About
AI tools
Who should skip this. Anyone about to paste a statement, account number, Social Security number, or bank login into a chatbot.
What this page is
AI is not the product. AI is not an adviser.
FourHundred pages are written and sourced by people. A model may help you *read* those pages faster. It may not choose a card, a loan, a settlement company, a bankruptcy filing, or an investment.
This page is a filter. The launch list is three tools. Listings are not endorsements. A tool stays here only if we can say what it cannot do.
Allowed
A model may:
- Explain a term that already appears on FourHundred ($400 cash or its equivalent, minimum payment, validation notice, 7-day cash map)
- Compare two methods that are already published here, using only the text on those pages
- Sort a spending list that contains no account numbers, Social Security numbers, or logins
- Draft questions to ask a landlord, card issuer, hospital billing office, utility, or nonprofit counselor
After the draft exists, you send it. The model does not send it for you.
Not allowed
A model must not:
- Tell you which product to buy, which account to open, or which company to pay first as if it could see your file
- Tell you whether to file bankruptcy
- Tell you what to invest in
- Receive live bank, brokerage, or credit-account access
- Receive a Social Security number, full account number, routing number, password, one-time code, or a complete statement in a public chatbot
- Replace legal aid when a summons is on the table
If a tool needs those inputs to “work,” it does not belong on this page.
How to use a general model with FourHundred
Do the situation path first. Then, if you still want a model, paste page text, not account text.
You can copy one of these. Fill only the brackets. Leave balances and account numbers out.
Explain a term
I am reading FourHundred. Explain “cash or its equivalent” in the Federal Reserve $400 question in plain English. Do not tell me what I should do with my own money. Do not recommend a product.
Compare two published methods
Compare these two FourHundred pages using only the text I paste. List who each page is for and who should skip it. Do not add a third method. Do not recommend a card or a loan. Page A: [paste] Page B: [paste]
Draft questions, not a decision
Draft six questions I can ask a [card issuer / hospital billing office / landlord / utility] about a hardship arrangement. Do not tell me which offer to take. Do not ask for my account number.
Sort a list without identifiers
Here is a list of spending categories and dollar amounts for one week. No account numbers. Group them into housing, food, work transport, medicine, and other. Do not tell me what to cancel.
If the model answers with a product name, a ticker, or “connect your bank,” stop. That answer is outside the filter.
Launch list (three)
1. A general-purpose chatbot
Examples people already have: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and similar assistants. FourHundred does not rank them and does not need you to open a new account to use this site.
Use for: the four allowed jobs above, with the prompts on this page. Do not use for: live account connections, document filing, product picks, or legal strategy. Cannot do: see your lease, your state court rules, or your full credit file. Treat any dollar figure it invents as an example until you check your statement.
2. CFPB Ask CFPB
Official consumer questions and answers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/
Use for: debt collection notices, credit-card rules, mortgage servicer questions, what a collector has to tell you. Do not use for: a personalized payoff plan. Cannot do: call your issuer or change your due date. It explains the rule. You still make the call.
3. IRS Interactive Tax Assistant
Official walk-throughs for defined federal tax questions.
Use for: whether a type of income is taxable, whether you can claim a standard deduction, basic filing-status questions the tool actually covers. Do not use for: choosing an investment, or deciding whether to raid a retirement account to pay a collector. Cannot do: replace a tax preparer when the fact pattern is messy, or tell you which bill to pay.
That is the list. No AI “debt destroyer,” no app that wants Plaid access, no model that will pick a balance-transfer card.
If money is already short this month
Do not start with a chatbot.
- Housing, utilities, food, medicine at risk → Start here: I may not make this month’s bills
- Collector or court paper → Start here: I am late, or in collections
- Balance rising on an otherwise current card → Start here: My credit card balance is growing
A model can draft the phone questions *after* you know which path you are on.
How FourHundred itself uses AI
Pages are published only after a person checks sources, dollar examples, and the “who should skip this” line. If AI is used to outline a page, it does not get to invent a statistic. Evidence still has to point at a primary document.
See Method for the rest of the editorial rules.
Related pages
- Method
- Start here: I may not make this month’s bills
- Foundation: The $400 test
- Playbook: Why the minimum payment keeps a card balance alive
FourHundred is an education tool. It is not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to use a particular chatbot.