Does not having cash to go out with friends make you feel so bad that you decide to put the charges on your credit card?

You're going to have to pull out your whole bag of mental imagery and self-talk tricks to recognize when your emotions are carrying you away and how to get control. Also, try to stick to a healthy lifestyle. Sleep deprivation, overconsumption of caffeine or alcohol, drug use, lack of exercise, and poor diet can all make you more vulnerable to daily stress and make it harder to control your emotions.

Don't forget that you can use your emotions for good, too. Hate bill paying? Feel the future: Do everything you can to feel the relief of getting it done. Can't motivate yourself to put money in savings when your paycheck is burning a hole in your pocket? Feel how great it will be to take it out when you pay for your Caribbean vacation.

Financial planning and problem-solving in the mind's playground

For many adults, ADHD or no ADHD, money matters are for "bean counters" and "number crunchers," which is usually a not-so-nice way of saying "I don't know how"—how to do financial planning, how to budget, how to oversee your investments, how to stop getting hit with late fees and hassled by collection agencies.

Make money management physical. Use tangible objects and graphic tools to manipulate the numbers whenever possible. The last section of this article and the “Curbing Your Spending” sidebar will give you some ideas. But remember the basics too: Make lists of steps to complete financial tasks you find daunting. Record your spending habits in your journal so you can take a look back at the patterns that are hurting you and any that are serving you well.

Fortunately, you've got a lot of resources at your fingertips for taking back control of your financial present and future. There are many strategies for discouraging spending. Tools and cues can help you meet your financial obligations on time. You can set up systems that enforce saving so you don't have to fight the urge to spend everything you earn over and over.

A new approach to money management

Here are a few ideas for getting started on a better path:

  Let your spouse, partner, or even parent manage your money. This option is something to consider if you feel overwhelmed by the problems you're having and find it impossible to control your spending or other financial habits. You can always agree to do this for a preset temporary time period or until a certain goal—such as paying off a debt or accumulating a certain amount of savings—is reached. Turn over your paycheck to this person, let the person allocate sufficient cash to you to meet daily expenses, then work together to see that monthly bills, loans, and credit cards are paid regularly.

  Budget! Make a monthly budget sheet that shows ALL your monthly expenses, including one-twelfth of your annual expenses (those that you may pay just once per year, such as taxes, car insurance, and home owner’s insurance). You need to have a monthly financial plan with all your bills listed in front of you so you can see what you owe. This budget needs to be less than what you make per month. Keep this budget out on your desk at home so you can refer to it often. Spending as you go each month is a recipe for disaster, not to mention having your utilities turned off and your car repossessed.

  Start living within your means today. Do not spend more each month than you earn and then try to use credit cards, loans, or other means of borrowing to see you through the month. You need to get your living expenses below ninety percent of your monthly earnings while saving that remaining ten percent. Enlist the help of a trusted relative, an accountant, or a bank employee in figuring out your expenses and what method is best for saving.

  Set up a system of accounts and deposits for enforced savings. Have your employer put ten percent of your pretax earnings into a retirement plan (tax deferred) such as a 401k, 403b, Keogh, or IRA. Then have your after-tax paycheck direct-deposited into your checking account. Once there, have your bank move ten percent of it into a savings account automatically each month. You also need an emergency savings account for those unexpected expenses such as car repairs and medical expenses not covered by insurance. The less you see of your cash, the less you can spend it impulsively.

  Try to get health and disability insurance through your employer. If they don’t have it, try to find a similar job that does. If you can’t, consider working for the local, state, or federal government, which nearly always provides these as fringe benefits. Unexpected medical bills can kill your chances of financial independence.

  Balance your bank statement monthly without fail. Don’t just wing it or guess. Having little idea of how much money you have at any one time in your account(s) is one of the biggest causes of bounced checks, credit card overuse, and debt accumulation. You keep getting caught with less money than you thought you would need and so borrow to make up the shortfall. And those forms of piracy known as high overdraft fees that banks now charge can mount up quickly, siphoning off cash you actually need and maybe even result in your exceeding what typical balances you have in your accounts.

  Keep all receipts as you get them. Put them in your wallet. Each night when you take your wallet out, take these receipts and put them in a file. You can use this file to help keep track of what you are spending and to store the receipts that will be very useful for preparing your taxes and getting the most of your available deductions.

