Some of the challenges that autistic people face when managing personal finance is that it is very easy to spend, and for myself that means I can end up spending more than I think- especially when I am going out. The cost of living has made things like eating out more expensive.

I want to spend less money and also want to have a good amount of money left over that I can use for saving.

Cheap activities to do

Me and my friends like to eat out which can get quite expensive, and I find it hard to say no to meet ups, because I don’t like missing out and I enjoy meeting my friends often.

One way I have overcome this is doing more cheap or free meet ups and fewer expensive meet ups. I try to only do one or two expensive meet ups a month. 

A scene from an art gallery. The walls are white, and brightly coloured abstract art is on the wall.

Some examples of free meet ups are going for walks, visiting houses, and going to art galleries and museums as they are free. Some expensive meet ups are places like buffets and restaurants.

Save with the Disability Bus Pass

Another thing that helps me save a lot of money, is my disability bus pass. This means I can get on lots of public transport for free. These are especially helpful to autistic and all disabled people, as I use public transport very often and I rely on it.

Find out about the Disability Bus Pass

How to make a budget

A jar of coins.

To make a budget for the month, what I do is list my income and bills, then what is left can be used for spending, and divide that by four so I have a budget for each week.

Having a budget makes things easier for me because when it’s the last week before payday, I won’t need to worry about not having much money left.