# Shared Finances Meeting Pack

For the method in
[Preparing for a Shared Finances Meeting, From Your Own Statements](/articles/shared-finances-meeting-preparation).
Build this from your own statements only — no estimates, no product recommendations.

## Not for

Investment, tax, or debt-restructuring advice. Anything flagged below needs a qualified,
licensed adviser, not this pack.

## Before you start

- [ ] Pulled statements for the last 1-3 months (bank, credit card, joint accounts)
- [ ] Redacted full account numbers and sensitive merchant lines (medical, legal, benefits) before pasting or uploading anything
- [ ] Using a tool with training turned off or a temporary/incognito chat mode

## Categorized spending — [month]

| Category | Total | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Housing | | |
| Utilities | | |
| Groceries | | |
| Transport | | |
| Debt payments | | |
| Subscriptions | | |
| Discretionary / other | | |
| Income | | |

**Cross-checked category totals against the actual statement total:** ☐ Yes

## One open question each

- **Partner A's question:**
- **Partner B's question:**

## Needs a qualified adviser, not this exercise

List anything involving tax, debt strategy, investment choices, insurance, or legal questions —
do not attempt to resolve these in the meeting.

-
-

## The meeting

- **Date / time (30-45 minutes):**
- **What we agreed on:**
- **Which flagged items we're booking professional time for, and by when:**

## The three prompts to reuse

**1. Categorize spending**

```text
Here are my transactions for [month], with account numbers and any
account holder names removed, and sensitive merchant lines
generalized: [paste redacted list]

Categorize each transaction into: housing, utilities, groceries,
transport, debt payments, subscriptions, discretionary/other, and
income. Total each category. Do not comment on whether any category
looks high or low — just organize and total what I gave you.
```

**2. Phrase an open question**

```text
Looking at this categorized spending summary [paste your totals], help
me phrase one specific, non-accusatory question I want to raise in our
finances meeting — about a category, a trend, or something I don't
understand about our spending. Do not suggest what the answer should
be or whether the spending is a problem; just help me phrase the
question clearly.
```

**3. Flag adviser-required items**

```text
From this categorized summary [paste], list any items that look like
they involve a tax question, a debt strategy decision, an investment
choice, or an insurance/legal question — rather than ordinary spending
categorization. Label these clearly as "needs a qualified adviser,
not this exercise." Do not attempt to answer them yourself.
```

## Recurring meeting log

| Month | Biggest change | Question raised | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| | | | |