“Hey, ChatGPT, Can You Save Me Money?”

ChatGPT can help you save money -- once you know how to craft the right prompts for getting your money management on point. Here are a few starters to help AI help you manage your finances effectively. 

Don’t Be Shy

Remember, the more data you provide ChatGPT, the better. Think of it as a personalized financial advisor that can assess and identify your current financial landscape and how you spend and save money, and recommend areas where you can make improvements. 

Keep in mind, ChatGPT will not offer investment advice. But it will offer personalized spending (and saving) tips as long as you give it enough information about your income, expenses, and daily habits.

Track Your Spending Habits

To get the most bank for your buck from ChatGPT, you’ll need to view and/or download your bank and credit card statements and major bills to find your fixed expenses to share. Tracking variable expenses can be a bit more daunting. Take your time. You might even want to use a budgeting app for a month or two to spotlight spending trends.

Share the Spend (Sort of)

Input all your spending data for the past few months into ChatGPT. Just make sure not to include things like your personal information: Social Security Number, address, date of birth, PIN, or account numbers. Everything you feed into ChatGPT becomes part of its vast database of knowledge, so you don’t want to share your credit card numbers and the like. Think: personalized, but not personal.

Take a Long, Hard Look at Your Expenses

Ask GPT to share a list of your categorized expenses. Review the list and make any moderations, including consolidating or separating certain spending categories.The more granular you make your list, the more tailored advice ChatGPT can provide. For instance, ChatGPT might create a category for "Personal Spending," but it might be more helpful to break it down into "streaming services," "entertainment outside the home," "clothing," and even a hobby or two.

Set a Budget

Provide ChatGPT with your actual income after taxes. Instruct it to use all of your data, and ask it to make recommendations for spending limits. Consider this your basic budget. Sit with these numbers for a while and see if you can manage to maintain it. If not, start brainstorming ways to increase your income, or move money around within the budgeting categories. You can also ask ChatGPT for suggestions on how you can reduce your spending. You might not like the answers, but it will give you food for thought.

Format and Go

When you feel comfortable with the figures, ask ChatGPT to format your monthly expense budget in an easy-to-read way that works for you — a printable checklist, a Google Sheet or Apple Numbers file, or imported into your current money management software or app. 

When it comes to your cash, ChatGPT can definitely help. Take control of your finances with a little help from your AI friend and get ready to make some steady progress toward your financial goals.