Money and its issues

Until recently I have considered myself to be "normal". My Aspie revelation is still very new to me, and every day I find something else that may be affected by my ASD issues.

Today's is money.

It doesn't seem to matter how much money I have, how carefully I spend it or how carefully I track it, I just can't save it.  If my income increases, my outgoings increase.  If my income decreases then I feel under a great deal of stress as it is hard for me to find where I can cut back to make it all work.  It is without doubt the single biggest cause of stress in my life on an ongoing basis, and the fact that we have just lost somewhere in the region of £600 per month due to government cuts is very hard to take.

Now, I know I have issues dealing with money, to the extent where I am actually training to be an accountant and have worked as a bookkeeper in the past. But even this financial awareness, my spreadsheets for keeping track of direct debits and standing orders and a constant stifling of my less frugal impulses (a new Final Fantasy game? Buy It! The latest game by Bethesda? Where do I put my money???!) doesn't seem to make me any better at keeping it in my pocket!

Its frustrating constantly and it really does stress me out but thankfully wife took the time to do 2 things.

1 - reassure me that her research into ASD (which she does a LOT! There are 3 of us in this house who are spectrum) shows that saving, spending and budgeting money is something which many people with AS find difficult

2 - talked me through our current spend, our income and the things which are unnecessary luxuries that we could cut back on if we needed to.

So while I worry about money generally, I'm not worrying about it right now. I get paid at the end of this week, and while I know I have overspent this month, wife's reassurance and support go a long way to making me feel that its something I can resolve.