Introduction

At the end of each month, do you think "How was this month?" Opening your card statement shows just numbers—how can you turn this into meaningful information?

Most people just check "total amount spent this month" and call it done. But that alone doesn't really manage your finances. You need to answer questions like "Did spending increase or decrease from last month?" "Which categories had the most spending?" "Did I achieve my savings goal rate?"

But doing this analysis yourself takes time and effort. Making tables in Excel, creating charts, comparing with last month's data... Just thinking about it gives you a headache. What if we used AI here? Ask Claude to "summarize in report format" with a month's worth of data, and you'll get a monthly report that looks like it was made by a professional financial consultant!

Professional-Looking Monthly Reports

Real Example 1: Basic Monthly Report

My input:

Create a March budget monthly report.

March income:
- Salary: 3,200,000 won (~$2,400)
- Side income (talent sales): 150,000 won (~$113)
- Total income: 3,350,000 won (~$2,513)

March expenses:
[Fixed expenses]
- Rent: 700,000 won (~$525)
- Maintenance: 120,000 won (~$90)
- Utilities: 65,000 won (~$49)
- Insurance: 180,000 won (~$135)
- Subscriptions: 25,000 won (~$19)

[Variable expenses]
- Food(Mart): 280,000 won (~$210)
- Food(Dining out): 180,000 won (~$135)
- Food(Delivery): 95,000 won (~$71)
- Transportation: 120,000 won (~$90)
- Shopping: 145,000 won (~$109)
- Entertainment: 65,000 won (~$49)
- Medical: 85,000 won (~$64)
- Other: 45,000 won (~$34)

[Savings/Investment]
- Savings account: 600,000 won (~$450)
- Stocks: 200,000 won (~$150)

Total expenses: 2,905,000 won (~$2,179)

Claude's response:

---

📊 March 2025 Budget Monthly Report

Reporting Period: 2025.03.01 ~ 2025.03.31 Report Date: 2025.04.01

---

📈 Executive Summary

Item	Amount (KRW)	Percentage
Total Income	3,350,000	100%
Total Expenses	2,905,000	86.7%
Savings/Investment	800,000	23.9%
Net Savings	445,000	13.3%

💰 This Month's Financial Health: Good ✅

• Savings rate 23.9% (recommended: 20%+)
• Excellent living expense management
• Appropriate income-to-expense ratio

---

💵 Income Analysis

Category	Amount (KRW)	Percentage
Primary income (Salary)	3,200,000	95.5%
Side income	150,000	4.5%
Total	3,350,000	100%

💡 Insights:

• Side income at 4.7% of salary
• Projected annual side income: ~1.8 million won
• Stable income structure

---

💸 Expense Analysis

1. Major Category Expenses

Category	Amount (KRW)	Percentage	Assessment
Fixed expenses	1,090,000	37.5%	⚠️ Slightly high
Variable expenses	1,015,000	34.9%	✅ Appropriate
Savings/Investment	800,000	27.5%	✅ Excellent
Total	2,905,000	100%

2. Fixed Expense Details

Item	Amount (KRW)	% of Fixed
Rent	700,000	64.2%
Insurance	180,000	16.5%
Maintenance	120,000	11.0%
Utilities	65,000	6.0%
Subscriptions	25,000	2.3%

💡 Insights:

• Rent is 20.9% of income (recommended: under 25%) ✅
• Utilities at 65,000 won reducible (average 50,000 won)
• Subscriptions at 25,000 won appropriate

3. Variable Expense Details

Item	Amount (KRW)	% of Variable	vs Last Month
Food	555,000	54.7%	+5.2% ↑
ㄴ Mart	280,000
ㄴ Dining out	180,000
ㄴ Delivery	95,000
Shopping	145,000	14.3%	-12.1% ↓
Transportation	120,000	11.8%	+8.2% ↑
Medical	85,000	8.4%	+85,000 (new)
Entertainment	65,000	6.4%	-15.6% ↓
Other	45,000	4.4%	Same

💡 Insights:

• Food increase: Up 27,000 won from last month (delivery increase cause)
• Medical occurred: 85,000 won (estimated cold treatment+medicine)
• Shopping decreased: Saved 20,000 won from last month 👍

4. Detailed Food Analysis

Category	Amount (KRW)	% of Food	Daily Average
Mart	280,000	50.5%	9,032
Dining out	180,000	32.4%	5,806
Delivery	95,000	17.1%	3,065
Total	555,000	100%	17,903

📌 Food Benchmark:

• Single household average food: 400-500,000 won
• Your food: 555,000 won (10% above average)
• Room for improvement: Reduce delivery (can save 50,000 won monthly)

