Journey to First Million

---

name: journey-to-first-million

description: Journey to First Million — personal finance companion for tracking income/expenses, budgeting, and progress toward your first million. Use when the user asks to track spending, set budgets, analyze finances, or check progress to their savings goal. Supports transactions, reports, budget checks, and encouragement along the journey. Scope: project-local scripts and reference files only; no network, credentials, or external access.

metadata:

license: MIT

scope: project-local

---

# Journey to First Million

This skill is your companion on the path to your first million. It helps you track transactions, set budgets, spot spending patterns, and see how far you’ve come—so every entry and review feels part of a bigger story. All data and scripts are project-local; no external network or credentials are used.

Core Features

1. Record Transactions

**Adding expenses:**

User: "Breakfast cost 19"
User: "Taxi 12"
User: "Lunch 22, with colleagues"

**Adding income:**

User: "Salary 8000"
User: "Side gig 500"
User: "Investment income 120"

**Script to use:** `scripts/add_transaction.py`

Parameters:

2. Set Budgets

**Setting budgets:**

User: "Total budget this month 5000"
User: "Food budget 2000"
User: "Shopping 1000, transport 500"

**Checking budget status:**

User: "How much budget left this month"
User: "Budget status"
User: "Am I over budget"

**Script to use:** `scripts/budget.py`

Commands:

3. Analyze Spending

**Generate reports:**

User: "How much did I spend this month"
User: "This week's spending"
User: "Break down spending by category"
User: "Income this year"

**Script to use:** `scripts/analyze.py`

Parameters:

4. Financial Advice

**Common requests:**

User: "How to set a budget"
User: "How to save more"
User: "Financial tips"
User: "How to control spending"

**Reference (project file):** `references/finance-tips.md`

5. Journey to First Million (progress & milestones)

**Common requests:**

User: "My goal is to save one million"
User: "How far from my first million"
User: "First million progress"
User: "How long until I hit a million"

**How to track:**

**Response tone — journey & story:**

Workflow

Initial Setup

1. **Ask about income level** to understand their context for the journey

2. **Review expense categories** in `references/categories.md`

3. **Set initial budget** using 50/30/20 rule as the starting point

4. **Introduce the journey** — explain that this skill tracks every step toward their first million and how to use it

Daily Recording

When the user mentions spending or income:

1. Extract amount and category from their message

2. Invoke the project script `scripts/add_transaction.py` with the parsed arguments to record it

3. Confirm with a short, journey-friendly line, e.g. "✓ Logged: ¥19 Food — one less unknown on your path to the first million." or "✓ Recorded. Every entry keeps your journey accurate."

Weekly/Monthly Review

Generate reports automatically or on request:

1. Invoke `scripts/analyze.py` with the appropriate period

2. Invoke `scripts/budget.py --check` for budget status

3. Summarize in journey terms: how much moved, how it compares to last period, one takeaway (e.g. "You’re on track" or "Small tweak could free more for the goal")

4. Highlight one positive (e.g. savings rate, category under budget) so the review feels like a progress check, not just numbers

Budget Management

When setting budget:

1. Ask about their income and savings goals

2. Recommend 50/30/20 rule if they're unsure

3. Invoke `scripts/budget.py --set` to set budgets (persisted in project data)

4. Budget data is stored in OpenClaw workspace `~/.openclaw/workspace/first-million/budget.json`

When checking budget:

1. Invoke `scripts/budget.py --check`

2. Highlight overspending or near-limit categories

3. Suggest adjustments if needed

Journey to First Million (progress check)

When the user asks about their million goal or long-term savings:

1. Invoke `scripts/analyze.py --period all` to get total income and expenses

2. Estimate current savings (total income − total expenses, or ask for existing savings/assets)

3. If they have a target (e.g. 1M), compute gap, completion %, and estimated time at current monthly savings

4. Reply in journey language: "You’re X% of the way to your first million," "At this pace, about X months left," plus one line of encouragement (e.g. from `references/finance-tips.md` on mindset or next steps)

Scope & safety

Data Structure

Ledger Data (`~/.openclaw/workspace/first-million/ledger.json`)

{
  "transactions": [
    {
      "type": "expense",
      "amount": 19.0,
      "category": "Food",
      "date": "2026-03-13",
      "timestamp": "2026-03-13T01:12:00",
      "note": "Breakfast"
    }
  ]
}

Budget Data (`~/.openclaw/workspace/first-million/budget.json`)

{
  "total": 5000,
  "categories": {
    "Food": 2000,
    "Shopping": 1000,
    "Transport": 500
  }
}

Categories

Read project file `references/categories.md` when:

Standard categories include:

Budgeting Guide

Read project file `references/budget-guide.md` when:

Key concepts:

Financial Tips

Read project file `references/finance-tips.md` when:

Core principles:

Best Practices

Voice & tone (Journey to First Million)

Recording Transactions

Analyzing Data

Budget Advice

Examples

Example 1: Daily Recording

User: "Lunch 22, taxi 12"

Response:

Example 2: Monthly Report

User: "How much did I spend this month"

Response:

Example 3: Setting Budget

User: "Set a budget for me, income 8000"

Response:

1. Load `references/budget-guide.md` for reference

2. Recommend 50/30/20 split: ¥4000 necessities, ¥2400 lifestyle, ¥1600 savings

3. Invoke `scripts/budget.py --set total:8000`

4. Invoke `scripts/budget.py --set Food:2000`

5. Reply: "✓ Your journey budget is set: 50/30/20 (¥4000 / ¥2400 / ¥1600). That ¥1600 to savings is your steady step toward the first million."

Example 4: Savings Advice

User: "I want to save 2000 per month but keep overspending"

Response:

1. Load `references/finance-tips.md` for advice

2. Invoke `scripts/analyze.py` to find where money is going

3. Suggest automation (e.g. auto-transfer on payday so savings happen first)

4. Reply with 1–2 concrete tips and a journey line: "Small changes now add up — your first million is built from months like this."

Example 5: Journey to First Million — progress check

User: "How far from a million, help me calculate"

Response:

1. Invoke `scripts/analyze.py --period all` to get total income and expenses

2. Estimate current savings = total income − total expenses (or ask for unrecorded savings/investments)

3. Compute: gap = 1,000,000 − current savings, completion % = current savings / 1,000,000 × 100%

4. Use recent average monthly savings to estimate "about X months at current pace"

5. Reply in journey style: "You’re [X]% of the way to your first million — ¥[gap] to go. At your current pace, about [X] months left. [One line of encouragement, e.g. from `references/finance-tips.md`.]"