How to make a budget using ChatGPT: 7 personal finance prompts
How to use Chatgpt to make a budget:
7 Prompts for personal finance
Here are prompts for using ChatGPT for assessing and budgeting your personal finance. I'm excited to share these artificial intelligence prompts for personal finance. We will go through how to use the ChatGPT Prompt to Create a Budget Plan and analyze it. ChatGPT just needs to know your income and expenses then it can create a budget!
I know that everybody hates budgeting. It’s an extra thing to do on your already long to-do list, but guess what? Those who budget are three times more likely to achieve their financial goals in half the time. OK, I made that statistic up, but in all seriousness, it’s important to tell your money where to go. If you simply rely on your ATM receipt to tell you how much money you have left, you likely will never retire, and you certainly won’t retire early.
Think of the budget as simply telling your money what to do and what buckets to go into. Use my Budget Bestie Google Sheet where I already have all of the columns for every year and the rules for the majority of your everyday expenses laid out for you. Simply add a few more of your specific expenses, plug in the numbers, and see just how much money you save and are able to invest for early retirement.
Once you complete your budget spreadsheet, use the prompts below to have ChatGPT analyze what your major spending problems are and come up with a plan to help you pay off any debt identified in your spreadsheet. It’s very easy to do and, of course, ChatGPT is free.
1. How to set up your budget in ChatGPT for the first time:
Step 1: Gather Your Financial Information
Before engaging with ChatGPT, gather all your financial information, including:
- Monthly income (salary, bonuses, side income, etc.)
- Monthly expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries, transportation, etc.)
- Debt payments (credit cards, loans, etc.)
- Savings and investments
Step 2: Input Your Financial Information
Provide your financial details to ChatGPT for analysis. You can structure your prompts as follows:
Example Prompt:
Here is a list of an example monthly income and expenses:
- Income: $4,000 (salary), $500 (freelance work)
- Rent: $1,200
- Utilities: $150
- Groceries: $400
- Transportation: $200
- Entertainment: $150
- Savings: $500
- Debt payments: $300 (credit card), $200 (student loan)
Can you help me set up a budget?
Step 3: Categorize Your Expenses
Ask ChatGPT to categorize your expenses into essential and non-essential categories.
Example Prompt:
Can you categorize my expenses into essential and non-essential categories based on this list?
- Rent: $1,200
- Utilities: $150
- Groceries: $400
- Transportation: $200
- Entertainment: $150
- Savings: $500
- Debt payments: $300 (credit card), $200 (student loan)
Step 4: Analyze Spending Patterns
Request ChatGPT to analyze your spending patterns and identify areas where you might be overspending.
Example Prompt:
Based on my expense details, can you identify areas where I might be overspending and suggest ways to reduce these costs?
- Rent: $1,200
- Utilities: $150
- Groceries: $400
- Transportation: $200
- Entertainment: $150
- Savings: $500
- Debt payments: $300 (credit card), $200 (student loan)
Step 5: Create a Budget Plan
Ask ChatGPT to create a budget plan for you, considering your income and expenses.
Example Prompt:
Given my income and expenses, can you create a budget plan for me to follow?
- Monthly income: $4,500
- Expenses: Rent ($1,200), Utilities ($150), Groceries ($400), Transportation ($200), Entertainment ($150), Savings ($500), Debt payments ($500)
Step 6: Use Budgeting Templates
Request specific budgeting templates such as zero-based budgeting, 50/30/20 rule, or envelope budgeting.
Example Prompts:
- Zero-Based Budgeting:
Can you provide a zero-based budgeting template for my financial situation with the following income and expenses?
- Monthly income: $4,500
- Expenses: Rent ($1,200), Utilities ($150), Groceries ($400), Transportation ($200), Entertainment ($150), Savings ($500), Debt payments ($500)
- 50/30/20 Rule:
Can you create a budget template using the 50/30/20 rule based on my monthly income of $4,500?
- Envelope Budgeting:
How do I set up an envelope budgeting system with my current income and expenses? Can you provide a template?
Step 7: Review and Adjust
Review the budget plan provided by ChatGPT and make any necessary adjustments based on your personal preferences and financial goals. Ask follow-up questions if needed.
Example Prompt:
Can you review my budget plan and suggest any adjustments to better align with my financial goals?
By following these steps and providing detailed prompts, you can have ChatGPT help you analyze and set up an effective budget tailored to your financial situation.
