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Make a simple monthly budget that actually lasts the month

Money disappears before the month ends. Get a one-page budget from your pay and bills, with a clear weekly amount left to spend.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

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The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me make a simple monthly budget.

My take-home pay each month: [amount, and pay day]
Other money coming in: [e.g. child benefit, side job, or "none"]
Fixed bills: [rent or mortgage, council tax, energy, phone, insurance, with amounts]
Regular spending: [food shop, fuel, kids' clubs, takeaways, rough amounts]
Yearly or odd costs I forget: [car insurance, TV licence, birthdays]
What I want left over: [savings, a buffer, or "not sure"]

Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A budget table: category, monthly amount, and whether it's fixed or flexible.
2. Yearly costs turned into a monthly amount to set aside.
3. What's left after bills and set-asides, and a weekly spending figure.
4. If I'm spending more than I earn, say so plainly and show the three biggest flexible lines.
5. Three simple rules I can follow this month.
6. Remind me I can also fill in MoneyHelper's free Budget planner with the same numbers.

Show your working. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, figures or products. This is help organising my own numbers and wording, not financial advice; point me to MoneyHelper, GOV.UK or Citizens Advice for guidance, and to a free regulated debt adviser if I'm struggling to pay. 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. amount, and pay day: a short note you already have. e.g. child benefit, side job, or "none": 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.

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