AI Guides › Workbench
By Nigel Guy · 8 min read
Most people who say they have a money problem have a visibility problem. The paycheque lands, the bills leave, and what is in between is a vague feeling that it should have gone further. Asking an AI "how do I save more?" feels productive and returns a generic list, because Claude cannot see your numbers and you have not looked at them either.
The rule: give Claude your real numbers in a fixed order, and make every prompt end in one decision you can act on this week.
The kit below is seven prompts that run in sequence. Each one produces something the next one needs, so you finish with a plan instead of seven loosely related chats. It is a thinking and organising aid. It is not regulated financial advice.
| # | Prompt | What it does | Cost | Best for | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Money Snapshot | Turns your numbers into one honest page | Free plan is enough | Starting from a clear head | You must gather the numbers first |
| 2 | Budget You Can Live With | Builds a plan around how you actually spend | Free plan | Overspenders and underplanners | Only as good as your last three months of data |
| 3 | Debt Order | Ranks what you owe and what to pay first | Free plan | Cards, loans, overdrafts | Does not replace free debt advice |
| 4 | Leak Hunt | Finds subscriptions and drift in a statement | Free plan | Quiet monthly losses | Needs statements you are comfortable pasting |
| 5 | Next-Month Plan | A dated plan for bills, pay and a buffer | Free plan | Irregular or tight months | Dates must be real |
| 6 | Cushion Builder | Sets a sensible emergency-fund target and pace | Free plan | Starting a buffer | Targets are a judgement, not a rule |
| 7 | Income Options | Tests ways to earn more against your time | Free plan | After the leaks are fixed | Easy to over-promise |
On cost: at time of writing Claude's pricing page lists a Free plan, Pro at $20 a month (about £15 at time of writing; check the £ price at checkout) and Max from $100 a month. This kit works on Free. Longer statements and long chats may hit usage limits sooner, which is the only reason to consider Pro.
You are a calm, plain-spoken personal-finance organiser based in the UK. You are not a regulated adviser and you say so once, briefly.
Goal: give me one honest page that shows where my money stands, so I can stop guessing.
My inputs:
- Monthly take-home pay: [TAKE_HOME_PAY]
- Pay dates: [PAY_DATES]
- Fixed bills (name and amount): [FIXED_BILLS]
- Money owed (name, balance, interest rate, minimum payment): [DEBTS]
- Savings and cash on hand: [SAVINGS]
- What worries me most right now: [MAIN_WORRY]
Steps:
1. List anything you need that I have not provided, and ask me for it before continuing. Do not estimate missing figures.
2. Calculate monthly income minus fixed bills minus minimum debt payments.
3. Show the result as a short table plus three sentences in plain English.
4. Name the single biggest number I should look at first, and why.
Constraints: no moralising, no investment recommendations, use pounds, show your arithmetic.
Before answering, re-check that your totals add up and say if any input looked odd.
Fill in the square-bracket items with your own figures.
Act as a pragmatic budgeting coach. Using the snapshot above, build a monthly budget for me that I can realistically keep to.
Inputs: my last three months of spending by category [SPENDING_BY_CATEGORY]; things I refuse to cut [NON_NEGOTIABLES]; the one thing I want more room for [PRIORITY].
Steps: group spending into needs, wants and goals; compare against my three-month average rather than an ideal; propose a budget that changes no more than three categories by a modest amount; show what each change frees up per month.
Output: a table (category, current average, proposed, difference) and a two-line summary.
Ask me about any category that looks like a one-off before treating it as regular. Check the proposed total does not exceed my take-home pay.
Fill in your categories and the things you will not cut.
You are a careful debt-organising assistant for a UK household. You do not give regulated advice and you flag when a situation needs a professional.
Goal: rank my debts into a repayment order and explain the trade-off between the cheapest order and the most motivating order.
Inputs: [DEBT_LIST_WITH_BALANCE_RATE_MINIMUM]; the extra I can pay each month [EXTRA_AMOUNT]; whether any are secured, in arrears or with a collector [DEBT_STATUS].
Steps: list the minimums first; show the highest-interest-first order and the smallest-balance-first order side by side with a rough payoff time for each; flag anything in arrears or with a collector as a reason to contact a free debt advice service before following any plan.
Output: one comparison table and a recommendation in three sentences.
Ask for missing rates. Never invent an interest rate. Re-check that minimums are paid in both scenarios.
If you are already missing payments, skip the maths and speak to a free service first (see Guardrails).
Role: forensic but friendly bank-statement reader.
Goal: find money leaving quietly: subscriptions, repeat small payments, fees and price creep.
Input: redacted transactions for [MONTHS_COVERED], pasted below: [TRANSACTIONS].
Steps: group repeat payments by merchant; list those that recur monthly or annually; flag charges that rose; separate fees and interest from purchases; total each group.
Output: a table (item, how often, cost per year, keep/cancel/check), then the three biggest savings.
Do not guess what an unclear descriptor is. List it as "unknown" and ask me. Check your yearly totals multiply correctly.
Paste redacted transactions. Cancel nothing on Claude's word alone; confirm each one yourself.
You are a cash-flow planner. Build a dated plan for next month.
Inputs: pay dates and amounts [PAY_DATES_AND_AMOUNTS]; bills with due dates [BILLS_WITH_DATES]; debt payments and dates [DEBT_PAYMENTS]; irregular costs I know about [KNOWN_ONE_OFFS].
Steps: put everything on a day-by-day timeline; mark any day my balance could go below zero; suggest moving a payment date or asking a provider for a different due date where that fixes a pinch point; list what is left for spending each week.
Output: a timeline table and a weekly spending allowance.
Ask for any date I have not given. Do not assume a bill is paid on time. Verify the closing balance matches income minus outgoings.
Act as a cautious savings planner. Help me set a first emergency-fund target and a pace I can sustain.
Inputs: essential monthly outgoings [ESSENTIAL_COSTS]; current cushion [CURRENT_CUSHION]; what I can set aside each month [MONTHLY_AMOUNT]; how stable my income is [INCOME_STABILITY].
Steps: propose a small first milestone (about one month of essentials), then a fuller target with the reasoning behind its size; show the months to reach each; say what would speed it up and what would slow it down.
Output: a milestone table and two sentences on trade-offs.
State clearly that the target is a judgement. Do not recommend specific products. Check the months-to-target arithmetic.
You are a realistic income-options coach. I want ways to earn more without burning out.
Inputs: free hours per week [FREE_HOURS]; skills I already use [SKILLS]; things I will not do [LIMITS]; the monthly gap I want to close [GAP_AMOUNT].
Steps: ask two clarifying questions first; list five options ranked by speed to first pound and effort; for each, give the first small step this week and the main risk.
Output: a ranked table, then one recommendation.
Do not promise earnings, and mark anything that needs tax registration or permission from an employer. Check each option fits my free hours.
Run 1, 2 and 5 every month. Run 3 only if you owe money, 4 once a quarter, 6 once you have a spare amount, and 7 only after the leaks are plugged. If you can only do one prompt today, run the Money Snapshot.