After struggling to pay my bills for months, I used ChatGPT to help me budget. I finally feel in control of my finances.

Last summer, I felt completely broke and buried in debt. I had a stable job with regular pay increases, but still found myself constantly overdrafting my account.

Between living in a pricey US city and dealing with inflation, credit-card debt, and lingering student loans, I felt like I could never quite get ahead of my finances.

The stress was overwhelming, affecting my mental health, and adding to my shame about managing adulthood.

One day, while scrolling through social media, I saw people using ChatGPT for everything from mapping out their schedule to setting personal goals.

That’s when it hit me — maybe I could use the AI tool to create an optimized spending plan.

I identified and labeled my monthly expenses, then asked ChatGPT for a spending plan

To start, I wrote down all my fixed monthly expenses like rent, bills, and subscriptions. Then, I labeled which items were necessities.

This forced me to decide whether my monthly coffee subscription was necessary or if I really needed two different gym memberships.

Then, I entered my monthly expenses and dates when certain payments were due into ChatGPT using the following prompt:

Help me develop a monthly budget. These are my fixed expenses and the days they’re due:

ChatGPT also asked me to list all my income sources, so I did.

The AI tool then offered to create a spreadsheet to track my expenses, but I declined because I didn’t want to be tied to something I needed to update constantly.

Instead, I asked for a spending plan to overcome my biggest challenge — making ends meet at the beginning of the month, when most of my major bills were due.

It created a plan to help me cover my monthly expenses and maximize my remaining income

What I needed wasn’t more math, but a strategy to lighten the load and smooth out my cash flow. ChatGPT helped me build exactly that.

The AI platform suggested I split my paychecks in half, using a portion for my current bills and holding the rest in a savings account for the ones due later in the month.

This way, when the first of the month came around, I’d already have those expenses partially covered from my previous paycheck.

But I won’t lie — this was tough to navigate during the first month. I had to dip into my already dwindling savings and live on a strict essentials-only rule. However, I knew it could be worth it in the long run.

The staggering strategy ChatGPT suggested keeps my finances balanced, helps me stay ahead instead of catching up, and eliminates the panic of paycheck-to-paycheck living.

Once my essential expenses were covered, I wanted to ensure my leftover income would be used intentionally. So, I sent a follow-up prompt, this time asking for a breakdown of my remaining funds.

After sharing more details about my income and savings goals, ChatGPT produced a plan I found to be super helpful. With it, I can allocate money to my savings and debt repayment while leaving myself cash for personal spending.

Since using ChatGPT, I’ve noticed a big difference in my financial situation

Perhaps I could’ve figured out these plans or similar ones myself with a bit of research, a pen, and paper. However, I’m grateful I had a little help.

Since implementing some of these strategies last year, I’ve felt much more in control of my finances and haven’t overdrafted my account at all.

I now prioritize savings and debt repayment without cutting out personal spending — something I never thought was possible.

Using the platform to optimize my budget allowed me to break my income into smaller, manageable chunks. It shifted my focus from surviving paycheck to paycheck to actually planning ahead.

Now, I live within my means and have started to rebuild my savings. But most importantly, I feel calm about money for the first time in a long time.

That said, ChatGPT isn’t perfect. I found I had to be really specific with my prompts. The more detailed and clear I was about my income, expenses, and goals, the more useful and accurate the guidance was.

At the end of the day, ChatGPT isn’t a financial advisor. But it can be a really thoughtful and responsive budgeting partner if you’re willing to put in a little effort up front.

The post After struggling to pay my bills for months, I used ChatGPT to help me budget. I finally feel in control of my finances. appeared first on Business Insider.