Neurodivergent Money Management | ADHD, Budgeting, Debt-free, Savings, Income, Executive Function,

ADHD and executive dysfunction can make a money system stop after a few weeks. Here is how to keep your Money Day going when you only have 5 minutes, without starting over.

You notice you have skipped your money check in.

2 days, then a week.

Quietly, you decide it is over, and you will start again next month.

Learn how to build a 5 minute version of your money system, so a low week means switching down instead of giving up.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains what executive dysfunction is in plain language, and why discipline, motivation and building habits work differently with ADHD. She shares how her own Friday Money Day keeps running on low capacity days, with gears from 5 minutes to 3 hours, and how it handles starting, planning, switching and changing the plan in advance. In her survey of 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK, 80 per cent said they overspend when they are stressed. You will also hear how to find your own 5 minute list by noticing which small money tasks leave you calm and in control.

Highlights

Work with me

If you are tired of starting over every month, I would love to work with you. Ninety minute one to one coaching session. We build your Money Day and your 5 minute list together, and set up anything that needs setting up, so you leave with it finished rather than planned.

https://estherbangura.com/coaching

Links and resources

PocketSmith, the budgeting app I use myself and with my clients. Get 50% off the PocketSmith Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months: https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG

This is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use myself and with my clients.

I am an official PocketSmith coach, listed in their coaching directory as a neurodivergent money coach. If signing up is easy but setting it up is the part that never happens, that is exactly the kind of thing we do together in a session.

The ND Money Insider, my weekly newsletter. This week it includes my full Money Day list, from 5 minutes to an hour. https://estherbangura.com/newsletter

The Neurodivergence and Money Report, the full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK. https://estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews https://estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

95 | ADHD and Budgeting: How to Build a Spending Plan (The Preparation Nobody Talks About)

81 | Burnout Proof Your Money: The Neurodivergent System That Keeps Your Bills Paid When Your Capacity Hits Zero

47 | Executive Dysfunction + Automation | Tools That Do the Work for Your Brain

Dyslexia and executive function: why you avoid financial admin like bills and mortgage paperwork, and how to get a second reader for the reading you have always done alone.

At work, someone checks the figures before anything goes out.

At home, the mortgage renewal pack sits on the table.

Is it the 4th or the 14th? Nobody is there to ask.

Why listen: you will understand why that paperwork keeps going back in the envelope, and leave with one free way to check your reading at home.

Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains why dyslexic adults so often put off financial admin, from bills to mortgage renewals, and why it has far more to do with reading and executive function than with laziness. Many dyslexic professionals have built reliable reading support at work: a colleague who checks, software that reads back, formal adjustments. At home, financial paperwork is often the highest stakes reading they ever do, and nobody checks it. Esther shares what research says about dyslexia and reading numbers, how working memory comes into it, and how the same avoidance looks different with ADHD, autism, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. In her survey of 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK, 76 per cent said they procrastinate on financial admin.

Highlights

Work with me

One client came to me wanting to get her financial house in order. In her first session we went through her financial documents together, and she went on to chase lost pension investments, get refunds back and set up a weekly money day she now enjoys. In my ninety minute one to one coaching session I am your second reader: we take the thing you have been circling and get it done together, so you leave with it finished rather than planned.

https://estherbangura.com/coaching

Links and resources

PocketSmith, the budgeting app I use myself and with my clients. Get 50% off the PocketSmith Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months: https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG

This is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use myself and with my clients.

The ND Money Insider, my weekly newsletter https://estherbangura.com/newsletter

The Neurodivergence and Money Report, the full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK https://estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews https://estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

79 | Struggling to Face Your Debt Letters? How to Get Debt-Free as a Dyslexic Adult

64 | Dyslexia and Mortgages: Navigating Complex Financial Systems with Rosemary Ndekwu

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Dyscalculia and savings: how to save for a holiday, a car or an emergency fund when the number never lands, by counting nights, rides and weeks instead of pounds or dollars.

You open your savings pot. You see the target. And you feel nothing at all.

It could be a lot or a little. You honestly cannot tell. So you close the app and promise yourself you will deal with it next month.

You will learn one simple way to save that takes the heaviness out of the numbers.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains why savings goals so often fall apart for dyscalculic brains, and why it is not a lack of discipline. In her survey of 279 neurodivergent adults, about 73 per cent said shame affects how they manage money, and for many people with dyscalculia, often alongside dyslexia and ADHD, that shame began in a maths lesson long before the first bank account. She shares why planning ahead, tracking across accounts and financial apps can feel so overwhelming, then walks through a practical savings method: name the goal by the thing, give it a picture, and count nights, rides or weeks instead of pounds or dollars, with worked examples for a holiday, a car and an emergency fund.

Highlights

Work with me

If you keep pushing your savings goal to next year and quietly wondering what is wrong with you, nothing is. You were never given a way to save that makes sense to your brain.

Ninety minute one to one coaching session. We work out the number underneath your nights, rides or weeks together and set up your first transfer while we are in the session, so you leave with your savings started rather than planned. estherbangura.com/coaching

Links and resources

PocketSmith The budgeting app I use myself and with my clients. 50% off the Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months. https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG Affiliate link, at no extra cost to you.

