Creating Savings Plans with GPT - AI Financial Planning Know-How

Introduction

When keeping a budget, have you ever faced this dilemma: "I spent 50,000 won (~$38) at Daiso, how do I categorize this?" Looking at the receipt, you bought plastic wrap and ziplock bags, snacks and candy, USB cables and pens. Is this household items? Food? Office supplies?

Most people, when encountering these ambiguous cases, either dump everything into an "Other" category or record it all as the largest item. But this makes your budget inaccurate, and when analyzing later, you're left wondering "Why is there so much in Other?"

There are other headaches too. You went to the hospital and paid for both consultation and medicine. Should you combine this as "Medical expenses," or separate it into "Consultation" and "Medicine"? Is the gym membership "Entertainment," "Health Management," or "Fixed Costs"?

Many people give up on budgeting because of these categorization difficulties. But using Claude makes all these worries disappear. AI intelligently analyzes items and automatically categorizes them, and for ambiguous cases, it even asks you!

AI's Smart Category Classification

Claude's categorization ability is truly impressive. Let me explain how it works.

First, Claude looks at merchant names to determine what type of store it is. It sees "E-Mart" and knows it's a supermarket, sees "Starbucks" and knows it's a café. It accurately identifies "GS Caltex" as a gas station, "Olive Young" as a beauty/health store, and "Kyobo Bookstore" as a bookstore.

But Claude's real ability doesn't stop there. It doesn't just identify store types—it understands context. For example, if you bought multiple items from Coupang, it categorizes each item separately. "USB cable is electronics, notebooks and pens are office supplies."

What's even more amazing is that for ambiguous cases, it asks you for confirmation. It asks "Is this categorization correct?" while providing recommended options. Like having an expert consultant sitting next to you!

Real Example 1: Basic Classification

My input:

Please categorize these March 15 expenses:

E-Mart 125,000 won
Starbucks 6,500 won
GS Caltex Gas 80,000 won
Olive Young 45,000 won
Kyobo Bookstore 28,000 won
Coupang (USB cable, 5 notebooks, pen set) 32,000 won
Daiso (plastic wrap, ziplock bags, 3 snacks) 15,000 won
Kakao Taxi 12,500 won
Watcha subscription 7,900 won
Baemin - Chicken 24,000 won

Claude's response:

Clear Classifications:

Item	Amount (KRW)	Category
E-Mart	125,000	Food(Grocery)
Starbucks	6,500	Food(Café)
GS Caltex	80,000	Transportation(Gas)
Olive Young	45,000	Beauty/Health
Kyobo Bookstore	28,000	Books/Education
Kakao Taxi	12,500	Transportation(Taxi)
Watcha	7,900	Subscription
Baemin	24,000	Food(Delivery)

Items Needing Clarification:

1. Coupang 32,000 won

   • USB cable: Electronics/Accessories
   • 5 notebooks, pen set: Office/Stationery

   Recommended classification:

   • USB cable 10,000 won → Electronics
   • Stationery 22,000 won → Office/Stationery

2. Daiso 15,000 won

   • Plastic wrap, ziplock bags: Household items
   • 3 snacks: Food(Snacks)

   Recommended classification:

   • Household items 9,000 won
   • Food 6,000 won

Final Category Totals:

• Food: 161,500 won (~$121) (Grocery 125,000, Café 6,500, Delivery 24,000, Snacks 6,000)
• Transportation: 92,500 won (~$69) (Gas 80,000, Taxi 12,500)
• Beauty/Health: 45,000 won (~$34)
• Books/Education: 28,000 won (~$21)
• Electronics: 10,000 won (~$8)
• Office/Stationery: 22,000 won (~$17)
• Household items: 9,000 won (~$7)
• Subscription: 7,900 won (~$6)

Total Expenses: 375,900 won (~$282)

Real Example 2: Complex Record Classification

My input:

How should I categorize hospital and medicine expenses?

