Finances

Lori: I cannot even do simple math yet alone my checkbook. I have to depend on a close friend to help me with this. For years, my family has tried to explain the mathematics, but it is like teaching a chimpanzee how to read a foreign language, and speak it fluently. I think what you are attempting to do is not going to work realistically. If you have someone close to you that you can depend on, and trust, then I would have that person go over in detail with you all of your finances/bills/statements/etc. I have no idea of what I am reading so I have to depend on someone to help me. As for banking, I go directly into the bank and have a teller or someone working in the bank go over my statement with me verbally. It takes five minutes. Good luck!

It’s not the math that is a problem(calculator). It’s the organization of getting all the bills paid on a timely manner and being able to find evertything I need. And keepng track of withdrawals/transactions.

Lori:

You might try using different accounts to manage your cashflow.
I do this, and even with some success! 8)

Tuition, travel, other expenses come out of one account.
Groceries, rent and bills come out of another.
Miscellaneous “treats” come out of yet another.

Keep your statements in separate binders, & colour-code the binders if you need to.

You might ask your bank to see if they have an automatic bill payment system you can use, whereby the bill in question is automatically paid on a given date. Example: phone payments go out on the 15th of every month, electricity is paid on the 10th, etc.

Hope this helps

Alpha

Hi Lori,

You might look into Quicken to track your checking account and savings account. It is so simple to use and if you make a mistake you can always go back and correct it. In other words, don’t worry. You can reconcile all of your accounts this way. You can set up accounts for your credit cards too, savings, IRA,etc.

This is what I do to keep track of what needs to be paid and when: When I get a bill, I write the name (electric), the amount ($75.36) and the due date on a long slip of paper. I write all of the bills for that month - even the ones you have to pay every month i.e. mortgage, car payment. I then wrap a rubber band around all of the bills with all of the information I wrote on the sheet of paper on top. That way I just need to pick up that bunch of envelopes, look at what is due and when. I always start out with a new slip of paper every month. It’s not as messy that way. It works for me and it might work for you. Good Luck!

I am not LD (my son is) but my organization has gone down hill as children have been added to the pile. Your proposed system is too complex for me. Realize you are talking to someone who stopped balancing the checkbook when pregnant with the third one. I just look through my transactions to see if they make sense now. (and don’t tell my accountant friends my sins).

I still do my bills by hand and have a place on the desk where I put them when they come in. I have all my cycles coordinated (credit card ect) and pay them when my mortgage is due. (1st of the month). My mother-in-law pays all bills that are there on the 1st and 15th, which is another pretty simple option.

When I was in graduate school, I had a research assistantship and only got paid once a month which got me into this once a month habit.

I only have a checking account—no savings acct. I now earn interest (minimal) on the checking but haven’t had a savings account for years. If I end up with large balances, I have opened CDs or even put money in the stock market. Last year I put money in a CD and then had to buy a car and wiped that out.

I find that the simpler the organization the more successful I will be.

Beth

I agree with Beth. Keep it simple. I get paid once a month., so I pay the bills once a month. I have one slot that I put the bills in and pay them all on the 1st. I have made myself remeber, because of the late fees when I forget. I got over my head with the charge cards and turned them over to a credit counseling firm, however this does mar your credit. At least now the credit cards are paid once a month, on time and the fee for them comes directly from my account. I also know exactly when they will be paid off. CREDIT CARDS ARE A NIGHTMARE FOR LD/ADHD PEOPLE!!! I also have as many bills as possible come directly from my checking account to the biller. Most companies and banks have this option and if you get paid bi-monthly, you can stagger the direct payments. If I can remember to buy stamps, and force myself to sit down and write them out, I usually stay on top of my finances. I also have aproblenm with writing down Bank Card/debit purchases. So, I check daily with the bank by a computerized phone access that tells what the balance is, what checks or debits have been posted, etc. If your bank does not have this service, consider a bank that does. Hope this helps…
Georgia

Lori:

Another good suggestion might be Microsoft Money. I am clueless when it comes to personal finances, so my husband handles all of that. He uses Microsoft Money and it looks pretty useful.

Hope that helps! Don’t want to bombard you with too much help :)

Good luck!!

Christine

Try using stuff on the computer, when you goto buy hte software, look for features you’d like, becasue any you find are going to be WAY more useful to you than the average person. Computers made the difference for me between having an education and not. They can help to compensate for LD’s enourmously.