Build a Self-Updating Personal Budget with Claude
Most budgets die because they run on willpower and manual data entry. Mine doesn't. I built my own with Claude — a spreadsheet that's the record, and a Claude project that's the brain, reading my transactions and categorizing them every month in minutes. In this session we build you the same thing, live, and run your real last month through it so you walk away with actual numbers, not a demo. WHAT'S INCLUDED • Live working session, screen-shared — we build together, no homework and no template you'll abandon. • Your budget dashboard: income, spending by category, savings rate, and a net-worth trend — real formulas and charts, in Excel or Google Sheets. • The "project brain": a Claude project that reads a bank or credit-card export and categorizes every transaction, monthly, in minutes. • Your real first month, categorized live — you leave with true numbers, not a demo. • A repeatable 10-minute monthly ritual: export, paste, ask Claude, done. • Optional net-worth tracking, savings goals, and a subscription audit. • Your data stays yours — everything lives in your own files. • 48-hour post-build support window. BEST FIT IF • You've started five budgets and abandoned all five. • You want to actually see your money — spending, savings rate, net worth — in one place. • You'd rather own a spreadsheet you understand than rent another budgeting app. • You want the system to update itself, not become one more chore. NOT A FIT IF • You want me to manage your money or pick investments — I build the system, not the advice (I'm not a financial advisor). • You need multi-entity business accounting — that's QuickBooks, a different tool. • You want a hands-off app you never open — this is a system you run in ten minutes a month. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pre-call brief (~24h before): you tell me your accounts, rough categories, and what you want to track. 2. Live build (1–10h by tier): we build the spreadsheet and the Claude project together — you watch how I prompt and categorize. 3. Your real month, live: we run your actual last month through it so you leave with real numbers. 4. You leave with the keys: the spreadsheet and the Claude project are yours; I show you the 10-minute monthly ritual. 5. 48-hour post-build support window — anything breaks, message me and we fix it. Tiers run from a 1-hour scoping consult to a full 10-hour build with the automation layer, goals, a subscription audit, and a follow-up session. Pick your tier below.
What's included
I run this as a live, screen-shared build — we make the real thing together, I don't hand you a template. You'll watch exactly how I prompt Claude and wire up the spreadsheet, so you can change and extend it yourself long after the session. No coding and no jargon: if you can copy and paste, you can keep this running. I commit to a real turnaround, and there's a 48-hour support window after we build, so if anything breaks you're not stuck.
- A working budget dashboard in Excel or Google Sheets — income, spending by category, savings rate, and a net-worth trend
- A Claude "project brain" that categorizes your bank and card transactions every month in minutes
- Your real last month categorized live, so you leave with true numbers — not a demo
- A repeatable 10-minute monthly ritual to keep it current — plus a 48-hour post-build support window
Meet your expert
Ben L.
• Stanford GSB Alum, Class of 2021 -- see relevant background & experience below: • Coaching | Advised 400+ admits into Stanford GSB, HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, INSEAD, Haas, and more (see ~100 Leland reviews), while teaching multiple courses through Leland • What I'm Doing Now | Based in NYC, building a publication 'Staying Human', working on a stealth, marketplace startup, coaching and playing chess profssionally, and advising a slate of Seed to Series C startups through Elevate LLC • Public Policy | Prior to Stanford, worked on the Policy Team for the Chicago Mayor's Office under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, focusing on 5G infrastructure policy, criminal justice policy, and citywide corporate/economic development deals • McKinsey | Before policy, worked at McKinsey & Co , with casework focused on job training for the formerly incarcerated and workforce development for at-risk youth • PE / VC / Startup Advising | After Stanford, worked in Bain's Private Equity Group on various due diliegences, managed deals with several venture capital firms, and advised multiple startups on growth and go-to-market strategy • Professional Writing | Speechwriting in public policy & political environments, Lead Editor for Nondisclosure (Stanford GSB's magazine) and Managing Editor for the Stanford International Policy Review • Additional Writing | Crafting op-eds, ghostwriting for major publications, developing a fictional short story collection, policy deep dives, a book on chess applications to life, and application essays of all sorts • GMAT / Test-Taking | Scored in the highest percentile of GMAT test-takers, but more importantly I've honed my ability to help others extrapolate top test-testing strategies in the areas they're weakest • Additional Coaching Details | 5+ years experience working with >750 individuals on essay writing and resume professionalization for top consulting firms, MBA programs, execs, and the broader job market • Interview Training | I was interview-trained with McKinsey, helping me give high-quality mock interviews for MBBs and any MBA program; I've also held 10+ events through Leland on interview prep for McKinsey's PEI and GSB's interview process in particular