The ND Money Insider, my weekly newsletter estherbangura.com/newsletter

The Neurodivergence and Money Report The full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK. estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

89 | Debt Payoff Strategies for Dyscalculia: When Numbers Never Feel Real!

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ADHD and budgeting: how to build a budget or spending plan that actually holds, starting with the expense list and the preparation most budgeting advice skips, for ADHD adults and for dyslexic, dyspraxic and autistic adults who recognise the same pattern.

You downloaded the spreadsheet. You signed up to the app. And then you sat there thinking, now what?

This episode walks you through the 5 stages Esther uses to build a budget with her coaching clients, from the first expense list to following the plan.

Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, official PocketSmith coach and winner of the neurodivergent and money coaching Big Ideas award, explains why a budget and a spending plan are the same thing, and why ADHD budgeting so often falls apart: unrealistic numbers, expecting the tool to do the work, skipping the preparation, and building alone. She shares how she has used one simple budgeting system for years to build an emergency fund, save for her home and pay off debt, and why executive function makes the preparation stage the one most people skip. You will learn how to start an expense list, notice where your money really goes, build your plan around your real numbers, and make one decision at a time.

Highlights

CTA — Take the Next Step

This is an affiliate link, which means Esther may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Esther is an official PocketSmith coach, listed in their coaching directory as a neurodivergent money coach.

Related episodes

83 | Neurodivergent Budgeting: The 7 Budgeting Categories I Use With Every Client

35 | Why Budgeting Feels Impossible for ADHD Brains and How to Fix It

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53 | What Is A ADHD, Neurodivergent & Money Coaching Session Really like

Autistic burnout and money: how to spot the signs autistic burnout is affecting your finances, your budgeting and your savings, and what to do when you are already in it.

Maybe you used to love budgeting. You built the spreadsheet, saved every payday and knew your balance to the pound, and now you cannot remember the last time you opened any of it.

This episode helps you recognise autistic burnout in your finances early, and gives you one small plan you can follow even when you feel you have nothing left.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains what autistic burnout is and why research suggests it is different from work burnout and from depression, even though it is often misdiagnosed as depression. She shares why managing money becomes a job nobody hired you for when you are autistic and burning out, the money skills that often go first, and the quiet signs in your spending, savings and income that are easy to take for granted. You will also learn the Minimum Money Month, a simple way to protect your essential bills and let everything else wait while you recover.

Highlights

CTA — Take the Next Step

Support at work

Free debt help

If you are struggling right now

Related episodes

How to apply for Access to Work when you are self employed with ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia: the questions the application asks, example answers, what you need before you start, and how long the wait really is.

You have known about Access to Work for months. You have opened the form, looked at the first question, and closed the tab again. And then felt bad about closing it.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, shares her own Access to Work application as a self employed business owner with ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia, and walks you through it question by question, so the form stops being a mystery. 

She explains what to gather before you start, including your UTR if you are self employed, and goes through the real questions on the form, from how your conditions affect you at work, to specialist equipment, to asking for a support worker or an ADHD coach. You will hear example answers written for 2 made up people, an employee and a self employed business owner, and the 3 rules that make any answer stronger. Esther also shares how long she waited, what happened when she chased, and the simple executive dysfunction fix that finally got her application sent: 1 hour with a body double.

This is Part 2 of 2. Part 1, episode 92, explains what Access to Work is and what it pays for.

Highlights

CTA — Take the Next Step

Access to Work

Outside the UK

Related episodes

92 | Access to Work for ADHD, Autism and Dyslexia: What It Pays For, Who Can Apply and How It Works

9 | The Hidden Cost of Overwhelm: How Stress Spending Starts For Neurodivergents

84 | Neurodivergent Business Owners: Why the Money Side Feels So Much Harder

Access to Work for ADHD, autism and dyslexia explained: what the grant pays for, who can apply, how long it takes, and whether Access to Work can fund coaching, software or a support worker at work

This episode tells you exactly what Access to Work is, whether it applies to you, and what to gather before you apply.

Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, walks through the UK Access to Work scheme for ADHD, autistic and dyslexic adults: what the grant can pay for, including assistive software, a support worker and coaching, who can apply as an employee or a self employed person, and the executive dysfunction that keeps capable people from applying at all. She covers the current waiting times using the latest House of Commons Library figures, shares her own 8 month wait honestly, and gives the full Before You Apply list so gathering your information takes 1 hour instead of 3 months.

Part 1 of 2. Part 2 publishes Thursday 1 October.

Highlights

CTA — Take the Next Step

Links and resources

The before you apply List

Then book 1 hour with someone and do it alongside them if starting feels hard.

