TL;DR — I’m hosting a simplification workshop on 7/12 for folks who are overwhelmed by their systems. Learn more/register here

One of the downsides of being neurodivergent in the year of our Capitalist Lord 2026 is how quickly I find myself getting overwhelmed.

When I’m overwhelmed, my instinct is to avoid whatever it is that’s overwhelming me. To retreat, to freeze.

It’s likely one of the reasons I have a hard time maintaining a budgeting practice.

I have spent an unknown amount of dollars on templates, software, coaches and programs to help me get better at budgeting, and very few of the systems have stuck.

Moodwallet has helped me do the bare minimum of tracking my spending every day. It’s not really a budgeting app, but it helps me stay mindful and aware of what’s coming in and going out — which is what’s most important to me.

Truthfully, I am a single and child-free person, so my finances are simpler than most. But I still get overwhelmed with the level of detail most budgeting apps or spreadsheets encourage.

I used to think I had to follow the experts in order to do it “right.” But because their way felt so overwhelming, I ended up doing nothing instead.

Back in April, I created a simplified version of a budgeting spreadsheet that I realized was still far too intricate and unbearable for me to want to stick to.

For better or worse, tracking “budget vs. actual” for each expense category is mind-numbingly useless to me. If I do sit down to fill it out (which I usually don’t), the information doesn’t actually feel helpful, it just feels like a chore. And putting a limit on certain categories triggers that bitchy teen in me who doesn’t like being told what to do, so I ignore it.

Instead of avoiding money stuff altogether, I decided to simplify things even more. Because I’d rather have something simple that I can stick with than something robust that I ignore.

I scrapped the spreadsheet and got out a notepad. I wrote down what I actually would find helpful to know about my money each month. Then I rebuilt the categories in a blank spreadsheet.

Here’s what I ended up with:

• Money in (broken down per project/client)

• Money out (and where most of it went — top 5 categories)

• Impulse spending

• Intentional spending (from my spending parking lot)

Most of this data comes from my transaction tagging in Moodwallet, which I’ve been doing almost every single day since 2023. It takes less than 5 minutes.

I also have a spreadsheet of all my subscriptions and debt payments so I can take inventory of them each month, along with a summary of the year:

I have a few journal prompts I use at the end of each month too, to help me make use of the information I’m collecting in practical ways:

• How did you feel about money this month?

• What is one thing you noticed this month?

• What is one thing you want to celebrate this month?

• What is one thing you want to do better with next month?

I’m not sharing all of this because I’ve decided to pivot to personal finance (that would be a lose-lose situation for everyone involved lol). But this is one of the most recent challenges I’ve had that required more simplicity, not more discipline (or expert budgeting advice).

Sunday, July 12th is Simplicity Day, and I felt called to host a gathering for folks who are in need of simpler systems.

I’ll ask you to bring one overwhelming thing: be it a habit you can’t seem to stick to, a template that’s not working for you, a tool you are too overwhelmed by to actually use…

I’ll guide you through a (simple 😉) simplification process that you can apply to any system or tool that’s feeling overwhelming or unhelpful. I’ll also answer any questions/challenges you have about your specific situation. Then, we’ll spend the rest of the 90 minutes quietly co-working/implementing our simple fixes.

Because I want this to be a super practical and personal experience for the folks in the room, I’m limiting registration to 10 people. No recording.

Cost is $29 for a 90-minute group session.

2-3:30pm Eastern on Sunday, July 12th