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Decide whether to buy, lease or wait on a big purchase
The van's dying, the oven's on its last legs, or you need new kit. Lay out buying outright, finance, leasing and waiting side by side with your own numbers, before a salesperson does it for you.
The prompt · ChatGPT
Help me compare buying, financing, leasing or waiting on a big purchase. What I need: [e.g. a van, an oven, a laptop] Why now: [it's broken, it's costing me in repairs] Options and quotes: [cash price; finance terms; lease terms; or keep repairing] My cash: [roughly what's in the bank and how steady trade is] How long I'd keep it: [years] First ask me up to 4 short questions. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A table for each option: upfront cost, monthly cost, total over the period, what I own at the end, flexibility. 2. What each does to my cash in the next 3 months. 3. The main risk of each if trade drops. 4. Questions to ask the supplier or finance company. 5. Questions to ask my accountant about the tax treatment of each option. Use only my figures; show the sums. Not financial or tax advice. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English. Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. e.g. a van, an oven, a laptop: a short note you already have. it's broken, it's costing me in repairs: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
This does not give tax advice. The books stay in the accounting system.
The prompt · Gemini
Help me compare buying, financing, leasing or waiting on a big purchase. What I need: [e.g. a van, an oven, a laptop] Why now: [it's broken, it's costing me in repairs] Options and quotes: [cash price; finance terms; lease terms; or keep repairing] My cash: [roughly what's in the bank and how steady trade is] How long I'd keep it: [years] First ask me up to 4 short questions. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A table for each option: upfront cost, monthly cost, total over the period, what I own at the end, flexibility. 2. What each does to my cash in the next 3 months. 3. The main risk of each if trade drops. 4. Questions to ask the supplier or finance company. 5. Questions to ask my accountant about the tax treatment of each option. Use only my figures; show the sums. Not financial or tax advice. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English. Keep the comparison table as a table so I can use Export to Sheets. Stay in this Gemini chat. Leave extensions off, including Gmail and Drive.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. e.g. a van, an oven, a laptop: a short note you already have. it's broken, it's costing me in repairs: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
You describe what you need and the quotes or offers you have.
The assistant asks your cash position and how long you'd keep it.
You get a side-by-side table of total cost and cash impact, the risks and questions for the supplier and accountant.
What happens
Use Gemini to decide whether to buy, lease or wait on a big purchase
The van's dying, the oven's on its last legs, or you need new kit. Lay out buying outright, finance, leasing and waiting side by side with your own numbers, before a salesperson does it for you.
Tools
Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.
- Gemini — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.
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