The Cost of ADHD Tax (& How to Avoid Paying It)

ADHD Tax is costing you money, lots of it. From spending impulsively to forgetting to return things within a 30-day window, you’re paying a (figurative and literal) price.

The good news is, once you understand what ADHD Tax is and how it shows up in your life, you can also learn how to avoid paying it. All of which, you’ll read about in this post!

If your ADHD brain prefers listening rather than reading, you can listen to this episode of my podcast, Financial Self-Care with Financial Therapist, Lindsey 👇🏼

What is ADHD Tax?

So, let’ talk about it: What is ADHD and the ADHD Tax you’re unwittingly paying?

As a licensed therapist (who has diagnosed many people with many different types of disorders), we gotta talk about what ADHD is.

*Note: This post is not intended to diagnose or replace therapy or mental health treatment. It’s exclusively intended to educate and inform.

What is ADHD?

ADHD, or Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder, is one of the most diagnosed disorders in the United States, with the CDC stating, “An estimated 6.0% of adults had a current ADHD diagnosis, equivalent to one in 16, or approximately 15.5 million U.S. adults.”

Who has ADHD?

When you hear the acronym ADHD, most people immediately think of an 7-year-old boy who can’t sit still in class. But, that’s a very small percentage of the population who is diagnosed with ADHD.

Unfortunately, a HUGE group of people have been left off of the “typical” ADHD radar: women and girls.

Why? Because, for far too long, ADHD assessments have focused on the external symptoms of ADHD.

But, whether we want to admit it or not, women and girls are socialized differently than boys and men. People of the female variety are taught to contain it, to internalize it.

A picture of a late-diagnosed ADHDer who has paid the ADHD Tax many times due to forgetfulness, impulsivity, disorganization, and more!

External vs. Internal Symptoms of ADHD

External symptoms of ADHD include (but are not limited to):

Impulsivity
Inattention
Fidgeting
Excessive physical movement
Interrupting conversation
Excessive talking

Internalized symptoms of ADHD include:

Forgetfulness
Racing thoughts
Time management issues
Daydreaming (or staring blankly at a computer screen for 3 minutes)
Trouble with transitions
Heightened emotional reactions
Difficulty focusing

And many of these symptoms lead to us paying a metaphorical tax, called the ADHD Tax.

What is ADHD Tax?

ADHD Tax is not a real tax that the IRS collects on April 15th. Rather, it’s a figurative price you pay that accompanies symptoms of ADHD.

Those with ADHD might not even realize that their neurodiversity is resulting in a financial disadvantage. Instead, as a financial therapist who works with many adults with ADHD, I hear *most often* women feeling shame or embarrassment or stupidity for “being bad with money.”

Well, honey, I’m here to help you course correct.

7 Examples of ADHD Tax

There are a ton of ways ADHD Tax can show up in your life including:

1. Impulsive Spending

Look, your ADHD brain is deficient in dopamine, so you’re constantly looking for ways to get it. Spending money is a really fast way to get a quick hit of desired dopamine.

According to this article, 40-80% of all purchases are made impulsively. And if you have ADHD, you can safely assume, you’re on the higher end of that spectrum.

Unfortunately, that impulsivity is taking a toll on your financial self-care.

2. Forgetfulness

Your ADHD brain is running a million miles an hour, and that level of energy can result in forgetfulness. It’s why you often end up feeling scattered.

An example of this is when you walk into your bedroom with the intention of grabbing a pair of socks, but once you get to the bedroom you’ve completely forgot your reason for going there in the first place. This can result in lost time and money.

Forgetfulness is a common internal symptoms of ADHD, which can end up costing you a lotta loot. This might look like:

Not paying bills on time and incurring late fees
Missing return windows
Buying things full price or at a premium due to missing sales or booking late
Not canceling subscriptions (costing an average of $219 per month)

3. Time Blindness (Lack of Time Management Skills)

Just as your brain forgets a lot of things, it also had reduced executive functioning including a lack of time management. We call this time blindness.

Time blindness can show up in a variety of ways from being extremely early to always arriving late.

An example (and one that I’m total guilt of) might look like you saying to yourself, “I need to leave work at 3:00pm to get to my 3:30 dental appointment on time.” But you don’t get up from your desk until 2:55pm, still needing to pack up your things, go to the bathroom, and fill up your water (all of which are going to take longer than the allotted 5 minutes) before heading our the door.

This time blindness can be associated with an ADHD tax because, if you’re one who is always late, you may be so late for an appointment that they count you as a no-show and take you off the schedule for the day, resulting in paying a fee or a fine for your late-ness.