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Here are 6 more advanced ways you can leverage ChatGPT for better budgeting and personal finance.
2. Expense Analysis:
- Spending Insights: ChatGPT can analyze your spending habits over a period and provide insights on where you could cut back or reallocate funds.
Prompt: "Analyze my spending habits over the last three months and provide insights on where I could cut back or reallocate funds."
Prompt: "Review my expenses from the past month and suggest areas where I can save money."
- Alerts and Reminders: Use ChatGPT to set up alerts for bill payments, upcoming expenses, or when you’re nearing your budget limits in certain categories.
Prompt: "Set up alerts for my bill payments and upcoming expenses."
Prompt: "Remind me when I am nearing my budget limits in categories like dining out and entertainment."
3. Savings Goals:
- Goal Setting: Define your savings goals (e.g., emergency fund, vacation, or retirement). ChatGPT can help you create a savings plan, track progress, and suggest ways to save more effectively.
Prompt: "Help me define and create a savings plan for my emergency fund, vacation, and retirement."
Prompt: "Track my progress towards my savings goals and suggest ways to save more effectively."
- Automated Savings Suggestions: ChatGPT can recommend small changes to your daily spending habits that could lead to significant savings over time.
Prompt: "Recommend small changes to my daily spending habits that could lead to significant savings over time."
Prompt: "Suggest daily or weekly actions I can take to increase my savings."
4. Financial Planning:
- Monthly Reviews: Schedule regular monthly reviews with ChatGPT to assess your budget, make adjustments, and ensure you’re on track with your financial goals.
Prompt: "Schedule a monthly review of my budget to assess my financial goals and make necessary adjustments."
Prompt: "Help me review my monthly expenses and ensure I'm on track with my financial goals."
- Future Planning: Use ChatGPT to simulate different financial scenarios, such as a salary increase, job loss, or major purchases, and see how they would affect your budget.
Prompt: "Simulate different financial scenarios, like a salary increase or major purchase, and show how they would affect my budget."
Prompt: "Help me plan for potential job loss and its impact on my finances."
5. Educational Resources:
- Personal Finance Tips: Ask ChatGPT for tips on managing money, reducing debt, and improving credit scores.
Prompt: "Provide tips on managing money, reducing debt, and improving my credit score."
Prompt: "What are the best practices for budgeting and saving effectively?"
- Learning Modules: Get recommendations for articles, books, or online courses to deepen your understanding of personal finance and budgeting.
Prompt: "Recommend articles, books, or online courses to deepen my understanding of personal finance and budgeting."
Prompt: "Suggest resources for learning more about investment strategies and financial planning."
6. Expense Management Tools:
- Expense Trackers: ChatGPT can suggest and help you integrate with expense tracking apps that align with your budgeting goals.
Prompt: "Recommend expense tracking apps that align with my budgeting goals."
Prompt: "Help me integrate with an expense tracker app to monitor my spending more efficiently."
- Spreadsheet Assistance: If you prefer using spreadsheets, ChatGPT can help you create and customize them for better tracking and management.
Prompt: "Create and customize a spreadsheet to better track and manage my expenses."
Prompt: "Help me set up a budget spreadsheet that includes categories for all my expenses."
7. Personalized Advice:
- Customized Recommendations: Based on your financial data, ChatGPT can offer personalized advice tailored to your unique financial situation.
Prompt: "Based on my financial data, offer personalized advice tailored to my unique financial situation."
Prompt: "What are some specific strategies I can use to improve my financial health?"
- Debt Management: Get advice on managing and paying off debt, including strategies for prioritizing payments and reducing interest costs.
Prompt: "Give me advice on managing and paying off my debt, including strategies for prioritizing payments."
Prompt: "How can I reduce interest costs and pay off my debt faster?"
By using ChatGPT for budgeting, you can automate many of the tedious aspects of financial management, gain valuable insights, and make more informed decisions to improve your financial health.
Stay Happy, Healthy and Wealthy,
Warm regards,
Dr. Lakisha L. Simmons
Lakisha L. Simmons, Ph.D. left her full time position as a tenured professor of analytics financially independent at 41 years old. She is the author of The Unlikely Achieveher and CEO of BRAVE Consulting where she facilitates The Wealthy AchieveHer Mastermind to help women how to make, save and invest more money to early retire. She enjoys traveling, exercising, and spending quality time with her family. She can be reached via LakishaSimmons.com or on social media at @drkishasimmons