Six Steps to Curbing Your Spending

Besides the ideas for controlling impulse buying described in the section on a new approach to money management, try these:

1.	Operate on a cash basis. Take out cash from your checking account only when you absolutely need it. Carry as little with you as possible so you're not tempted to spend it impulsively on stuff you don't need.
2.	Do NOT carry a credit or ATM card if at all possible. Get rid of all store credit cards, keep one general card like MasterCard or Visa, and put a sticker on it that reads FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY. Transfer all unpaid balances on store cards to this single card and work to pay off the balance as soon as you possibly can.
3.	Do NOT go to a mall or department store if there is nothing that you need to buy. And I mean NEED, not want, to buy. The last place a person with ADHD needs to be is in a store or mall with all those attractive goodies crying out “Buy me!” So, the simplest solution is not to go.
4.	Don’t lend anyone other than your children any money. Period. And even your children are not a good bet to repay you, so keep those loans limited to educational expenses or necessities, not things like clothing or entertainment. Odds are you will not see that money again. If you give money to someone else, you’d better view it as the gift it most likely will be, not as a loan.
5.	Stay away from casinos. They always win. Don’t play cards for money and certainly no more than for pennies a hand. You are way too impulsive to be around gambling activities, so, like shopping, avoid such places, where impulsive spending can get the best of you.
6.	Take advantage of cognitive-behavioral treatments for impulse buying if no other measures help. If you find it hard to stop shopping and spending on things you don't need, get professional help from a psychologist or financial counselor.

Russell A. Barkley, PhD, is internationally known for his career-long research into ADHD and his efforts to educate professionals and the public. He is clinical professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and research professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse. The recipient of awards from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, among other honors, Barkley has published widely on ADHD and related disorders. His website is www.russellbarkley.org. Christine M. Benton is a Chicago-based writer and editor.

(chadd.org)

This week's ADHD Solution is: Alternate your "shoulds" and "wants".

ADHD is a world of extremes. Some days we can’t seem to do anything productive. Other days we only allow ourselves to work on the things we should, at the expense of everything else. Life becomes a drudgery.

There has to be a balance somewhere. But how to achieve it?

Try alternating your “shoulds” and “wants”. Whenever you accomplish a not-so-interesting task that needed to be done, reward yourself by working on something you want to do. Something more fun. Then choose another item from your “should” list and get that done. And so on. As long as you limit the duration of the fun stuff, you’ll probably get more done that way. Rewards are a great way to motivate yourself.

A variation on this theme works if you’re trying to eat more healthy foods. For example, I was dying for some apple pie today. So I ate some carrots. Then I ate the pie. No, not the whole pie! Just a small piece. I ate less of it because I was full from the carrots. And I ate the carrots because I knew they were the gateway to the pie. A "should", then a "want".

A balanced life is like lasagna. It’s all about layering. If all the pasta was on the bottom, and all the sauce was on the top, it wouldn’t be very tasty. 

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Overcoming Obstacles to Success When You Have ADHD How to Stop Procrastinating With ADHD

We're all guilty of putting things off once in a while, but waiting until the last minute to complete a task is just postponing the inevitable and makes life that much more stressful. Here, nine tips to keep you on track and on time.

If you have ADHD, it’s likely you’re a procrastinator. People with adult ADHD tend to put off paying bills, folding the laundry, and doing other chores at home and at work. You might procrastinate out of fear that you won’t succeed - perhaps you tried to tackle a similar task before and couldn’t complete it. Or maybe you procrastinate because you’re not interested in the task you were given - you find it boring. Whatever your reasons, these tips can help you overcome the tendency to stop putting off until tomorrow what you should do today.

Manage Stress to Stop Procrastinating

When you’re overwhelmed, you’ll find yourself procrastinating more, says Jennifer Koretsky Korey, a senior certified ADHD coach and author of Odd One Out: The Maverick's Guide to Adult ADD. You can manage stress by slowing down and taking excellent care of yourself. “I recommend that clients take half an hour a day — every day — to relax and recharge,” Korey says. Also, prioritize good sleep habits, good nutrition, and exercise. Even small changes in these areas will make a big difference.

Plan Your Road to Success

In order to finish something, you first need to know where to start, Korey says. "If you try to jump into a project without planning, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and shut down.” This is sound advice for anyone approaching a task, but it is particularly helpful if you have ADHD. Korey recommends taking 5 to 15 minutes to step back from the project and plan the steps that you need to take to complete it. “Then when you begin,” she says, “the hard work has been done, and you’re really just following a system.”