---

📊 Savings/Investment Analysis

Item	Amount (KRW)	Percentage
Savings account	600,000	75.0%
Stocks	200,000	25.0%
Total	800,000	100%

💡 Insights:

• Savings rate 23.9% (very excellent!)
• Safe:Risky assets = 75:25 (appropriate ratio)
• Projected annual savings: ~9.6 million won

📈 Savings Accumulation Simulation (1-year basis):

• Savings account: 7.2 million won
• Stocks: 2.4 million won (assuming 5% return: 2.52 million won)
• Total projected: 9.72 million won

---

🎯 Month-over-Month Analysis

Item	February	March	Change	Change %
Total income	3,200,000	3,350,000	+150,000	+4.7%
Total expenses	2,650,000	2,905,000	+255,000	+9.6%
Savings	550,000	445,000	-105,000	-19.1%

⚠️ Caution:

• Expenses increased 255,000 won from last month
• Main causes: Medical 85,000 won + Food increase 27,000 won
• Savings decreased: 105,000 won

💡 Improvement Direction:

• Return food to last month's level (reduce delivery)
• Medical seems one-time
• April target savings: 600,000 won

---

📉 Spending Trends (Last 3 Months)

Category	January	February	March	Average	Trend
Fixed expenses	1,090,000	1,090,000	1,090,000	1,090,000	➡️ Stable
Food	520,000	528,000	555,000	534,000	⬆️ Increasing
Shopping	180,000	165,000	145,000	163,000	⬇️ Decreasing
Transportation	115,000	111,000	120,000	115,000	➡️ Stable

💡 Insights:

• Fixed expenses stable (good)
• Food steadily increasing (caution needed)
• Shopping reduction trend (excellent!)

---

🎯 April Goals and Recommendations

Immediate Improvement Items

1. Reduce utilities (-10,000 won/month)

• Current: 65,000 won
• Target: 55,000 won
• Method: Change plan or switch to budget carrier

2. Reduce delivery food (-40,000 won/month)

• Current: 95,000 won (3-4 times/week)
• Target: 55,000 won (1-2 times/week)
• Method: Prepare weekend easy meals

3. Adjust dining out frequency (-30,000 won/month)

• Current: 180,000 won
• Target: 150,000 won
• Method: Pack lunch twice/week

April Targets

Item	March Results	April Target	Improvement
Total expenses	2,905,000	2,825,000	-80,000
Savings	800,000	880,000	+80,000
Net savings rate	13.3%	18.3%	+5.0%p

🎯 April Mission: Monthly expenses under 2.8 million won!

---

💰 Financial Health Assessment

Assessment Item	Standard	Results	Rating
Savings rate	20%+	23.9%	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent
Housing cost %	Under 25%	20.9%	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent
Food %	Under 15%	16.6%	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good
Variable expense mgmt	Stable	Some variation	⭐⭐⭐ Average

Overall Rating: Grade A (Good)

Strengths:

• Maintaining high savings rate
• Stable income sources
• Appropriate housing cost burden

Areas for Improvement:

• Food management (especially delivery)
• Optimize utilities
• Stabilize variable expense patterns

---

📝 Special Notes and Memos

• March 15: Medical expenses 85,000 won incurred (cold treatment)
• March 25: Side income 150,000 won earned (talent sales)
• March 30: Additional stock purchase 200,000 won

Next Month's Schedule:

• April 10: Friend's wedding (congratulatory money 100,000 won)
• April 25: Car insurance renewal (600,000 won annually)
• April 30: Savings account maturity (2 million won)

---

Report Created by: Claude AI Next Report: May 1, 2025

---

Prompt Template

Basic Monthly Report

Create [month] budget monthly report.

Income:
[Income items]

Expenses:
[Category expenses]

Savings:
[Savings/investment details]

Format:
1. Summary at a glance
2. Income/expense/savings analysis
3. Month-over-month changes
4. Next month's goals
5. Financial health assessment

Comparison Analysis Report

Compare and analyze [period] budget.

January: [income/expenses]
February: [income/expenses]
March: [income/expenses]

Questions:
1. Monthly trends?
2. Special notes?
3. Improvement/deterioration items?
4. Next month's recommendations?

Conclusion

Monthly reports aren't just organizing numbers—they're tools for objectively understanding your financial state and finding improvement directions. Create professional-level reports with AI's help!

In the next post, I'll show you how to create budget plans for achieving goals.

---

💡 Today's Tip: You can also request "quarterly reports" or "semi-annual reports" from Claude. Viewing long-term trends gives you bigger insights!