#115 - How Heidi Overcame ADHD and Money Mistakes with YNAB

15 snips

May 7, 2025

Heidi shares her journey of managing finances with ADHD, revealing her struggles with impulsive spending and variable income. The transformative power of the YNAB method shines through as she explains how it provided structure and clarity. She deliciously coined the term 'ADHD tax'—a safety net that allows for controlled impulsiveness in budgeting. The conversation delves into the benefits of community support in financial literacy and highlights the emotional security achieved through thoughtful spending. Tune in for practical strategies and personal insights!

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ANECDOTE

Heidi's Early YNAB Journey

Heidi first used YNAB in 2012 while working a seasonal, variable-income job as an outdoor educator.
She downloaded YNAB 3 at a remote camp, walked uphill to get WiFi, and embraced the budgeting tool despite early challenges.

INSIGHT

Concreteness Helps ADHD Budgeting

Abstract financial concepts are hard for people with ADHD; YNAB's concrete method helps make money real by assigning specific jobs to every dollar.
This concreteness makes budgeting manageable amid unpredictable income and impulsivity.

INSIGHT

ADHD Impulsivity Disrupts Finances

ADHD involves impulsivity and inattentiveness, both impacting finances differently but significantly.
Impulsivity can lead to spontaneous costly purchases without regard for upcoming bills or planning.

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Today Ben and Ernie are joined by long-time YNAB'er Heidi to discuss her challenges of managing money with ADHD, and how she has used the YNAB method to reclaim control over her money. As Heidi explains, ADHD is characterized by impulsiveness and inattentiveness, both of which took a heavy toll on her finances, especially during phases of her career where her income was variable. Heidi was an early adopter of YNAB -- starting with YNAB3! -- and quickly fell in love with the software and the concreteness of the YNAB method.

Heidi explains how the other approaches to personal finance she had discovered were focused on philosophy and abstraction, whereas YNAB was concrete from the start. The software is opinionated, and wants you to follow the "rules," which today have been boiled down to just one rule: give every dollar a job. The act of entering transactions, assigning money to categories, and moving money from category to category proved therapeutic for Heidi, and her daily habit of checking YNAB made her more in tune with her money and her long term plans for the money. Over time she noticed that her inattentiveness to money, which once lead to frequent overdrafts and bank fees, improved dramatically. She was also able to create a reserves category for the "ADHD tax," as she calls it, essentially giving herself a safety net in her budget to be impulsive with money without disrupting her future plans.

After many years with YNAB and a lifetime living with ADHD, Heidi has accumulated a lot of wisdom about managing money and learning to live spendfully. As she puts it, YNAB has allowed her to be a more interesting, dynamic person, by giving her the freedom to do the things she wants without being hamstrung by money problems.

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