The trouble with traditional budgets is that they require mindfulness, willpower, and impulse control—some of our greatest weaknesses! So I built an automation to help me become more mindful. Get it here, and read on to find out how it works.

Why Budgets Often Fail (and a Low-Maintenance Alternative That Actually Helps)

If you’ve ever looked at your bank statement and thought, “How did that happen?” — you’re not alone.

Impulsive spending and ADHD tend to travel together. Not because people with ADHD don’t understand money. Not because they don’t care. And definitely not because they’re irresponsible.

In fact, most adults with ADHD already know what they should be doing. Many have tried budgets. Spreadsheets. Apps. Rules. Systems. And for a little while, those things might even work.

Then life happens. Energy dips. Stress rises. A coffee here, a quick Amazon order there. And suddenly the budget quietly fades into the background.

This isn’t a character flaw. It’s a foresight problem.

Let’s talk about why impulsive spending is so hard with ADHD, why the traditional budget often isn’t the best first step, and a simple shortcut I created called TRENDS can help — without relying on willpower, discipline, or constant tracking.

Impulsive Spending with ADHD Isn’t About Knowledge

Most people I work with already know the basics:

Spend less than you earn
Watch the small purchases
Follow a budget
Think long-term

The issue isn’t education. It’s execution — especially in the moment.

ADHD makes impulsive spending more likely because of a few well-known factors:

Working memory challenges
That budget you set up last month? It’s not front-of-mind when you’re tapping your phone to pay.
Time blindness and future discounting
A $6 coffee today feels concrete. “Retirement savings in 30 years” does not.
Impulse timing
Purchases often happen when you’re tired, rushed, overstimulated, or emotionally activated — not when you’re calmly reviewing a budget.

These are real neurological constraints, not personal shortcomings.

Why Budgets Are Good… and Still Often Fail for ADHD

Let me be clear: budgets are good. They can be incredibly helpful. For some people, they’re exactly the right tool.

But for many ADHDers, budgets fail for a very specific reason:

They’re maintenance heavy.

Most budgets require you to:

Remember to consult them frequently
Stay on the bandwagon over weeks and months
Care about long-term consequences during fast, emotional purchases
Regularly categorize, review, and adjust numbers

That’s a lot of ongoing cognitive effort.

And when executive function is already stretched thin, even a “simple” budget becomes another thing that quietly falls apart — not because you don’t care, but because the system asks too much of your brain, too often.

This is why so many people feel shame around money. They think, “I know better. Why can’t I just stick to it?”

The truth is: the budget didn’t fail because you failed. It failed because it required sustained attention, future-oriented thinking, and consistent upkeep — three things ADHD brains struggle to sustain under real-world conditions.

A Different Strategy: Make the Future Feel Immediate

Instead of trying harder to follow a budget, I prefer a different approach:

Bring the future into the present.

That’s what the TRENDS shortcut does.

How the TRENDS Automation Works

TRENDS is a simple automation that runs when you make a purchase using your phone. Once it’s set up (see next section) here’s how it works:

When you tap to pay:

It asks how often you make that type of purchase
It instantly shows you what that habit will cost you over 40 years, including compound interest

That daily coffee.
That “small” convenience buy.
That subscription you barely notice.

You’re not being told what to do. You’re just being shown the long-term impact — right when it matters.

How to Set Up the TRENDS Automation (iPhone)

This automation uses Apple Shortcuts and runs automatically when you make certain purchases with your phone. You don’t need to track anything manually, and you don’t need to use a budget for it to work.

Here’s the high-level setup (or, watch the video instructions).

Step 1: Install the TRENDS Shortcut

Start by downloading the TRENDS shortcut. Once installed, the shortcut will walk you through a short onboarding process.

During setup, you’ll be asked to enter an interest rate. This represents either:

The highest interest rate you pay on debt, or
A realistic return you could earn through investing

If you’re unsure what to use, a number around 12–13% works well. It’s high enough to make the long-term cost feel big, without being unrealistic.

The idea is simple: any dollar you don’t spend today could theoretically be paying down debt or growing over time.

Step 2: Turn the Shortcut Into an Automation

Next, you’ll connect the shortcut to your purchases so it runs automatically.

In the Shortcuts app:

Go to the Automation tab
Tap the + icon to create a new personal automation
Choose the Transaction trigger

From here, you can filter which purchases trigger the automation. For example, you might exclude things like medical appointments or essential bills and focus only on discretionary spending.

Set the automation to run immediately, without asking for confirmation.

Step 3: What Happens When You Pay

Once everything is set up, the experience is simple.

When you tap your phone to pay:

The automation runs in the background
You’re asked roughly how often you make this type of purchase
You’re shown what that habit will cost you over 40 years, including compound interest

That’s it.

No tracking.
No reviewing a budget.
No follow-up required.

Why This Works Better Than Willpower or a Budget

The TRENDS Automation works well for ADHD because it’s low-maintenance.

You don’t have to remember to check anything
You don’t have to track or categorize spending
You don’t rely on discipline in the heat of the moment

The system shows up automatically, at the exact time impulsive spending usually happens.

It makes the future feel real — not abstract.

And that small shift often changes behavior far more effectively than rules or guilt ever could.

Focus on Low-Maintenance Wins

This is a theme you’ll hear from me a lot:
low-maintenance systems beat perfect systems.

You don’t need to control every dollar.
You don’t need the perfect budget.
You don’t need to “fix” yourself.

Often, you’re just a few recurring habits away from meaningful change — and the goal is to notice them without burning yourself out.

That’s why I prioritize one-time actions and automations over systems that require constant upkeep. If you’re curious about that approach, I’ve written more about it in this post on one-touch resolutions — changes you can win in a single day and then stop thinking about.

Because when it comes to ADHD and money, the goal isn’t perfect control.

It’s making optimal feel easy.

Why struggle?

Get the Automation Book a Free Consult