
Hosted by Esther Bangura | ADHD & Neurodivergent Executive Function Finance Expert · EN
Are you constantly spending to cope with stress, even after promising yourself you wouldn't?
Does opening bills, letters, or financial reminders instantly trigger overwhelm or shame?
Is sticking to a budget a struggle, even though you know you earn enough?
Do money thoughts leave you feeling guilty, anxious, or like you're always “behind” in life?
If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place.
Neurodivergent Money Management is the podcast that helps you finally feel calmer, clearer, and more in control of your finances. Here, you’ll learn how to:
✨ pay off debt without shame
✨ budget in a way your brain can actually follow
✨ reduce emotional and impulsive spending
✨ build savings you can rely on
✨ feel genuinely less anxious about money
I’m Esther Bangura, your host — financial coach for neurodivergent adults.
I spent years trapped in a vicious debt cycle, constantly overspending, constantly stressed, and constantly feeling like I was failing at something everyone else seemed to manage easily. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult that everything finally made sense.
I tried all the same things you’ve probably tried too — strict budget spreadsheets, colour-coded tracking apps, discipline, willpower, “no-spend days.” None of it worked. Not because I wasn’t trying hard enough, but because I was using systems built for neurotypical brains.
Everything changed when I realised I needed to:
💛 manage my anxiety around money
💛 interrupt stress-spending before it spirals
💛 build a money routine that works with my brain, not against it
<...

Tax season triggers ADHD overwhelm faster than almost anything—but AI can be your executive function substitute. In this episode, I walk through the exact AI tools I use to organise bank statements, extract data, create income and expense spreadsheet and manage timelines without the shame spiral. Learn how to set up automation that works with your brain (not against it), why traditional tax advice fails neurodivergent adults, and how to regulate your nervous system through the filing process. Ready to stop surviving and start feeling in control? 👉 Book your 90-minute 1:1 session now at www.estherbangura.com/coaching — and get the personalised support your nervous system actually needs. If this episode helped you, please leave a review and share it with someone who deserves shame-free support. It means everything. 🙏

If tax season sends your nervous system into shutdown, you're not broken — you're neurodivergent in a system that was never built for you. In this episode, we dig into why paperwork avoidance, executive dysfunction, and financial overwhelm hit ADHD brains so differently — and what to actually do about it. You'll learn why traditional filing advice fails (hint: it ignores dysregulation entirely), and how to use a nervous-system-first approach to make admin feel manageable again. Whether you're one year behind or seven, this episode walks you through a shame-free, step-by-step recovery method for overdue documents, bills, and all the admin piling up in that corner you're pretending doesn't exist. In this episode: Why filing avoidance is a nervous system protection mechanism — not laziness The real reason standard organisation advice doesn't stick for neurodivergent brains How to calm your system before you try to organise anything A practical recovery plan for overdue paperwork and financial admin Ready to stop surviving and start feeling in control? 👉 Book your 90-minute 1:1 session now at www.estherbangura.com/coaching — and get the personalised support your nervous system actually needs. If this episode helped you, please leave a review and share it with someone who deserves shame-free support. It means everything. 🙏

Autism and financial overwhelm don't mix—especially when bills, admin, and paperwork trigger sensory overload and executive dysfunction. In this episode, explore why traditional financial systems feel unbearable for autistic brains, and discover nervous-system-first strategies that turn paperwork avoidance into calm, achievable routines. No shame. No forcing. Just autism-friendly approaches to money management. Download your Free Financial Organisation Checklist for Neurodivergent Brains at 👉https://estherbangura.com/financialorganisationchecklist CTA — Take the Next Step 👉 Sign-up to my weekly newsletter estherbangura.com/newsletter to help you feel calmer and more in control of your money. If you found this episode helpful, please leave a review and share it with a friend who deserves shame-free support! 👉 Apply for 1:1 coaching at https://estherbangura.com/coaching to help you feel calmer and more in control of your money.

