The Mom Fund

the AI starter checklist

Set up your first AI tool, try ten prompts for real life, and check them off as you go. No tech background needed.

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Ready when you are.

Section 01

The setup

Three steps. Five minutes. You only do this once.

Pick your AI

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or Perplexity. They're all free to start, and every prompt on this list works in all of them. Download one, sign up with your email, done.

Don't overthink the pick. One tool, used ten times this week, beats five apps you never open. You can always switch later.

Turn on voice mode

On mobile, tap the microphone and just talk to it. Talking while you're doing something else is where AI actually saves time.

Snap a photo of something

When explaining is the hard part, don't. Photograph the fridge, the school form, the broken thing, and ask about it.

AI can see photos. Most people don't know this. It changes everything.

Section 02

Home and family

Try each prompt. Check it off when you do. No rush.

The fridge dinner

Prompt

You are my meal planning assistant. Here's what's in the fridge: [list]. In the pantry: [list]. Give me 3 dinner ideas under 45 minutes tonight, using only what's here. Include the steps.

Why it works: constraints. AI wanders unless you tell it exactly what it has to work with.

The kid's birthday

Prompt

You are my party-planning assistant. I'm hosting a [age]-year-old's birthday for [number] kids on [date]. Give me a 3-hour timeline, a game list, a shopping list grouped by store, and a text I can copy for the group-chat invite. Ask clarifying questions first.

Why it works: "ask clarifying questions first" turns AI from a search engine into a collaborator.

The gaps in the week

Prompt

Here's our family schedule this week: [dump]. Find the actual gaps. Where can I fit an errand, a workout, and one hour with just my partner? Tell me what to move if it doesn't fit.

Why it works: AI is faster than you at seeing gaps. You are faster at deciding what matters.

Section 03

Work and career

The reply you're avoiding

Prompt

Draft a reply to this email: [paste]. Match the sender's tone. Keep it under four sentences. Make one clear ask at the end.

Why it works: tone-match plus a word limit. Most people forget both and end up sounding stiff.

The meeting you took notes in

Prompt

Here are my meeting notes: [dump]. Give me: (1) the decisions made, (2) my action items, (3) who I need to follow up with. Nothing else.

Why it works: you wrote notes to be found later. This is what "found later" looks like.

The project you're stuck on

Prompt

I'm working on [project]. I'm stuck on [specific piece]. Ask me five questions that would help me get unstuck. Don't answer them yourself. Just ask.

Why it works: AI as a mirror, not an oracle. Best prompt in this kit for anything creative.

The brief you keep rewriting

Prompt

Rewrite this in half the words: [paste]. Keep the meaning. Cut the corporate voice.

Why it works: "half the words" is a real constraint. AI will actually do it.

Section 04

The invisible work

The things nobody sees you do. AI sees them.

The gift you owe someone

Prompt

Help me pick a gift for [person], my [relationship]. They love [three things], hate [one thing]. Budget: $[X]. Occasion: [X]. Give me five ideas ranked by "how much they'd talk about it."

Why it works: the ranking criterion is the magic. Change it to change what you get.

The weekend, planned

Prompt

It's Friday. My family has [X hours] free this weekend. Weather is [X]. Give me one anchor plan for Saturday and one for Sunday, not a list. Include where, when, what to pack, and one restaurant near it.

Why it works: one next step per day, not thirty tabs.

Dinner for a week

Prompt

Give me a five-night dinner plan for a family of [X]. Two nights under 30 minutes. One night should stretch into next-day lunch. Group the shopping list by grocery-store aisle.

Why it works: the shopping list by aisle. That's what saves the trip, not the recipes.

You did it.

All thirteen. You didn't read about AI. You used it. The AI Edit lands every Friday with tested tools and prompts that work.

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