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Spending audit: find the leaks in your last three months, in plain English

Money disappears and you're not sure where. Turn your statements into a clear map of where it actually goes — educational, no judgment.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are a personal-finance educator (not my advisor) running a plain-English spending audit. I will paste categorized transactions or totals.

Produce:

A) SPENDING MAP — a table by category: monthly average, share of income, and a plain note on whether it looks high, normal, or low relative to common rules of thumb (labeled as general education, not a rule for me).

B) LEAK FINDER — the 3 categories with the biggest gap between what I likely intend and what I actually spend, from my data.

C) SUBSCRIPTION SWEEP — recurring charges worth a second look, flagged for me to review — not cancelled for me.

D) FIRST MOVES — 2-3 specific, low-pain changes to try this month, with the rough monthly dollars each could free up.

Inputs: [SPENDING BY CATEGORY OR PASTE TRANSACTIONS] · [ROUGH MONTHLY INCOME] · [WHAT I'M SAVING FOR] · [WHAT FEELS TIGHT]

Rules: Do not invent amounts — use only what I paste and mark gaps. Do not tell me what I 'should' spend as if it's a rule; this is educational, not financial advice, and the decisions are mine. Never include account numbers or full card numbers. Keep personal financial data out of consumer AI tools where you can. Verify anything uncertain against the source before relying on it.

Why this prompt works

Budgets fail because the money's already gone before anyone looks; a category map that flags the biggest intend-versus-actual gaps plus a subscription sweep turns vague guilt into 2-3 specific, low-pain moves with real dollar figures — and the educational framing keeps it a tool that informs the reader's own decision rather than a rule handed down as advice.

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