March records:
- Yonsei Eye Clinic 50,000 won (vision test + prescription)
- Eyeglass store 180,000 won (eyeglass purchase)
- Seoul Internal Medicine 15,000 won (cold consultation)
- Pharmacy 8,500 won (cold medicine)
- Pharmacy 12,000 won (vitamins, supplements)
- Sports center monthly fee 80,000 won
- Yoga clothes 65,000 won

Claude's response:

For medical/health-related expenses, I recommend categorizing by purpose:

Option 1: Simple

• Combine everything as "Medical/Health" → 410,500 won (~$308)

Option 2: Detailed (Recommended)

Item	Amount (KRW)	Main Category	Subcategory
Yonsei Eye Clinic	50,000	Medical	Consultation/Exam
Eyeglass store	180,000	Medical	Medical devices/Aids
Seoul Internal Medicine	15,000	Medical	Consultation
Pharmacy(cold)	8,500	Medical	Medicine
Pharmacy(supplements)	12,000	Health Management	Health supplements
Sports center	80,000	Health Management	Exercise
Yoga clothes	65,000	Health Management	Exercise gear

Category Totals:

• Medical: 253,500 won (~$190) (Hospital 65,000, Eyeglasses 180,000, Medicine 8,500)
• Health Management: 157,000 won (~$118) (Supplements 12,000, Exercise 80,000, Exercise gear 65,000)

💡 Classification Tip:

• Medical: Treatment-related (hospital, medicine, medical devices)
• Health Management: Prevention/wellness (exercise, supplements, health checkups)
• This separation also makes tax deductions easier later!

Creating Your Own Categories

My input:

Please categorize using our household's category system:

Categories:
1. Fixed expenses (rent, utilities, subscriptions, insurance)
2. Food (groceries, dining out, delivery, café)
3. Transportation (gas, public transit, taxi)
4. Variable expenses (shopping, hobbies, entertainment)
5. Savings/Investment

March records:
Rent 700,000 won, Phone 80,000 won, Netflix 13,000 won, E-Mart 120,000 won,
Coupang Eats 25,000 won, Starbucks 6,000 won, Subway 35,000 won,
Olive Young 45,000 won, CGV 30,000 won, Savings 500,000 won, Stocks 300,000 won

Claude's response:

Our Household Category Classification:

1. Fixed Expenses: 798,000 won (~$599)

• Rent: 700,000 won
• Phone: 80,000 won
• Netflix: 13,000 won
• Insurance: (none listed)

2. Food: 181,000 won (~$136)

• Groceries(E-Mart): 120,000 won
• Delivery(Coupang Eats): 25,000 won
• Café(Starbucks): 6,000 won
• Dining out: (none listed)

3. Transportation: 35,000 won (~$26)

• Public transit(Subway): 35,000 won
• Gas: (none listed)
• Taxi: (none listed)

4. Variable Expenses: 75,000 won (~$56)

• Shopping(Olive Young): 45,000 won
• Entertainment(CGV): 30,000 won
• Hobbies: (none listed)

5. Savings/Investment: 800,000 won (~$600)

• Savings: 500,000 won
• Stocks: 300,000 won

Total Income vs Expense Analysis:

• Total expenses: 1,089,000 won (~$817)
• Savings/Investment: 800,000 won (~$600)
• Minimum monthly income needed: 1,889,000 won (~$1,417)

💡 This Month's Highlights:

• Fixed expense ratio is high at 42.3%
• Savings rate of 42.4% is excellent!
• Variable expenses at 3.9% are very low (you can spend more freely)

Prompt Template

Please categorize these expenses according to [Category list]:

Categories: [Food, Transportation, Entertainment, Household items, Medical, etc.]

[Expense records]

1. Organize by category in a table
2. Ask about ambiguous items and provide recommendations
3. Calculate category totals and percentages
4. Brief analysis

Practical Tips

1. Once You Set Standards, Keep Applying Them

Once you establish category standards with Claude in the first month, from the next month:

Please categorize April records using the same standards as last month
[April records]

Even just this will categorize using the same standards!

2. Setting Category Budgets

Based on this month's expenses, recommend appropriate category budgets for next month

Claude will suggest realistic budgets based on this month's patterns.

3. Couple/Family Shared Budget

When categorizing expenses, mark husband's card as [H], wife's card as [W]

See at a glance who spent how much where!

Conclusion

Category classification is the core of budgeting. You need accurate classification to know where money is leaking and what to cut. Automate this tedious work with AI's help!

In the next post, I'll show you how to simulate savings plans.

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💡 Today's Tip: Ask Claude "Analyze the last 3 months' category trends" and it will show you which expenses increased or decreased!