4. Disorganization

You struggle with having too many tabs open in your brain, and because of that, you often feel disorganized (both internally and externally).

Neurotypical people have systems for organization – again, internally and externally – which those with ADHD just don’t have. It’s why you lose things all the time. And once something becomes out of sight, it’s entirely out of mind.

This disorganization results in ADHD Tax for many different reasons like:

You forget that you own something so you buy another one (this literally happened to me last week with an ice cream scoop), effectively resulting in wasted money
You misplaced your phone charger (for the 80th time) and now you have to buy a new one
You double book yourself and, now, are stuck paying for a service you didn’t recieve
You don’t cancel subscriptions and are paying monthly recurring fees

5. Prioritization

ADHD brains struggle with urgency – everything feels urgent or of equal importance – so rather than getting anything done, you just write and re-write a million to-do lists (guilty).

Instead of honing in one needle-moving task, you spin and ultimately don’t do any of them. Like the other ADHD Taxes, this also results in lost time and money.

6. Medical Costs

Healthcare costs are a very real concern for those with physical and mental health concerns because… #America. Part of the ADHD Tax you’re paying is incurring the cost of medical visits.

This can range from assessments and talk therapy to treatments and medication (and everything in between).

The National Institutes of Health estimates that the average incremental costs for a person with ADHD is just under $2,600. This is no small number and certainly a BIG portion of the ADHD Tax.

7. Stigma Against Getting Help

The truth is, ADHD Tax compounds when we don’t seek support. However, I think it’s important to recognize that getting support isn’t as easy as it seems.

There is still a lot of stigma around seeking support for mental health concerns. If this is something you’re struggling with, I get it.

Maybe you’re like me and have told yourself, “I can do it by myself.” Well, I’m here to shine light on something: Not getting help will cost you money, time, and energy that you don’t need to be expending.

7 Ways to Avoid Paying ADHD Tax

I’m not one to list a ton of problems without any solution. So these are 10 ways to avoid paying the ADHD Tax:

1. Micro Barriers

Our consumeristic world has become so easy, so frictionless that impulse shopping has increased spectacularly. A CNBC report says that consumers are spending an average of $314 per month on impulse purchases.

I say this a lot, but if we made our life just 2% less convenient, our finances would thank us for it. And this is especially true for those wanting to avoid the ADHD Tax.

A quick way to cut wayyyy back on impulse spending is to turn the dial up on micro barriers like:

Disconnecting credit cards from electronic devices
Unfollowing influencers on social media convincing you to buy crap you don’t really even want
Unsubscribing from enticing marketing emails
Implement the 48-hour rule, where something has to stay in your cart for 48-hours before buying it
Limit your time on social media to minimize the amount of advertisements you see in a day
Make a “Dopamine Menu” or “Love List” – a list with other sources of quick dopamine hits like organizing a small space, eating a small bite of chocolate, or doing 30 jumping jacks

The list of micro barriers can go on for days. And while it’s not addressing the deep rooted transformation of Financial Self-Care, they can be effective in making motivating, fast changes.

2. Externalizing Your Brain

When it comes to an ADHDer’s faulty working memory and forgetfulness, one of the best things you can do is externalize your brain.

This looks like using tools to help remember things like a calendar, setting reminders or alarms, and using whiteboards, sticky notes, and task notes.

Examples of Externalizing Your Brain

Use automation to set your utility bills, credit cards, and other bills on auto-pay.
Put a sticky note on your door to remind yourself as you’re leaving the house to grab the item you need to return.
Have a white board in a common space in your home to write down quick to-do’s to help your brain not forget things.

3. Habit Stacking, Time Anchoring, and Pomodoro Timers

As we said the top, one of the most common forms of ADHD Tax is paying the price that comes with having time blindness (or a lack of time management skills). You can mitigate this by using things like habit stacking or time anchoring.

Habit Stacking

Habit stacking is a way to build a new habit by “stacking” it into ones that already exist.

This might be something like everyday you wake up, start your coffee, then go to the bathroom. The new habit that you’re hoping to develop, for example, drink more water, could be “stacked” in between starting your coffee machine and going to the bathroom, to ensure it gets done.

Time Anchoring

Time anchoring is a similar concept but rather than focusing on stacking small daily habits, you’ll be in pursuit of anchoring or pairing a task to another.

For example, instead of losing time in the shower, you can give yourself a 4-song limit in the shower. After the four songs are up, you get out.

