Check this month's family spending against the budget

About this exercise

You're checking October's family spending against your budget. Write exactly 4 numbered lines, one per category, sorted from most over budget to most under, each in the form "Category: a + b + ... = $spent of $budget (over/under $X)" so the addition is visible. Count the refund as money back, plain text, under 110 words, with nothing before or after the lines. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• No fixed shape. The AI lists every transaction in a table plus advice. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 4 numbered lines: Category: $spent of $budget (over/under $X)."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 110 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 22 words."
• Mishandling the refund. The AI ignores the refund or adds it as spending. Try: Add: "Subtract the $45 refund from kids' activities."
• Not checking the math. Totals of 4-5 transactions are easy to get slightly wrong. Try: Add: "Add each category twice to check."
• Wrong order. The AI lists categories in budget order. Try: Add: "Sort from most over budget to most under."

What a strong prompt includes

• Handles the refund
• Sorts by over/under
• Shows the line shape
• Checks the math
• Sets a word limit

Practice this now ↑

Related exercises

• Alert sales to a competitor's price change, facts only (Research AI · Product managers)
• Approve or return expense claims against the policy (Productivity AI · Finance and accounting)
• Approve part of an overtime request with the math (Writing AI · Managers and team leads)
• Average daily call activity after fixing a dialer glitch (Data AI · Sales and customer success)
• Average handle times after removing outage calls (Data AI · Customer support teams)