# Monthly Budget Review Checklist

A ten-minute monthly check-in to organize what you already spent, spot forgotten subscriptions, and notice patterns.

> **Education, not financial advice.** This checklist helps you organize and understand your own spending. It does not tell you what to buy, sell, or invest in, or how to handle taxes, debt, or legal matters. AI totals and categories are starting points you must check against your real statements. For decisions with real financial stakes, talk to a qualified professional who knows your situation.

## Before you paste anything

- [ ] I exported one month of transactions: [MONTH]
- [ ] I deleted every column with account numbers, card numbers, or ID numbers
- [ ] I kept only date, description, and amount
- [ ] I checked my AI tool's data and privacy settings

## Review steps

- [ ] Categorize: categories built from my own data
- [ ] Spot-check two categories against my statement: [CATEGORY 1], [CATEGORY 2]
- [ ] Review the "needs my review" items: [ITEM], [ITEM]
- [ ] Audit recurring charges (table below)
- [ ] Compare with last month's category totals

## Recurring charges

| Name on statement | Amount | How often | Yearly cost | Keep or cancel |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [NAME] | [AMOUNT] | [MONTHLY / YEARLY] | [AMOUNT x FREQUENCY] | [DECISION] |

## Two neutral questions for myself

1. [WHICH RECURRING CHARGES DID I ACTUALLY USE THIS MONTH?]
2. [WHAT MIGHT BE HIDING INSIDE "EVERYTHING ELSE"?]

## Ready-to-paste prompts

**Categorize:**

```
Here are my transactions for one month (date, description, amount):
[PASTE TRANSACTIONS]
Group them into categories built from the data itself. Show a total for each
category and a grand total. List anything you were unsure about under "needs my
review" instead of guessing. Flag charges that look like they repeat. Do not
give financial advice. Only organize what is here.
```

**Compare two months:**

```
Here are last month's category totals: [PASTE]. Here are this month's: [PASTE].
Compare them by category and list the biggest changes. Don't give advice.
```

## How to use this in 10 minutes

1. (2 min) Export and strip sensitive columns.
2. (4 min) Run the categorize prompt and spot-check two categories.
3. (4 min) Fill in the recurring table. Cancel only after confirming on the provider's own account page, since a name on a statement can mislead.

Never paste account numbers, SSNs, logins, or passwords. Keep saved results to category totals, not raw transactions.

From Breazely — free, plain-spoken AI training. breazely.com