Break Tasks Into Small Parts

To best manage your ADHD symptoms, not only do you need to plan, but you also need to break down your plan into achievable steps. “I call them ‘doable tasks,’” says Alice Price, a professional organizer and time-management specialist based in West Islip, N.Y., and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Small successes build on each other. Recounts David Rosenberg, MD, professor and chief of child psychiatry and psychology at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit: “My piano teacher used to tell me, rather than memorize the whole piece of music, to learn it in small sections. That’s great advice for learning to play the piano and critical for children with ADHD and people with adult ADHD.”

Create - and Stick to - an ADHD Schedule

You need to set a timeline for accomplishing each and every one of the smaller items on your to-do list. If you leave goals open-ended, you won’t be as motivated to get started. Just putting a date and time for completion next to each step will help you stay on track, says Dr. Rosenberg.

Find Motivation to Stop Procrastinating

When given a task, think about how completing it will improve your life. “Get in touch with why the task is actually worth doing and how it can help you,” Korey says. “You’ll definitely procrastinate if you’re just doing the task to please someone else, and you’ll add to your stress as a result.” For instance, if your mother-in-law comments on your messy house, but the clutter doesn’t bother you, you will resist the urge to clean before she comes over. So focus instead on how having a clean house will make achieving your own goals easier.

Delegate, Don't Procrastinate

Whenever possible, delegate any tasks you find boring. “There’s no shame in paying someone else for their skills,” says Korey. “This might mean hiring a house cleaner, a handyman, or even a personal assistant.” If money is an issue, cut out other luxuries so that you can afford the help you need to handle ADHD and stop procrastinating. “Ask yourself what costs more: the stress of procrastinating on this task or the cost of hiring someone else to do it?” Korey suggests.

Reward Yourself

Treat yourself to something fun when you complete half or even a third of an assigned task, and then again when it’s done. The reward can be just a break to watch a TV show, going out to lunch or dinner, or taking a soothing spa bath (great for relaxing when ADHD symptoms have you stressed). Rosenberg says the biggest reward should be contingent upon getting started, which is often the most difficult part for many with adult ADHD. On the flip side, resist punishing yourself for not completing a job. “Punishments rarely work for procrastination and can make things worse,” he cautions.

Do the Dreaded Deed First

Whatever it is, getting the task you dislike out of the way gives your self-esteem a boost, and that in turn stops procrastination. “You feel good because you did it, and it changes your attitude from a negative to a positive,” Price says. Here’s an example: If you work in sales and dislike the part of your job that requires making cold calls, do them first thing in the morning. “Then you have the rest of the day free from having to worry about them,” Price says.

Manage ADHD Symptoms With Set Routines

If you have adult ADHD, establish a routine that includes all tasks that must be accomplished each day, says Rosenberg. That way, doing them becomes almost automatic, because you don’t have time to sit around and think, “I won’t do this now; I’ll do it later.” Set up a routine for getting yourself and your family out the door in the morning. Have one for your workday and others for your evenings and weekends. And be sure to include the tasks you most often put off.

(everydayhealth.com)

Is an ADHD Diet the Answer?

Food allergies may be connected to adult ADHD symptoms. Learn how following an elimination program, such as the Feingold Diet, may help you identify your triggers and create your own ADHD diet.

By Katherine Lee Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

If you are an adult living with ADHD, a growing body of nutrition and diet research shows that what you eat can make a difference in managing symptoms. Eating certain foods and following an elimination diet such as the Feingold Diet, which cuts out food additives among other guidelines, can help.

Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a set adult ADHD diet. “There is no one diet because there is not one cause,” says Sally Hara, MS, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and a nutritionist in Kirkland, Wash. “The ADHD diagnosis is made based on a description of symptoms.”

The second point to remember is that for adult ADHD patients it’s not only what you eat, but also when you eat that matters. “I look at basic overall nutrition,” says Hara. “Adults get busy and distracted. They may skip meals. When blood sugar is not stable, we don’t multitask as well.” When people have low blood sugar, they may get grumpy and may not be able to process sensory stimulations such as a TV, phone, and people talking, says Hara. “It happens to everybody, but it’s amplified in people with ADHD.”

What to Include and Avoid in an ADHD Diet

Within the last 10 years, researchers have been making the link between diet and ADHD, says Elizabeth Strickland, MS, RD, an integrative dietitian specializing in ADHD and autism in San Antonio, Texas. Studies have found some foods worsen symptoms while others may improve them.

