| name | budget-review |
| description | Use when performing monthly budget review or user asks for spending summary, budget vs actual, financial report, or recurring charges audit. Generates 6-section Telegram report on 1st of month. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | Hermes Agent |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"hermes":{"tags":["home-assistant","rocha-family","finance","budget","monthly"],"related_skills":["finance-manager","family-profile","telegram-bridge"]}} |
Budget Review Skill
Overview
Monthly (1st of month) deep-dive budget report for the Rocha family. Covers spending breakdown, budget vs actual, trends, recurring charges, upcoming bills, and recommendations. Also includes a Baby/Twins Expense section given NICU twin context.
Sourced from: budget-review.agent.md + budget-reporting/SKILL.md
When to Use
- Scheduled: 1st of each month (cron trigger)
- On-demand: Hector asks for "budget report", "spending summary", "budget check", "where did money go"
- Weekly planner: include Steps 1 + 5 only (spending context for week)
- Daily briefing: Step 5 only (bills due next 3 days)
Report Structure (6 Steps — Canonical Order)
Step 1: Spending Summary
get_spending_summary(start_date: "YYYY-MM-01", end_date: "YYYY-MM-DD")
Format:
💰 Monthly Summary (Month YYYY)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Total Spent: $X,XXX
Total Income: $X,XXX
Net: +/-$X,XXX
Break down by top 5 categories with amounts and %.
Step 2: Budget vs Actual
Compare each category against target:
- 🟢 Under budget — celebrate
- 🟡 At budget (90-100%) — note
- 🔴 Over budget — flag amount over
Calculate overall adherence: (at/under) / total × 100%
Step 3: Trends
Compare to prior month:
get_spending_summary(prior_period_start, prior_period_end)
- Note increases/decreases by category
- Flag unusual one-time expenses
- Identify patterns (subscription creep)
Step 4: Recurring Charges Audit
get_recurring(min_occurrences: 3)
- List all subscriptions + monthly cost
- Flag new recurring charges since last review
- Total monthly subscription burn
Step 5: Upcoming Bills
- Monthly review: full next month view
- Weekly planner: next 7 days
- Daily briefing: next 3 days only
Step 6: Recommendations
1–3 actionable items:
- Over-budget → specific reduction idea
- Unused subscriptions → cancellation suggestion
- Positive trend → reinforcement ("kept food budget tight — 👏")
Section 7 (Rocha-specific): 👶 Twins/NICU Expenses
- Track NICU co-pays, baby gear, nursery, medical supplies
- Compare to baby budget if set
- Medical costs are non-negotiable — never recommend cutting baby/medical/NICU line items
- Report without judgment; these are expected
Integration Map
| Consumer | Steps Used |
|---|
budget-review (monthly) | All (1–7) |
daily-briefing | Step 5 only |
finance-manager (on-demand) | Steps 1, 2, 4 |
weekly-planner | Steps 1, 5 |
Delivery Rules
- Send via Telegram to Hector (7729308746)
- Include
speak param: 1-sentence TTS of net result (e.g. "Down $200 vs last month, net positive by $400.")
- Paula: DO NOT send full budget report. At most a 2-line summary if she asks directly
- Quiet hours: no delivery 10 PM – 7 AM CT
- Length: use sections/bullets for Telegram-friendly layout; full report is OK monthly
Tone Rules
- Financial HEALTH framing, never guilt
- Lead with the number, then context
- Emojis for visual scanning: 💰 📊 🎯 📈 📋 💡
- No moralizing about spending categories
- Positive reinforcement when budget is healthy
Common Pitfalls
- ❌ Don't lecture about spending — report and suggest, never judge
- ❌ Don't recommend cutting NICU/medical/baby expenses
- ❌ Don't send detailed finance report to Paula (message limits)
- ❌ Don't skip Section 7 — twins expenses are always relevant right now
- ❌ Don't fabricate data if spending tools are unavailable — report "data unavailable" explicitly
Verification Checklist