Mortgages are intimidating for anyone—but for people with dyslexia, the mountain of documents, terminology, and fine print can feel impossible. In this episode, Rosemary Ndekwu breaks down how dyslexia affects financial decision-making, her career as a mortgage professional and shares practical strategies to navigate the mortgage process without burnout. Learn how executive function adjustments, system design, and knowing your rights can make homeownership feel achievable, not shameful. About Rosemary Ndekwu Rosemary Ndekwu https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosemaryndekwu/ Created To Stand Out CTA — Take the Next Step 👉 Sign-up to my weekly newsletter estherbangura.com/newsletter to help you feel calmer and more in control of your money. If you found this episode helpful, please leave a review and share it with a friend who deserves shame-free support! 👉 Apply for 1:1 coaching at estherbangura.com/coaching to help you feel calmer and more in control of your money.

Redundancy and income loss trigger financial panic, shame, and spending spirals — especially for ADHD brains already struggling with executive function under pressure. In this episode, we flip the script: instead of diving straight into budget cuts and income recovery plans, we start with nervous system regulation to stop stress-spending and avoidance, then build a practical, ADHD-friendly action plan to protect your finances and mental health when work disappears. We cover rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) and why redundancy hits ADHD brains so much harder — your brain doesn't hear "the role is redundant," it hears "you are not enough." We also walk through four immediate financial steps to take right now (in the right order for your brain), including what you're legally owed, how to notify HMRC, pausing non-essential expenses, and when to apply for Universal Credit. Drawing on Prep, Push, Pivot by career coach Octavia Goredema, we explore why the pause after redundancy isn't optional for an ADHD brain — it's a prerequisite. And we look at why the job search is one of the most ADHD-unfriendly processes that exists, and how to approach it in a way that works with your brain, not against it. Learn the three-phase approach that works with your brain, not against it. Your action this week: Calculate your financial runway — just that number. Ready for personalised support? If you're navigating redundancy right now and need more than information — you need a thinking partner who understands how your ADHD brain works — apply for a 90-minute brain-friendly money session at estherbangura.com/coaching

If you've always known the bills need paying but cannot hold them in your head — the dates, the amounts, what's already gone out — this episode is for you. In 62 episodes, this is the first one dedicated entirely to dyspraxic adults and money. Drawing on lived experience, community voices from a dyspraxia adults Facebook group, and research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK, Esther breaks down the three money patterns she sees most consistently in dyspraxic clients — and gives you one practical fix for each. In this episode: Why traditional budgeting fails dyspraxic brains (it's a sequencing and working memory issue, not laziness) How the income gap starts long before you open a budgeting app — and why that's a systemic failure, not a personal one Why budgeting inconsistency is a neurological challenge, not a willpower problem What a low-friction, largely automated money system looks like for a dyspraxic brain Real stories from dyspraxic adults who are building financial confidence on their own terms Your gentle action this week: Pick one bill that causes you stress to remember. Just one. Automate it and remove it from your memory permanently. Ready to build a money system that works with your brain? Book a 90-minute brain-friendly money session at estherbangura.com/coaching

Back-to-school season is expensive for every family — but when you have an ADHD brain, it hits differently. Time blindness makes September feel unreal in June. Executive dysfunction turns a simple list into a spiral. And the moment August arrives, the dopamine hits and suddenly you've spent twice what you planned. In this episode, Esther breaks down exactly why back-to-school spending is so hard for ADHD parents and neurodivergent adults — and what to actually do about it. You'll learn: Why the standard budgeting advice (compare prices, make a list, use cashback apps) often backfires for ADHD brains The 5 ADHD patterns behind back-to-school overspending — including time blindness, dopamine-driven urgency, and all-or-nothing thinking What NOT to do: why visiting multiple stores and making exhaustive lists makes things worse 4 practical strategies that work with your ADHD brain — not against it This week's gentle action: Open your phone, create a note called "Back to School Fund," write down one number, and move even £20/$20 into a separate savings pot. That's it. You've already started. Ready to go deeper? Book a 90-minute brain-friendly money session with Esther: 👉 estherbangura.com/coaching

