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.
Replace the [PLACEHOLDERS] with your own details before you send it.
How to try it
- Download your detailed (half-hourly or 15-minute) usage data from your supplier’s website or app.
- Upload it to Claude with a list of your appliances and roughly when you use them.
- Ask it to chart the spikes, then test its theory, for example by switching something off for a day.
More money use cases
Find where your household spending has crept up with Claude
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.
Spot a wrong charge on a medical bill with ChatGPT
A friend of the poster uploaded her hospital bill to ChatGPT, which picked out an incorrect charge and drafted a dispute letter. The hospital removed the $4,200 charge and marked the account as paid in full.
Here is an itemised bill I've received: [PASTE THE LINE ITEMS, WITH PERSONAL DETAILS REMOVED]. Please 1) explain each line in plain English, 2) flag anything that looks duplicated, unusually priced or inconsistent with [WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY TREATED FOR], and 3) draft a polite letter asking the billing department to review the items you've flagged and send a corrected bill.
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: Hacker News