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Price out a weekend trip against your budget

  • For Freelancers and creators
  • You practice Showing an example of what you want
  • Time about 5 minutes

About this exercise

You're planning a 2-night weekend trip with a $500 budget. Get exactly 4 numbered lines in plain text, under 80 words: 1. lodging with tax, with the math, using the updated rate; 2. the round-trip train; 3. food at your daily estimate for 3 days; 4. the total and whether it's under $500 and by how much. No tips. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Using the old rate. The AI uses $120 a night and misses the inn's email. Try: Add: "The inn's rate is now $135 a night."
  • Forgetting the tax. The AI adds the nightly rate but skips the 10% tax. Try: Add: "Include the 10% hotel tax."
  • No math shown. The AI gives totals with no working, so you can't check them. Try: Show it: "1. Lodging: $135 x 2 = $270 + 10% tax $27 = $297".
  • Getting extras. The AI adds the boat tour or travel tips. Try: Add: "No boat tour, no tips."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 80 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part: "each line under 16 words."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Uses the updated rate
  • Includes the tax
  • Checks the budget
  • Sets the number of lines
  • Sets a word limit

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