Your ADHD brain isn't broken at saving — it's wired differently. In this episode, we're getting into the real, neurological reason why executive dysfunction makes traditional savings advice fail so many neurodivergent adults. If you've ever transferred money into savings only to move it straight back out, this one is for you. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Why the ADHD brain experiences savings as "dead money" — and how dopamine plays a role The neuroscience behind executive dysfunction and future-self disconnection How money anxiety and nervous system threat responses drive stress spending Why "just save more" advice almost always backfires for neurodivergent brains The link between nervous system regulation and building a consistent savings habit Three practical, brain-friendly tools to start saving without willpower or guilt Key Concepts Covered: Time Blindness & Savings — Russell Barkley's research on why the ADHD brain sees time as "now or not now," making future-focused financial decisions feel impossible. Future Self Continuity — Psychologist Hal Hershfield's research on why we treat our future selves like strangers — and how to change that so saving feels personal and real. The Savings Reframe — Savings isn't money you lose access to. It's the thing that lets your nervous system regulation finally kick in. It's choice. It's calm. It's protection. Your Gentle Action This Week: Open your savings account. Look at whatever is in it — whether it's £5 or £5,000. Then say out loud or in writing: "This is for future me. She is real, and she is grateful." No transfer needed. No new system. Just reconnection. Resources & Next Steps: Work with Esther 1:1 → www.estherbangura.com/coaching Connect on Instagram @bossofymoney for weekly ADHD money tips and community Join the newsletter for gentle, shame-free financial guidance delivered to your inbox at → www.estherbangura.com/newsletter Loved this episode? Please leave a review — it helps other neurodivergent adults find this space

Why do you know what to do with money — and still not do it? The answer might be in your body. In this episode, Esther sits down with Maxine Anthony, founder of Unika, a wellbeing company that uses movement, mindfulness, and connection to help people regulate stress and show up fully. Maxine shares her deeply personal story of burnout, breakdown, debt, and recovery — and the surprising tools that helped her rebuild not just her health, but her financial life too. What we cover: How a high-performing year in business collapsed into burnout, debt, and depression Why stress hijacks your money decisions (and what to do about it) The link between a dysregulated nervous system and impulse spending, avoidance, and shame Why budgeting is a regulation problem, not a maths problem The small, practical tools — walking, journaling, therapy, and movement — that changed everything How Maxine began investing imperfectly and why she calls it her "abundance fund" What slow is smooth, smooth is fast really means for your finances Resources mentioned: I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi Stacy Flowers (YouTube) Dave Ramsey Connect with Maxine: Instagram, YouTube & Threads: @UnikaByMaxine Linkedin: Ready to work on your money foundations? If this episode resonated, Esther works with neurodivergent adults to build the practical and emotional foundations for better money management. Visit estherbangura.com/coaching to find out how to work with her.

Autism and money is not just about budgeting. It is about invisible patterns that impact your finances in ways nobody talks about. If you are an autistic adult who has tried every system, built the spreadsheet, read the books, downloaded the apps and still keeps hitting the same walls, this episode was made specifically for you. In this episode, neurodivergent money coach Esther Bangura names four autism-specific money patterns that traditional personal finance completely ignores. Why money admin triggers shutdown and how demand avoidance turns a simple task into something your nervous system actively resists. How sensory overload shapes your spending and the hidden financial cost of overwhelming environments like supermarkets and shopping centres. Why your special interest spending is not impulse buying but nervous system regulation, and why cutting it out completely often makes things worse. The abstract money problem, when digital numbers feel unreal, and why concrete formats can change everything. Esther draws on original research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK to explain why these patterns happen and offers four shame-free practical shifts that work with your autistic brain, not against it. Because the problem has never been your effort, your discipline, or your motivation. It has always been the format. Ready to stop doing this alone? Book a 90-minute brain-friendly money session at estherbangura.com/coaching