{"id":"life-hs-first-paycheck-budget","audience":"high-school","category":"everyday-life","track":"life","technique":"examples","title":"Split your first paycheck with the math shown","free":false,"task":"You got your first paycheck from your weekend job and want a simple plan for it. Using the take-home pay (not the gross), get exactly 4 numbered lines in plain text, each showing the math, like \"1. Car savings: 30% x $410 = $123\": car savings, your phone bill share, gas, and what's left to spend. Under 70 words, no tips. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.","materialLabel":"Your pay stub and notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"PAY STUB - Sunny Side Diner (fictional)\nEmployee: Jayden Ortiz | Pay period: Oct 18 - Oct 31, 2026\nHours: 32 x $15.00/hour\nGross pay ........................... $480.00\nFederal tax withheld ................. -$28.00\nSocial Security ...................... -$29.76\nMedicare ............................. -$6.96\nState tax ............................ -$5.28\nNET PAY (take-home) .................. $410.00\n\nMY NOTES\n- Mom and I agreed: 30% of every paycheck goes to car savings.\n- My share of the family phone plan: $25 per paycheck.\n- Gas for driving to work: about $40 per paycheck.\n- Whatever's left is mine to spend.\n- My friend says I should put it all in crypto. Not doing that.\n- I want new headphones ($80) at some point.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":4},{"type":"maxWords","max":70},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Using the gross pay","why":"The AI sees $480 first and takes 30% of that, which is money you never got.","fix":"Add: \"Use my take-home pay of $410, not the gross.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"No math shown","why":"The AI lists amounts without the working, so you can't check them.","fix":"Show it: \"Format each line like: 1. Car savings: 30% x $410 = $123\".","checks":["r1","numberedItems"]},{"title":"Getting money tips","why":"The AI adds advice about emergency funds, investing or your headphones.","fix":"Add: \"No tips or advice, just the 4 lines.\"","checks":["r2","plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for \"under 70 words\" and it often lands well over.","fix":"Cap each part: \"each line under 12 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Uses take-home pay","patterns":["take.home","net","\\$?410","not (the )?gross"]},{"label":"Shows an example line","patterns":["30%\\s*x","like:?","format each"]},{"label":"Rules out tips","patterns":["no (tips|advice)","just the"]},{"label":"Sets the number of lines","patterns":["\\b(4|four)\\b.{0,20}(lines?|numbered)"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"The AI will grab the biggest number on the stub. Tell it which pay to use, show it one line of math, and ask for no extras.","rubricLabels":["Uses the take-home pay of $410, not the $480 gross, so car savings is 30% x $410 = $123","The 4 lines give car savings $123, phone $25 and gas $40, and the last line shows the math for what's left ($410 - $123 - $25 - $40 = $222)","Gives no tips or advice (nothing about crypto, investing, headphones or saving more)"]}