A dad uploaded two years of credit card and bank statements to Claude and asked it to sort each merchant into spending categories, checking with him on unclear ones. It showed their everyday spending had risen 28% in a year, almost all of it on food, partly a growing toddler and partly a new favourite café nearby.
I'm uploading [NUMBER] months of bank and card statements (with account numbers removed). Sort every transaction into sensible categories, ask me about any merchants you're not sure of, and ignore transfers between our own accounts. Then compare this year with last year by category, show me where spending has grown the most, and suggest two or three realistic places to cut back.
Replace the [PLACEHOLDERS] with your own details before you send it.
How to try it
- Download your statements as CSV or PDF and remove account numbers first.
- Let Claude categorise them, answer its questions about unclear merchants and check a few totals yourself.
- Repeat each month with the new statements to spot creeping costs early.
More money use cases
Find out why your electricity bill jumped with Claude
Puzzled by unusually high electricity bills, a Hacker News user downloaded their 15-minute usage data from the supplier, told Claude what appliances the household had and when they're used, and had it build a simple dashboard. They say it helped pin down the problem and showed ways to cut the bills further.
I've attached my electricity usage data from [SUPPLIER] for [PERIOD]. At home we have [APPLIANCES, E.G. WASHER-DRYER, ELECTRIC CAR, HEAT PUMP], usually used [WHEN]. We're on [TARIFF]. Look for patterns: when usage spikes, what's on overnight, and what's changed recently. Tell me the most likely causes and the three changes that would save the most.
Log your spending by just telling Claude what you bought
A student who'd never stuck with budgeting apps had Claude build a full budget spreadsheet, then set up a Claude Project with the template and instructions. Now they type things like 'bought matcha, spent this on the commute' from their phone and Claude categorises each item, asks when unsure, and returns the updated sheet.
You're helping me track my spending in the attached spreadsheet. Each time I tell you what I've spent or earned, add a row to the Transactions sheet with the date, amount and the right category from [YOUR CATEGORIES]. If you're not sure of a category, ask me first. Today is [DATE]: [WHAT YOU SPENT].
Get through an insurance claim portal with ChatGPT’s help
Faced with an insurance claim where the only contact route was an upload portal, one user had ChatGPT walk them through it, including getting an itemised receipt and writing a short covering note, rather than giving up and paying themselves.
I need to claim on my [TYPE OF] insurance for [WHAT HAPPENED/TREATMENT] costing [AMOUNT]. My insurer is [NAME]. Walk me through the claim step by step: what documents I need, how to find the right form or portal, what to write in each section, and what to do if it is rejected.
Reference: Tom Mansfield (LinkedIn)