Dyscalculia and savings: how to save for a holiday, a car or an emergency fund when the number never lands, by counting nights, rides and weeks instead of pounds or dollars.

You open your savings pot. You see the target. And you feel nothing at all.

It could be a lot or a little. You honestly cannot tell. So you close the app and promise yourself you will deal with it next month.

You will learn one simple way to save that takes the heaviness out of the numbers.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains why savings goals so often fall apart for dyscalculic brains, and why it is not a lack of discipline. In her survey of 279 neurodivergent adults, about 73 per cent said shame affects how they manage money, and for many people with dyscalculia, often alongside dyslexia and ADHD, that shame began in a maths lesson long before the first bank account. She shares why planning ahead, tracking across accounts and financial apps can feel so overwhelming, then walks through a practical savings method: name the goal by the thing, give it a picture, and count nights, rides or weeks instead of pounds or dollars, with worked examples for a holiday, a car and an emergency fund.

Highlights

• Why a savings target written as a number never feels like progress for many dyscalculic brains, and where the shame really starts.
• The count the thing method: naming your savings pot, adding a photo, and counting down nights or rides instead of money.
• Why an emergency fund is the hardest goal to picture, and how counting weeks of breathing room makes it real.

Work with me

If you keep pushing your savings goal to next year and quietly wondering what is wrong with you, nothing is. You were never given a way to save that makes sense to your brain.

Ninety minute one to one coaching session. We work out the number underneath your nights, rides or weeks together and set up your first transfer while we are in the session, so you leave with your savings started rather than planned. estherbangura.com/coaching

Links and resources

PocketSmith The budgeting app I use myself and with my clients. 50% off the Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months. https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG Affiliate link, at no extra cost to you.

The ND Money Insider, my weekly newsletter estherbangura.com/newsletter

The Neurodivergence and Money Report The full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK. estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews estherbangura.com/ask

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