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Budget and expenses

An expense log with a monthly budget. Tell your AI what you spent and it logs it; at month end it compares you to budget.

For anyone who wants to know where the money went without a budgeting app.

Free. Paste the prompt into ChatGPT or Claude with Amber Notes connected: it creates the note, then fills it in. For Claude Code, use its tab below. No Amber Notes yet? Download it for Mac.

Today

Budget and expenses

What you spend, one row each, and a monthly budget to measure it against. Amounts are in your own currency.

DateWhatCategoryAmount

Monthly budget

CategoryBudget
Groceries4000
Eating out1500
Transport800
Home1000
Fun1000
Bills3500

Month summaries

Tell your AI

First, look for a note called "Budget and expenses" in my Amber Notes with search_notes. If there isn't one, create it with create_note in the folder "Home", using exactly the markdown at the end of this message, the <!-- pane-table --> line included (it gives the table's columns their types). Then: Use my Amber Notes note "Budget and expenses". When I tell you what I spent, add a row to the first table with log_table_row: Date as yyyy-mm-dd, What, a Category from its options, and Amount as a number. At the end of the month, when I ask, read both tables with read_table, add up each category against "Monthly budget", and add a short summary under "Month summaries" with append_to_note: what was over, what was under, and one suggestion. Don't give financial advice beyond that.

```markdown
Budget and expenses

What you spend, one row each, and a monthly budget to measure it against. Amounts are in your own currency.

<!-- pane-table: Date=text; What=text; Category=choice Groceries|Eating out|Transport|Home|Fun|Bills|Other; Amount=number -->
| Date | What | Category | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |

## Monthly budget
| Category | Budget |
| --- | --- |
| Groceries | 4000 |
| Eating out | 1500 |
| Transport | 800 |
| Home | 1000 |
| Fun | 1000 |
| Bills | 3500 |

## Month summaries
```

Paste it into a chat in ChatGPT with Amber Notes turned on. That chat keeps it; paste it again when you start a new one.

Then just talk to it

  • Spent 412 on groceries and 85 on the bus card today.
  • How am I doing against the budget this month?
  • What did we spend on eating out in September?

What you'll get

The same note after a few days of talking to your AI. Tinted lines are what it added, the way Amber Notes shows an AI's changes, with Undo and the earlier version kept in the note's history.

30 September 2026

Budget and expenses

What you spend, one row each, and a monthly budget to measure it against. Amounts are in your own currency.

DateWhatCategoryAmount
2026-09-28Weekly shopGroceries412
2026-09-28Bus cardTransport85
2026-09-29Pizza with friendsEating out260

Monthly budget

CategoryBudget
Groceries4000
Eating out1500
Transport800
Home1000
Fun1000
Bills3500

Month summaries

September: eating out was 1,840 against 1,500, mostly two dinners in the last week. Groceries came in 300 under. Suggestion: plan two more dinners at home next month.

How to set it up

  1. Connect your AIConnect ChatGPT, Claude or Claude Code to Amber Notes once, and choose Read and Edit so it can write the note.
  2. Paste the promptCopy the prompt for your AI and paste it into a chat. It creates the "Budget and expenses" note in your Home folder, if you don't have it yet.
  3. Talk to your AITell it what happened, in your own words. It fills in the note, and you see every change in Amber Notes.

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