# Household Budget Analysis — Prompt Template Use this template to get Claude to build a categorised annual budget from your bank CSV exports. Follow the preparation steps below, then copy the prompt template, fill in your details, and paste it into Claude along with your CSV files. --- ## Step 1: Export Your Bank Data Export transaction data from each bank account and credit card as CSV files covering the full year you want to analyse. Most banks offer CSV export from their e-banking portal under "Transactions" or "Account statements." Tips for exporting: - Set the date range to cover the full calendar year (1 Jan – 31 Dec). - Export each account separately — one CSV per account. - Choose CSV or Excel format (not PDF). If your bank offers multiple CSV formats, pick the one with the most detail (description fields, merchant names, etc.). - Keep the default export settings — Claude can handle most bank CSV formats (semicolon or comma delimited, various encodings, header rows, etc.). ## Step 2: Name Your Files Clearly Rename each CSV so it's obvious which account it represents. Good naming makes the prompt shorter and reduces confusion. Examples: - `Current Account - John.csv` - `Current Account - Sarah.csv` - `Joint Household Account.csv` - `Credit Card - John.csv` - `Credit Card - Sarah.csv` - `Savings Account.csv` ## Step 3: Understand Your Account Flow Before writing the prompt, sketch out how money moves between your accounts. This is critical for avoiding double-counting. Ask yourself: - Which accounts receive salary/income? - Which accounts fund the joint/household account? How much per month? - Which accounts pay the credit card bills? - Are there any accounts at other banks not included in the CSVs (e.g., mortgage, external savings)? ## Step 4: Identify One-Off Exclusions Look through the year and note any large, non-recurring transactions that would distort a "normal year" budget. Common examples: - Home renovations or major repairs - Large one-off purchases (car, jewellery, art) - Investment transfers (brokerage, pension fund top-ups) - Gifts or inheritance movements - Tax prepayments for the following year - Property purchases or sales ## Step 5: Decide What to Track Separately Some categories are better tracked outside the main budget. Common ones: - **Tax payments** — if you want to plan for retirement or compare pre/post-tax spending - **Mortgage** — if paid from a different bank not in your CSVs - **Childcare/school fees** — if they're changing (e.g., child finishing school) --- ## The Prompt Copy everything below, fill in the bracketed sections, and paste into Claude along with your CSV files. --- ``` I have [NUMBER] CSV files representing my [YEAR] household expenses from [BANK NAME]. Please build me a categorised monthly expense analysis in Excel. ## My Accounts [List each account, who it belongs to, and its role. Example:] 1. **[Filename 1]** — [Person]'s current account. Receives salary. Funds the joint account and pays [Person]'s credit card. 2. **[Filename 2]** — [Person]'s current account. Receives salary. Funds the joint account and pays [Person]'s credit card. 3. **[Filename 3]** — Joint household account. Receives monthly standing orders from both current accounts. Pays day-to-day family expenses. 4. **[Filename 4]** — [Person]'s credit card. Bill paid automatically from [Filename 1]. 5. **[Filename 5]** — [Person]'s credit card. Bill paid automatically from [Filename 2]. ## Account Flow (avoid double-counting) - [Person 1] current account sends approximately [AMOUNT]/month to the joint account - [Person 2] current account sends approximately [AMOUNT]/month to the joint account - Credit card bills are paid from the respective current accounts — track spending at the purchase level on the cards, not the lump-sum bill payment - [Any other regular inter-account transfers to note] ## Expenses NOT in the CSV Files [List any regular expenses paid from accounts not included. Example:] - Quarterly mortgage of [AMOUNT] from [OTHER BANK] (not in these CSVs — please add manually) ## One-Off Exclusions (not recurring — exclude from budget) [List specific transactions or payees to exclude. Be as specific as possible with names, amounts, or IBANs. Example:] - [CONTRACTOR NAME] — home renovation, approximately [AMOUNT] - [STORE/BRAND] purchases — one-off luxury item, approximately [AMOUNT] - Large transfer to [INVESTMENT FIRM] — investment, not an expense - [PENSION FUND NAME] — pension contribution of [AMOUNT] - [TAX AUTHORITY] payment in [MONTH] of [AMOUNT] — this is a [NEXT YEAR] prepayment, not a [YEAR] expense ## Items to Track Separately (not in main budget total) [List categories you want shown but kept separate. Example:] - **Tax payments** — track these separately for retirement planning. Monthly prepayments of [AMOUNT] go from the joint account, plus any one-off payments from current accounts. ## Categorisation Preferences [Optional — tell Claude how you want expenses grouped. Example:] - Group health insurance premiums together with medical/doctor expenses in a "Health & Medical" category (net of any insurance refunds we received) - Separate non-discretionary expenses (groceries, insurance, utilities, mortgage, etc.) from discretionary ones (shopping, travel, entertainment, etc.) - [Any other grouping preferences] ## Output Format Please produce: 1. **Excel file** with: - Summary sheet: monthly columns (Jan–Dec) + Annual total + Monthly average, grouped into [non-discretionary / discretionary / other sections as desired] - Detail sheet: breakdown by source account - Notes sheet: documenting all exclusions and assumptions 2. **Companion CSV** with every individual transaction tagged with its assigned category, so I can review and request adjustments later Use formulas (not hardcoded values) for all totals and averages in the Excel. ``` --- ## Tips for Best Results **Be specific about exclusions.** Instead of "exclude investment transfers," say "exclude transfers to Julius Baer (IBAN CH80 0863...)" or "exclude payments to [Contractor Name], about CHF 15,000 total." The more specific you are, the less guesswork Claude has to do. **Name the people.** If it's a two-person household, tell Claude who's who. This helps with categorisation (e.g., "Samanta's beauty expenses" vs. "Andrea's sports club"). **Mention your currency.** If you're not using USD, state the currency (CHF, EUR, GBP, etc.) so Claude formats numbers correctly. **Review the "Other Expenses" bucket.** After the first pass, there will likely be an "Other Expenses" category catching unrecognised transactions. Ask Claude to show you what's in it and suggest better categorisation — e.g., "What's in Other Expenses? Can you break it down further?" **Iterate.** The first output is a starting point. Common follow-ups include: - "Move [merchant] from [Category A] to [Category B]" - "Exclude [transaction] — that was a one-off" - "Net off the insurance refunds against the premiums" - "Split [category] into [subcategory 1] and [subcategory 2]" **Keep the companion CSV.** It's your audit trail. If you want to revisit the budget months later, upload the CSV along with the original bank files and Claude can pick up where you left off.