Build me a zero-based monthly budget using my real income and actual spending — not a generic 50/30/20 template.
MONTHLY TAKE-HOME (after tax): {amount}
FIXED COSTS (rent/mortgage, utilities, subs, insurance, debt min): {list_each_with_amount}
LAST 3 MONTHS VARIABLE SPEND BY CATEGORY: {paste_or_estimate — groceries, dining, transport, fun, gifts, etc.}
FINANCIAL GOALS: {list — emergency fund, debt payoff, retirement %, big purchase, etc.}
DEPENDENTS: {who}
LOCATION (cost-of-living context): {city_country}
OUTPUT:
1. **'Reality' table** — what you're really spending vs what you think (compare last 3 mo against typical % for your income tier).
2. **Recommended budget** — every dollar assigned a job. Includes:
- Fixed costs
- Savings / investment (specific accounts)
- Variable categories (groceries, dining, etc.) with hard caps
- 'Sinking funds' for predictable irregular costs (car repair, gifts, annual fees)
- Buffer for the unexpected
3. **What I'd cut and why** — 2-3 specific subscriptions/habits costing >1% of take-home.
4. **What I'd add** — anything I'm underfunding (e.g. retirement at 4% when employer matches 6%).
5. **First-action checklist** — 5 things to do this weekend (move money, cancel X, set up auto-transfer Y).0 copies·0 saves·1 views
184 words·1,260 chars
Sample output
Income $5,200 / mo · rent $1,650 · utilities $180 · subs $90 · car loan min $310 · 401k 3% / employer matches 6% · saving $200/mo · variable: dining $620, groceries $480, Uber $180, Amazon $240, fun $200
Reality table
| Category | Last 3 mo avg | % of take-home | Healthy range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent + utils | $1,830 | 35% | 25-30% (high, hard to fix short-term) |
| Dining | $620 | 12% | 4-7% (very high) |
| Groceries | $480 | 9% | 8-12% |
| Transport | $490 (car + Uber) | 9% | 10-15% |
| Amazon | $240 | 4.6% | (this is the leak — half of these are impulse) |
Parameters
Text generation parameters
FAQ
Budget for the last 3 months you actually had, not the month you wish you'd had. Aspirational budgets fail by week 2. The prompt targets ChatGPT (GPT-4) and lives in the Personal & Career category on mycopyprompt.
This prompt is written for ChatGPT (GPT-4). It's a text/chat prompt — paste it into ChatGPT (GPT-4) (or compatible LLMs like Claude or GPT-4) to get the expected output.
1. Click the Copy button on this page to copy the full prompt. 2. Open ChatGPT (GPT-4). 3. Paste the prompt into a new conversation. 4. Replace any {placeholders} with your specifics, then send. Most prompts produce the right output on the first try; complex ones may need 1-2 iterations.
Yes — every prompt on mycopyprompt is free forever. No paywall, no signup wall for browsing or copying. You can use it for personal or commercial work, just don't redistribute the entire mycopyprompt library.
Absolutely — most prompts are templates. Look for {placeholders} (curly braces) and swap them with your own values. You can also reword sections, add constraints, or chain it with other prompts.
See the "Sample output" panel above — that's a real example of what ChatGPT (GPT-4) returns when this prompt runs. Your output will vary in wording but should follow the same structure and depth.
Similar prompts
Matched against every prompt in the catalog by title.
| Savings/retire |
| $356 |
| 6.8% |
| 15-20% (under) |
Recommended budget
Cuts: Amazon Prime + 2 streaming services overlap (HBO+Hulu+Netflix). Pick 2. Dining $620 → $300 = $320/mo recovered.
Underfunding flag: Leaving $150/mo of match on the table is the biggest miss in this budget. Fix this first.
This weekend (5 things):