Related episodes

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EP75 | The Neurodivergent Tax: What Being ADHD, Autistic or Dyslexic Really Costs You Every Year

EP84 | Neurodivergent Business Owners: Why the Money Side Feels So Much Harder

EP53 | What Is A ADHD, Neurodivergent & Money Coaching Session Really like

Why is asking for more money so hard with ADHD? How rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) affects your income, stops you asking for a pay rise, raising your prices or chasing an unpaid invoice, and what ADHD and autistic adults can do instead. You have been doing more than your job for a year and never said a word. Your prices have not moved since you started. That invoice is 6 weeks late, and the reminder email still is not written. This episode explains what RSD really is, how it quietly costs you income, and gives you a simple written way to ask for more.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explores ADHD and income through the lens of rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD). She explains the difference between rejection sensitivity in research and RSD as the community uses it online, why asking for a pay rise, raising your prices, chasing an unpaid invoice or asking a creditor for a payment plan can feel so hard with ADHD, and why taking less can feel safer than hearing no. Esther shares her own story of charging £35 for a 3 hour coaching session, and introduces the Two Sentence Ask: a written way to ask for more money that works with rejection sensitivity, plus the questions to ask when the answer is no.

Highlights

CTA — Take the Next Step

Free debt advice

Related episodes

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EP86 | How to Stop Overspending With ADHD: What to Do the Day After (Instead of Starting Over)

EP52 | Know Your Worth at Work: Career Pivots, Redundancy and Income Negotiation with Octavia Goredema MBEEP26 | How Neurodivergent Identity Shapes Confidence, Pricing, and Money in Business with Krystle McGilvery

Debt snowball or debt avalanche: which debt payoff method actually works for an ADHD brain? The avalanche saves the most interest on paper and the snowball clears your smallest debt first, so this episode shows you how to pay off debt with ADHD by choosing the method you will still be using in 6 months, and keep going until you are debt free. Debt can cause a huge financial overwhelm and just budgeting alone, does not guarantee you will get to the finish line.

You picked the avalanche because it was the sensible choice, and 3 months later you stopped opening the app. Nothing had finished, and the voice in your head said you could not even stick to the right one.

You will leave with one date that tells you which method to choose, and 3 simple ways to work it out this week.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, breaks down the debt snowball method and the debt avalanche method in plain English, and shows why the cheaper plan on paper is so often the one ADHD adults abandon. You will hear what the research says about ADHD and money, why closing accounts keeps people going, and exactly how much extra the snowball really costs. Esther shares new UK research from StepChange alongside her own survey of 279 neurodivergent adults, explains why any debt payoff strategy needs a system behind it as well as the right order, then walks you through the First Win Date: a simple way to compare both methods by the date your first debt closes, not the interest total. You will learn what paperwork to gather, how to work it out with a pen, a spreadsheet or AI, and where to find free debt help in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and Ireland.

Highlights

Links and resources

The AI prompt from this episode

Copy this, add your numbers, and choose a document or a spreadsheet. Leave out your name, account numbers and card numbers.

I want to compare 2 ways of paying off my debts: the debt snowball (smallest balance first) and the debt avalanche (highest interest rate first).

Here are my debts:

Debt 1: [credit card / loan / overdraft]. I owe £[amount] today. Interest rate [ ]% APR. Minimum payment £[ ] a month. [If a loan: it ends in [month, year] and I can / cannot overpay it.] [If on a 0% deal: the 0% ends in [month, year].]

Debt 2: ...

Debt 3: ...

Each month I can pay £[ ] in total towards all my debts.

Please:

Use plain English and keep it short.

Free debt help

Research mentioned

Related episodes

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EP41 | Debt Payoff Strategies for ADHD Brains (Without Relying on Discipline)

EP78 | ADHD and $55K Debt-Free on a $40K Income in 3 Years with Matt Wally

EP89 | Debt Payoff Strategies for Dyscalculia: When Numbers Never Feel Real!

EP36 | Deciding on Debt Repayment: IVA vs Self-Managed for Neurodivergent Adults

Dyscalculia and debt. Becoming debt free when numbers never feel real, when you can read the balance but not feel it, and when nobody can tell you whether this is maths anxiety or dyscalculia.

You open the banking app, look at what you owe, and feel nothing. Not panic. Nothing. Then you spend the rest of the day wondering what kind of person reacts like that.

This episode explains why, and gives you one tool that makes the number real without you having to get better at maths.

Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, covers what dyscalculia actually is, the four patterns that make debt harder than any other money task, the minimum payment detail that quietly costs twenty two years, and the debt payoff strategy that works with dyscalculia rather than against it: stop counting in pounds and count in months. Backed by her research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK. Getting debt free does not require you to be good with numbers.

Highlights

Work with me

Ninety minute one to one coaching session. From chaos to organised, and from overwhelm to calm. estherbangura.com/coaching

PocketSmith

Get 50% off the PocketSmith Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months. https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG

This is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use myself and with my clients.

Free debt advice mentioned in this episode

The Neurodivergence and Money Report The full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK. estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

74 | Sick of Spreadsheets That Don't Work for Dyscalculia? Try Budgeting in Words Instead

71 | Fast Debt Payoff Strategies That Work For Neurodivergent Brains

68 | Dyspraxia and Debt: Why Managing Debt Feels Physically Overwhelming