I have ADHD and towards the end of last year it really impacted on my finances. I managed to build up a lot of credit card debt over 4 months and I want to try and avoid getting into that situation again.
My main bank account is with first direct. However I’m thinking of using either Starling or Monzo as a spending account, rather than a credit card.
I do have a Starling account already, but not Monzo. I’m wondering which one would be best for someone like me in terms of managing finances etc.
It completely varies as each person will have a different opinion and with this being a monzo forum theirs the chance it’ll be biased.
For me personally; Monzo is the winner by far. It’s perfect for managing finances and simple to use, it just keeps getting better. Sure most apps are simple these days but the UI from monzo is the best I’ve used.
You could try both, nothing is stopping you have multiple accounts and see which you find works best.
I’ve really grown to love how Starling do their budgeting and management within app. Starling has 52 (?) categories to choose from.
Monzo is great but has limited categories unless you want to pay £5/£15 for categories outside the basic few.
Also wouldn’t discount revolut which most of my spending goes on, their analytics is pretty decent for visual and tracking. Free add your own categories too. Just can’t auto exclude a category like transfers unlike Monzo.
I don’t have a Starling account so can’t comment on that aspect but Monzo helped me to fix a financial hole I’d made for myself. I use the pots to squirrel away all the money for my direct debits and bills and then what’s left can be spending money or savings money. Or as an overpayment for debt. It made me feel so in control of my finances for the first time in my life and I get a little buzz out of getting everything organised
Any app that is constantly suggesting upgrades and so on is instantly a no for me, as it just drains my attention every time I open the app. Monzo falls squarely into that bracket. I really didn’t like being put on a free trial of Plus either - that relegated Monzo to a spare account only.
I like that Starling just leaves me alone to get on with my finances.
As others have said, ADHD differs from person to person, and there’s a nuance there as well. What works for one person may be entirely unusable for someone else. It can be hard to strike a balance that works for most.
ADHD (along with broader neurodiversity and accessibility) is something I’ve talked a lot about with product teams lately, and we’re all really keen to get it right. Giving the app a try would be my advice. We’re always looking to improve accessibility, so I love reading these threads because we can learn a lot.
Interestingly, as someone who has no official diagnoses but has been told I’m autistic, I find Monzo heavily overwhelming. I much preferred sterling and now HSBC.
Show me what my available balance is, show me what my transactions are. That’s it.
Having many things to click about are great but the latest overview is what did it for me. Far too many things to look at, different numbers for different things and they just start merging into one!
Simple is key for me. Keen to hear other experiences.
Monzo completely changed my finances - being able to split out my money got me out from the bottom of an overdraft for the first time in a decade, and I’m much more comfortable with spending now as I can see that my commitments are covered.
I don’t use categories, as the separation of money by its intended use is enough for me, and I have plus to keep my card subscriptions out of my main balance - something I could now do with starling for free but…
I’ve got a starling account but I absolutely loathe the interface, so don’t use it. In theory, it’ll work just as well as Monzo would, but I’ve never been able to get my head around it personally.
Per the above comments, chase is also a choice if you can stand the bright white interface - if like me you need a dark mode they’re not there yet. Also the only-one-card thing.
Now that I think about it, the most adhd-friendly thing a bank could do on top of providing pots/spaces/whatever would be to offer a virtual card specifically intended for card subscriptions, exclusively attached to the bills pot. My setup is a bit more complex (annually recurring payments have their own place so I don’t get a surprise) but it would probably be a game changer for most - even neurotypicals
Just to highlight that this was same for me. I never manged to stick to a budget, remain on track over a month (impulses at payday) and an ability to properly know where every penny went.
Monzo turned that ship around for me and for that I’ll be forever grateful
Thank you so much for all your replies. I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and read through them properly without getting distracted! It has been so interesting and helpful to read everyone’s viewpoints.
I was diagnosed with Autism 2 years ago and then additionally ADHD 1 year ago. Whilst the diagnosis’s have been a relief for me, in understanding why I struggle with the things I do, I feel it is only now that I’m starting to accept/embrace it and look for tools that are going to help me live in a predominantly neurotypical world. So money management is one of my first targets, to try and get a grip on my impulsive spending and put some controls in place to help stop myself from spending £12k in 4 months on credit cards again!
I use YNAB but whilst it helps me see a clearer picture of my finances, I tend to find that it doesn’t do much to stop me impulse spending and half the time I will just ignore the budget. So I’m thinking if I can create something similar at an account level, in the form of pots etc, then I can add that extra layer of friction that might be enough to stop me from making unnecessary purchases.
I also found it interesting to read the comments re how one UI might work for one person and not another. I too struggle with the home page on the Starling app come to think of it, I don’t know why, but there’s something about it that seems to add an extra step for my brain to process what to do next. First Direct’s UI is very clean and simple, which I like, however, the lack of transaction detail (e.g. whether a transaction is a DD, Debit card payment etc) really impacts me and I find it quite difficult to process.
So Monzo definitely sounds like a promising choice and I think I just need to give it a go and see how I get on with the app.
Thanks so much again for all your help. I’ll report back once I’ve opened the Monzo account and given it a whirl.
I of you like Monzo, I find Monzo plus to be worth the £5/month. The live budgeting really helps with impulse control, and also helps you see the route to recovery when you overspend on something.
I rested some control of my finances a while ago after a similar dip (I’m also autistic, unsure about adhd - maybe or maybe not, I’ve decided not to ever really think about it ) - originally I achieved this by not being credit worthy enough to borrow any more. I’ve only recently started on Plus but over the last three months it’s helped me keep to an even tighter budget.
Thank you, I’ve just been having a look at the various options and I think Monzo Plus will be the one I go for. I’m thinking having the custom categories and the ability to divide single transactions will definitely help me monitor my spending, and may be enough for me to get rid of YNAB. So I will save overall as YNAB currently costs around £85 a year, compared to £60 for Plus.
, thanks for taking the time to share.
) - originally I achieved this by not being credit worthy enough to borrow any more. I’ve only recently started on Plus but over the last three months it’s helped me keep to an even tighter budget.