Did your AI budget count the credit card payment as more spending?

Before cutting the grocery budget because an AI summary says you overspent, check how it treated the credit card payment. If the assistant has both the card purchases and the bank withdrawal that paid them off, adding both to a purchase total counts the same spending again. YNAB's existing credit card guide makes the distinction concrete: purchases go into spending categories, while paying the card is recorded as a transfer. Interest and fees get their own transactions. That's a documented accounting approach, not evidence that a particular AI assistant gets this wrong. I'd ask for two clearly labelled views: purchases during the period, and cash leaving the bank account. Repaying an older balance still needs money in the bank this month; it doesn't mean you bought those things again this month. A single ‘monthly spending’ number can hide which question was answered. Try the check with a small made-up transaction list before sharing financial records. Ask the assistant to identify which rows contribute to each total and which are transfers. This is a check I'd propose, not a tool test I've run. You should be able to trace an alarming number before it changes what your household thinks it can afford.