Dyscalculia and coping with finances?

I too have Dyscalculia, the only way I managed to get out of debt was to ask my mum to budget my earnings for me(pathetic I know), I even got her to do this after I left home, I had to have a set shopping list of the same things every week that cost the same, she would list them out and draw out the exact money for the total of the shopping I would then go and shop and pay for it.

She set up all the direct debits for my bills and anything else I might have difficulty with, eventually I got on an even keel.

Now I am married I leave all the finances to my husband and we always shop together.

I am fine with things that cost up to £50 but anything beyond that and my brain goes to pot. it's hard and so expensive to get help for it but your Uni should be able to assess you and get you help.

It still gets me down sometimes, just wish my brain would let me understand numbers, how is your left and right? mine is appalling! I cannot tell left from right to save my life.

I'll second the answer above. Cut up your credit cards. Get help from a friend to do a budget. When you get your paycheck you could do several things. The first would be to have a family member help each month with paying your bills. Then you could take several envelopes and label them Groceries, Lunch, Gas, etc and have the family member help you to put the alloted amounts of cash in each envelope for that month. Then when you go to the envelope there should be written on it how much you can take out on what day. Say for lunch you get $8.00/day. Gas you would recieve $30/week. This keeps the counting to a minimum. You could even put the days of the week on each envelope like Lunch: Monday. You don't need to count just pick up the correct envelope.

As with the answer above, the bank is not responsible for subsidizing your disability. They have a responsibility to their stakeholders to run their business as a for profit entity. You could see if there were help from some non-profit groups.

We have a son with Muscular Dystrophy so we are very experienced at modifying our surroundings to fit our needs. Your problem is with counting and shouldn't have anything to do with coming up with a modification to help the day to day activities.

Be Creative and Good Luck!

Whether you can add up or not you must know when you are overspending. If you are constantly out, buying new clothes, cds, clubbing etc you are spending too much. You do not need to be able to account for every penny, just have a rouhg idea. Try to spend less then you have and at the end of the year treat youself. Hate to say it but being a student means you must watch every penny and live as cheap as poss. Don't worry its not forever.

If you are a student, your school should have resources to help you when you are diagnosed with dyscalculia. They will have a learning center for students with disabilities. It seems to me that you need to focus on learning how to cope with your problem first.

Dyscalculia doesn't make you spend what you haven't got. Cut your credit card up and always use cash. And they will make you pay back your overdraft - they have a duty to their shareholders to recover debts. They have no duty to subsidise you.