Chat GPT money help 2023: can AI help me save cash?

Lily Canter asked ChatGPT for tips on budgeting, finding cheap flights, meal planning and more, but wasn’t blown away by the results.

Looking at the headlines there seems to be an equal measure of excitement and panic surrounding the use of artificial intelligence.

It can fabricate photographs, write essays and create branded social media content.

Could it actually offer anything creative or innovative that a quick Google or spreadsheet couldn't go?

First steps: what questions to ask?

I wanted to find out if AI could help me save money, but wasn't really sure where to start.

So I turned to the Facebook group GPTChat Idea, Tricks & Tips.

I searched for ways to save money and how to use AI for budgeting.

I found some vague references to using it for meal planning and creating spreadsheets but nothing specific.

However, I did find a couple of good cheat sheets that explained how to give instructions to AI and what to ask for.

Since this search didn't bring up anything particularly illuminating, I decided the best next step was to ask the AI.

So, I logged in to ChatGPT where I already had a free account and wrote: "List all the ways ChatGPT can help me save money."

Within seconds it produced a list of 15 points such as:

Budgeting Assistance
ChatGPT can help you create and manage a budget. It can offer tips on tracking expenses, setting financial goals, and making a spending plan

Coupon and Discount Tips
It can provide tips on finding coupons, using cashback offers, and taking advantage of discounts to save on purchases.

Investment Advice (Basic)
It can provide introductory information on different types of investments, explain risk levels, and suggest resources for further research.

Specific savings

I decided to dig a bit deeper into some on these and asked it to help me save money on a forthcoming short break to Mallorca.

I gave the dates, destination, preferred airport and number of people travelling.

Once more it responded with a rather generic list of answers such as:

Book in Advance
Start looking for flight deals early. Booking in advance often helps you secure better prices.

Compare Prices
Use flight comparison websites or apps to find the best deals from Birmingham Airport to Mallorca.

Consider using flexible date search options to find the cheapest days to fly.

Consider Nearby Airports
Check if there are cheaper flights from nearby airports like Manchester, London, or East Midlands.

Sometimes, a short train or bus ride can save you money on flights.

This was all useful advice, but it didn't give me anything specific.

It hadn’t found the cheapest flights or accommodation for me, I still had to do all the research.

When I asked about the best way to exchange pounds to Euros it generated another list of tips but again didn't recommend any top deals, which I could find fairly easily myself online.

Even when I asked for a recommendation about a specific service it still only gave me a list of pros and cons.

Another problem was the information dated back to September 2021 and it was missing quite a lot of key banks and online currency exchanges.

Part of the issue is the free version doesn't search the web and even the premium version which can access it via plug-ins, is still rather limited.

Can Chat GPT help me budget?

As I now knew it couldn't recommend specific products or deals, I decided to see if the AI was better at offering budgeting help.

Using the crib sheet, I had found on Facebook I wrote: “Act as a financial planner and create a budget for me shown as a CSV file.”

It responded:

“I can certainly help you create a basic budget in CSV format.

“Please provide me with the following information:

“Income: List all sources of income and their respective amounts.

“Expenses: Categorize your expenses (eg, rent, utilities, groceries, transportation, entertainment, savings, etc.) and provide the estimated amounts.

“Savings Goals (if any): Specify any specific savings goals you have in mind.

“Once you provide this information, I'll generate a budget in CSV format for you.”

I provided this information plus additional categories such as school fees and dog fees (food, insurance, vet fees, dog walker), which seemed to completely throw the AI.

It created a spreadsheet, but the figures were incorrect as it missed my additional categories.

When I pointed this out it apologised and came up with two more spreadsheets and asked me which one was correct.

One of them was correct but I had to do the sums myself to know this.

My conclusion was it would have been far more accurate and taken the same amount of time to have done this exercise myself on a spreadsheet.

Can Chat GPT help me with meal planning?

I wondered if I would have more success with meal planning as other people had recommended this.

I inputted:

“I have £65 to feed a family of four. Please create a meal plan for 4 people for 7 days which will cost less than £65.”

It then came up with a detailed plan for three meals a day across a week including prices.

When I asked it to use ingredients from Lidl it slightly adjusted the cost and came in at £64.54.

It had also remembered from a previous chat that we don't eat meat so all the meals were fish or vegetarian.

Looking at the pricing more carefully I could see that they were not accurate particularly to feed four people.

It claimed frozen mixed vegetables were 75p when actually they are 99p.

It also claimed tofu was £1.25 rather than the actual price of £1.99 (occasionally £1.49).

It also seemed to forget that oatmeal (or porridge) is usually mixed with milk.

Although the meals were healthy and the type of food we would eat, some of them were quite unsubstantial such as tomato and cucumber salad with canned tuna and crackers.

Conclusion: Chat GPT not yet ready to offer financial help

In all honesty, I was pretty disappointed.

When I first started playing around with ChatGPT asking it to write poems and explain topics it spat out impressive results.

But when you want it to do something more specific it really seems to have its limitations.

It is good at providing generic advice, summaries and ideas but it can't be trusted to give accurate or detailed information.

Given time I am sure it will become more effective but I won't be giving up my spreadsheet or search engine anytime soon.

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