Among foods that have been connected to worsening symptoms of adult ADHD are:

Sugar. “We consume over one hundred and fifty pounds of white sugar a year,” says Strickland, pointing out that a 32-ounce cola has 32 teaspoons of sugar. “The blood sugar level rises quickly in our bloodstream and dumps insulin into the body. The body dumps adrenaline in response, and the blood sugar levels go up and down. This aggravates aggression and makes you crave more sugar.” While high-fructose corn syrup is a major culprit, honey and raw sugar can also contribute to this blood sugar spike.

Food additives. “Manmade artificial chemicals such as food coloring, flavors, and preservatives are toxins that your body has to remove,” says Strickland. “If your body isn’t able to remove them efficiently, it can lead to problems such as headaches, asthma, and aggression.”

These foods may aid brain function and help reduce the symptoms of adult ADHD:

Omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids may be linked to an increased risk of ADHD. “It likely has to do with myelin sheaths [the protective membrane surrounding the nerves of the brain and spinal cord] being made up almost entirely of fatty acids,” says Hara. “Supplements can be helpful for a lot of people. I recommend 3,000 milligrams a day.”

Caffeine. “Studies have shown a small amount of caffeine can improve concentration and attention,” says Strickland. “Try having one cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of green tea in the afternoon.”

Protein. “Protein is extremely critical,” says Strickland. “Protein provides amino acids used to make neurotransmitters for the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin. These chemical messengers control mood and concentration.”

Complex carbohydrates. “Our primary source for fuel is carbs,” says Hara. “We have very low glycogen stores — that’s what we use for fuel after our bodies have broken down carbs. If you don’t have enough glycogen stores, you’re setting yourself up for low blood sugar, which is counter-productive to concentrating.” Getting the right carbs is a must. “Most individuals are consuming too much soda, sugar, and white grains,” says Strickland. “We need to transition to whole grains.”

Herbs. “Research shows that ginkgo biloba and ginseng may improve brain function and attention and may prevent dementia,” says Strickland. “Try it for one month. Do you respond? If so, continue. If not, don’t.” Some people see benefits from herbs while others do not, she explains.

Trying an ADHD Elimination Diet

“Research within the last 15 years shows that people with ADHD have a higher rate of food allergies,” says Strickland. But many adults do not associate their symptoms with food sensitivities, says Hara. “They may be depressed or agitated and write it off to normal aging or stress when it isn’t,” she explains. “I’ve had adult ADHD patients in their 20s and 30s who couldn’t sit during appointments. Then once [certain] foods were eliminated, they were able to sit still six months later.”

The idea behind trying an elimination diet is to take away potential allergens and slowly add them back in to see which foods might be triggering symptoms of adult ADHD. “The same foods will not have the same effects for everybody,” says Hara.

One elimination diet in particular is the Feingold Diet, developed by the late pediatrician and allergy specialist Ben Feingold, MD, in the 1960s and originally intended only to help allergy symptoms. It is based on eliminating foods and medications containing salicylate compounds, such as aspirin, as well as additives like food colorings. The diet had the unexpected benefit of easing certain behavior problems and, in the decades that followed, has grown in popularity as an option for children and adults with ADHD.

ADHD Nutrient Research Update

A recent review looked at numerous studies evaluating the role certain supplements might have in the treatment of ADHD. So far, only zinc showed that it may help ADHD symptoms. Results were mixed on L-carnitine, pycnogenol, and essential fatty acids and inconclusive for iron and magnesium, SAM-e, and tryptophan. St. John's wort, tyrosine, or phenylalanine in particular showed no ability to help ADHD symptoms.

As research continues, hopefully more specific nutrients will be found to help manage adult ADHD. But for now, trying an elimination diet holds the most promise. 

(everydayhealth.com)

This week's ADHD Solution is: Focus on the question.

Did you ever go online to find the answer to a question, only to get up three hours later without the answer? If you have ADHD, I’ll bet this happens all the time. It’s easy to get lost on the internet.

An easy way to prevent this is to write your question on a sticky note and put it on your monitor. This will help you stay focused on it. Usually we get lost because we forgot the question. Or forgot we even had a question.

But what about all those juicy related sites you’re drawn to? All that information out there just waiting to be discovered? Go ahead and open the link in a new window or tab (right click on it.) Glance at the page, and if it looks useful, bookmark it so you can find it later if it still seems important. Then close the page. Quickly!

If this suggestion doesn’t work for you because you don’t notice the sticky note on your monitor, try holding it in your hand. Or clear the clutter on your desk so the note is more noticeable. I’ll offer some strategies for clearing clutter in a future edition of ADHD Solutions. Until then, may your path to the answer be unswerving!

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