Eight Special Needs Strategies for Managing Money

1. Open a bank account

Open an actual bank account and have the student talk with a bank representative. Some banks have staff members who do community outreach, who can field questions when they come up. This will allow your student to keep track of both income and spending, and get a sense of how much is in the account at any given time.

2. ATM cards

These days we all rely on using our debit/ATM card to make purchases, withdraw money from our checking account, even as an official form of identification. No different with our students who can learn to use this invaluable asset in improving financial literacy.

3. Encourage calculators

These days we all rely on using our debit/ATM card to make purchases, withdraw money from our checking account, even as an official form of identification. No different with our students who can learn to use this invaluable asset in improving financial literacy.

4. Create spreadsheets

You may need to set one up. The student can then learn to use it and put in the amounts to realize what a budget is, and how it can enable us to make choices between “wants and needs”. This will allow them to keep track of expenses, such as costs for clothes, transportation, movies and apps. Don’t forget weekly and monthly costs, like gas money.

5. Organize paperwork

Set up a system using color-coded folders. Pay stubs can go in a green folder. Receipts can be kept in a red one, tax forms in a blue one and so on. The colors you assign are not as important as the practice of having a system for organizing money-related paperwork.

6. Use envelopes

Once a student knows what their monthly expenses are, they can fill different envelopes with cash for each one. The student can determine which envelopes must have how much. They may also need help figuring out which ones they can borrow from if they run low elsewhere.

7. Use apps

Are envelopes too old-fashioned? Teens and young adults may be more comfortable budgeting and keeping track of spending and savings with the use of phone apps. Some examples include Spendee, Wally, and Mint.

8. Set goals

We all have had a special purchase that appeared regularly in our daydreams. Whether or not we were able to pay for it depended on our ability to set aside a certain amount of money each month. It is no different for individuals with disabilities. Learning how to save for that one purchase is also a great way to learn how to set goals for saving money in general. Now, we are back to opening a bank account. In this case, it would specifically be for savings.