Pomodoro Timers

Another example using a Pomodoro Timer, which helps your brain with time blocking like working for 40 minutes then taking a 20 minute break. The Pomodoro Timer helps externalize time.

I like to use time anchoring and the Pomodoro Technique in conjunction with already dopamine-producing events.

For instance, I get paid weekly. This is intentional to keep my weeks consistent. Then, every Tuesday morning, when my paycheck gets deposited into my account (*cue the dopamine*), I have a Money Date. I set my Pomodoro Timer for 25 minutes and update my spending tracker. And, voila, my money is happy (and so is my cute lil’ ADHD brain).

4. Less Stuff, More Visible

As previously stated, ADHD brains tend to be disorganized. It’s not that you like living in chaos and clutter, it’s that your brain lacks the proper ability to systematize things effectively.

For neurodivergent brains, once something is out of sight, it can be gone forever in a black abyss of wonder. The antidote to this disorganization is having less stuff, more visible.

Less Stuff

Having less stuff (AKA less clutter) can be a game-changer for an ADHD brain. We often get lost in the overwhelm of overconsumption, resulting in emotional overload.

When you offload some of that stuff, it can better assist you in being able to actually know what you have. Thereby, not having to buy a ton of duplicates, just to find the original a week later.

More Visible

Because ADHD brains often forget something exists when it’s out of your line of sight, a good remedy is actually being able to physically see your things.

Once you’ve decluttered, you can adapt your space to make things more visible. This might look like:

Using clear, acrylic bins to see what items are in storage
Have a “clutter collect zone” or “drop zone” to keep clutter contained like in a basket or bin in a heavily trafficked area of the house
Hanging clothes in your closet, rather than keeping items in closed drawers
Having floating shelves instead of closed cabinets
Using spice racks and organizers to easily see the thing in closed-off spaces like pantries and closets

5. Limit your To-Do Lists

Having a lack of prioritization comes with the territory of an ADHD brain. But don’t worry, you don’t have to pay the ADHD Tax on this forever.

Instead of making 800 different To-Do Lists, I’m going to tell you do something a little counterintuitive. Make two lists: One Brain Dump List and One To-Do List with ONLY three items on it.

Your Brain Dump List will serve as your dumping ground to get stuff out of your brain.

Your To-Do List, on the other hand, is only allowed three items on it. Limiting your To-Do List to only three items does a few things for you:

It’s motivating to actually cross things off the list
It’s manageable and doable (not setting yourself up for failure)
Your brain will understand what the true priority is
You won’t pay as much in ADHD Tax 😉

6. Resources to Reduce Medical Costs

I wish I could wave a magic wand and reduce American’s healthcare costs, effectively reducing the ADHD Tax. But alas, I don’t have that type of power.

Instead, I will empower you to reduce medical costs with resources.

Negotiate Medical Bills

First and foremost, when that weird uncle of yours says, “everything is negotiable” he’s right. And that include healthcare costs. You can negotiate visits to the emergency room and even clinic costs.

I’ve written and entire blog post about it and made a FREE how-to guide here.

Gene Sight Testing

I have absolutely no affiliation with this organization, I just wish more people knew about them.

If you’re someone who takes medication to support and reduce your ADHD symptoms, then you might want to know about GeneSight testing. This is a company that developed a way to test medication to your genetic make up to determine which medication are going to be most compatible with your DNA.

Rather than cycling through a ton of medication, ultimately paying a wicked high ADHD Tax, you can get the GeneSight test done with hopes you’ll find the best medication for you.

7. Seek Help

I know it’s hard to ask for help. And it’s hard to pay for help. I know it’s scary and there’s so much stigma.

But seeking help and support for you neurodivergent brain doesn’t make you a failure; it makes you stronger, braver, healthier, and happier.

Take a FREE 15-minute consultation with your favorite financial therapist (ehmm, hi, I’m Lindsey), who specializes in working with ADHDers

The Wrap Up: ADHD Tax

So while ADHD isn’t, perhaps, your greatest financial self-care ally, it’s not something to be villainized, either.

If anything, I hope this post helped you understand your brain (even if just a smidge better), and realize that the world wasn’t made for you.

So you adapt and pivot into tips and tricks that make your life easier and more fun all while avoiding the ADHD Tax.

I’m Lindsey, your favorite Financial Therapist!
After become a full-time stay-at-home mom, I realized I needed a creative outlet for some intellectual stimulation. I started blogging about motherhood, marriage, mental health, and money.

If you found this article helpful, you can learn more here!