I Used ChatGPT to Create a Custom Budget, and It Worked (Up to a Point)

ChatGPT: A surprising personal budget tool?

ChatGPT is powerful, but did you know it can also be used as a personal budget tool? I created a personal budgeting tool with ChatGPT that has revenue tracking, savings planning and spending analysis, but also highlights some of the limitations of using AI.

How to bootstrap ChatGPT to create budget templates

ChatGPT is known for its versatility. However, it undoubtedly has a comfort zone for its best performance. It's safe to say that having it manages my family budget might be challenging its limits. But can it do it?

Of course, but whether ChatGPT can generate a viable and practical budget template is another matter - and that's exactly what I'm going to test. First, I open a new chat window and enter the following prompt:

So far, everything went well. We now have a ChatGPT generated table that can be used as the basis for my budget tool. At this point, I made a small adjustment to change the currency to USD, which was done with just a simple prompt. Apart from that, I decided to continue using the form it suggested and test it by adding some data. The prompt I used is:

ChatGPT then filled the table with data:

This is a good start, but it is very limited and currently features are no more powerful than a basic spreadsheet. If I want to get some AI advantages from this tool, I need to do more work.

Improve my ChatGPT budget template

I decided that there was no need for a planned and actual column - not even a requirement - and that the columns each month would be more useful. I also decided that having a starting balance would be more useful than having ChatGPT assume a starting balance of $0.00.

To achieve this, I entered the following prompt:

I also asked it to fill the January column with $1,000 in the beginning balance and the data from the first iteration. ChatGPT generates the following table.

It's more like what I need now. However, it is still no more powerful than a basic spreadsheet. To make this project work, we must explore how ChatGPT's AI capabilities go beyond simple computing.

AI insights and calculations using my ChatGPT budgeting tool

To fully test the system, I told ChatGPT to fill the entire table with data. I asked it to use January data as a benchmark, but the data is slightly different every month and no more than 10%. This gives me a random dataset that I can start the experiment.

The form now looks like this:

With the complete dataset, I can explore some advanced tips. With all this, the goal is to see if I can lift its capabilities from a gorgeous spreadsheet to an AI-powered budget tool.

Can it identify spending trends?

One of the useful aspects of AI is to require it to identify spending trends. While this is possible in a spreadsheet, where the ability to ask related questions in simple English is where ChatGPT should work.

I tested this with the following prompt:

The results are quite impressive; ChatGPT identifies some trends in the data and generates a list of spending trends. The limiting factor here is the data I use. The variations of each field are very small. However, the ability to handle such problems begins to illustrate the difference between this and a simple database.

Next, I asked ChatGPT to create my spending trend chart:

This chart demonstrates the model's ability to provide data visualization in response to natural language cues.

Set savings goals with ChatGPT

The next task I tried was to ask ChatGPT to help me develop my savings plan. Likewise, being able to do this in simple English helps to distinguish it from a simple database.

The prompt I use is:

I have to say that I was impressed again. ChatGPT not only develops a savings plan, but also proposes strategies to help achieve the desired outcome.

It also adds a form to summarize its suggestions:

ChatGPT responded very well to this query. The numbers alone show how to achieve savings, but suggestions on how to achieve savings have elevated ChatGPT’s response beyond pure data operations.

Scenario-based planning using ChatGPT

In this test, I asked ChatGPT to simulate a scenario where I change some values ​​of the provided data. The prompt I used is:

This time the result was mixed. Part of this is the ambiguity of the hint. ChatGPT responds with basic text to how these changes will affect financial status and the forms that display this information. However, the table lacks the beginning and end balances and has limited uses. To adjust the results, I used the following tip:

The following table shows how ChatGPT responds:

A few tips are required to get the desired results. This shows the importance of well-designed tips, but also highlights the inherent clumsiness that requires a little creativity to address.

Limitations and privacy risks of using ChatGPT as a budgeting tool

While the results are encouraging, there are certainly obvious shortcomings and limitations. From some practical limitations to privacy concerns, ChatGPT has considerable drawbacks as a budgeting tool.

• No real-time integration with financial accounts: ChatGPT cannot be directly linked to your bank account or credit card, which means you have to enter all data manually. This can be very time-consuming and increases the likelihood of errors.
• Limited context retention: I did not encounter this problem. However, experience tells me that ChatGPT may forget the previous prompt. This is especially important if the conversation is too long.
• Potential Calculation Error: ChatGPT can perform calculations, but it does not make any mistakes.
• Privacy and security issues: Your financial data must be shared with ChatGPT, which can cause privacy issues. OpenAI's servers process this information, so it is crucial to avoid sharing sensitive or personally identifiable information. If you want your budget to be useful, this is an inevitable problem.

For at least some of these disadvantages, exporting data to a spreadsheet can be useful. It gives you a set of current data that you can use to solve problems with limited context, but it also allows you to verify calculations easily.

To achieve this, I asked ChatGPT to export the table as a spreadsheet and I can download the spreadsheet version.

There are some obvious limitations in using ChatGPT as a budgeting tool, but this is still a valuable and interesting experiment. With just a few simple tips, I was able to build a fully functional financial tool. While it may not replace professional budgeting applications, it shows how AI tools can adapt to daily tasks in unexpected ways.

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