NTs and money

Post Reply New Topic

It seems other people know so much about money, and compared to most people, I feel thick with money. Friends often rabble on to me about home insurance and council tax and parking permits and so on, and I understand the basics but it goes way over my head so I can't ever offer any advice or empathy because it feels like they are talking a different language.

Also people seem to know about bargains in supermarkets, and if an item is too expensive for what it is and so on. Like when I was with my friend in Tesco last week, she was going to get that washing liquid you put into the washing-machine, and I looked at the price and is said £4.29, and I acted surprised at the price, and she said, ''no, it's not that expensive for some washing liquid'', and she happily got it (and she is a person who always goes for the cheapest items in the shops because she is unemployed at the moment).

I think knowledge of money is something to do with conformist thing, a bit like celebrities, where there's a bit of general knowledge and common sense thrown into it what people just pick up on and just seem to know even without really having to learn. Or maybe people learn these things more when they become more independant like living on their own et cetera. Do other Aspies struggle with money-handling or is it just me being lazy and thick?

Handling money is like any other skill - you can get better at it And there are a lot of resources out there to help you, because lots of other people are bad at money too. Just pick up some basic personal finance guides and start reading. Dave Ramsey is a good author, but there are lots of good options. Steer clear of anything that promises get-rich-quick schemes, but anything that offers sensible advice would be useful.

It's a matter of people paying attention to the prices and being detail oriented about it. When you are on a budget, you are frugal so you watch the prices on items you get and you then notice when it's on sale. They may also be looking through the ads from the paper finding coupons.

The other day my mom and I stopped at a couple outlet mattress stores for my brother and his girlfriend who were moving into their apartment soon. Mom said they were all great prices but they were expensive. $800 for one of them. But mom told me the mattresses normally costs $2,000 so this was inexpensive.

Money is one of my special interests. It's really too bad that I have so little of it. lol

I've always been a natural at some things regarding money (like saving, investing, budgeting). But other things like insurance and coupons took time to figure out. I don't think it's an impairment, just lack of interest. I rarely buy anything, even when I have money, so that may have something to do with it.

I have auto insurance and computer insurance. For a young single guy without money, I don't see what else you need. I also don't shop enough to really use coupons. I buy stuff on Craigslist. Maybe that counts.

How many of your problems in understanding are due to not needing those things rather than simply being inept?

I don't have any money skills. I never had money to develop them with. I tried to convince my parents that I needed an allowance as a kid so that I could develop important skills for adulthood, but it didn't work. They thought I was being greedy.

I don' t think it's an aspie thing but you're not alone. I'm soooo stupid with money.

If you can do so in your spare time, taking some introductory college/online courses in business helps a lot.

Things make so much more sense when you see the big picture.

Get yourself on the Money Saving Expert site & forum, you'll learn all you need to know!

And Poundland laundry liquid is fantastic.

4 pounds something sounds pretty expensive to me, too.

You are only 22 - I don't think I was particularly cost/money savvy at that age.
If you don't buy something on a regular basis, how are you supposed to know what it would cost?
I also get taken off guard that things don't cost roughly what I expect them to if I don't buy them often.

I look at the unit price of each price tag on the store shelf, it breaks down the cost of each oz, mL, or gram. When a certain brand item is on sale I'll find that for a dollar or 2 more I can get a substantially larger package for the money. Laundry soap is criminally overpriced IMO, but the soap at the dollar stores are mostly water. Fortunately I don't have to buy laundry soap myself usually but what I'll do for my own loads of laundry (when the W/D aren't continually monopolized) is pour just enough soap in the cup for a "small" load and add a couple of tablespoons of lye (sodium hydroxide), which is essentially all soap really is. Helps keep the drains clear too

Obviously, if there's something you use often like batteries or TP, it's cheaper in the long run to buy in bulk

I really identify with your post. I also have some issues understanding what the logical price of things should be, but when shopping I tend to buy the same things repeatedly so I just compare the prices to the last time I bought whatever it was. However, I don't understand other financial things at all, and I think it is related to autism in my case. A lot of aspies have particularly good logic/maths skills so those AS people may not have difficulties because those skills compensate (or they may even be particularly good at it), but I suspect the right brain aspies may struggle with this. I think it is related to difficulties with executive functioning and failure to absorb social norms appropriately. I've never met any of the expected milestones where money is concerned.

I am not stupid - actually I even did fairly well in high school maths. However, I can't get my head around things like tax, benefits, bank accounts, car costs, and so on, and I have been expensively stung by this difficulty on multiple occasions (I lived on my own for years without any idea what council tax was until I was sent a very large bill, have been overpaid and underpaid tax credits multiple times because I had such difficulty keeping on top of them, and several times have been charged money by companies for services I didn't use because they had set up recurring payments in my bank account without me understanding that they had done it). Staff in banks appear to me to be talking a foreign language. I am able to manage things now, but only because I have made my financial life so simple - I have no car, no insurance for anything, nothing I spend money on regularly. and my only recurring monthly payments are my rent and internet. I couldn't possibly manage to live the way most people do in this society (phones, cars, direct debits, mortgages, insurance for fifty different things, what?) and understand what was going on. It completely boggles my mind how they do that. And I am nearly frustrated to tears when I have financial forms and things to fill in.

I understand the suggestion of studying the subject, but knowing what the names of things mean and what they are is the smaller part of the problem - the bigger part is an inability to cope with things like filling in forms, deadlines, organising, multiple things going on to keep track of (like lots of things going in and out of a bank account), the complexity of the way government systems work, and so on, all of which I find so confusing that they cause me a brain crash. It may be related to ADHD in addition to autism, I'm not sure. Either way, you have my sympathy and all I can suggest is to simplify, eliminate or automate everything you possibly can. I find those things help, and I just nod and smile when people talk Dutch to me about financial things!

I don't buy many things so I don't know about the prices that way. It depends on how big a container as well. I know parking permits for my university are really expensive and hard to get.

I dont know much about money, what stuff costs and such because i remember fairly poorly.

But ive been raised in a poor home, so i know its important to keep a track of your money, i have my internet banking where i can always check how much ive used and how much i got left. and that has worked out fairy well.

I have automated banking, where money for all expenses goes into every month, so the money i have in my main account if for spending.

The other account if for all the expenses and if something should break. I dont wanna burrow money ever. its better to save up and be prepared.

I keep check of my money very well. I don't have much, so I pay attention to the price of everything I buy and remember almost everything without fail. I look for the cheapest prices, and longest lasting value. Poor people problems I guess. If I ever have more money I know this will benefit me though. I am better off from being smart with my money.