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Using AI for personal finance tracking
Has anyone set up any kind of AI-powered personal finance system? I'm terrible at budgeting and tracking expenses but I feel like there's gotta be a way to use AI to make it easier. Currently I just look at my bank balance and hope for the best lol.
43 with 2 kids and a mortgage, so getting this right actually matters.
I built a simple system using ChatGPT + Google Sheets. Export my bank transactions as CSV, paste them into ChatGPT, ask it to categorize them and summarize my spending. Takes 5 minutes once a week. It's not a full budgeting app but it gives me visibility I never had before.
The AI is surprisingly good at categorizing transactions - it figures out that "AMZN MKTPLACE" is Amazon shopping without me telling it.
Copilot (the Microsoft one) integrated into Excel is really good for this if you have a Microsoft 365 subscription. You can just ask it questions about your spreadsheet data in plain English. "How much did I spend on restaurants in November?" type stuff.
I use Monarch Money ($10/mo) which has AI features built in. Automatically categorizes, gives insights, lets you set goals. Worth it for the automation alone. I was a YNAB user for years but Monarch's AI features made the switch worth it.