BoilerBudget

Boiler Budget is a smart personal finance extension and Bitlife inspired web app that helps users track spending, plan monthly budgets, and make smarter financial choices all without the stress.

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Inspiration

Managing spending habits and financial planning can feel overwhelming and restrictive, especially when it comes to impulse purchases. We wanted to create a tool that helps people pause, reflect, and make better financial decisions without feeling judged or stressed.

What it does

BoilerBudget is a browser extension that intercepts impulse purchases and the web app asks users interactive, BitLife-style questions before they complete a unique or high-risk purchase. By simulating real-life financial scenarios and gamifying decision-making, BoilerBudget helps users better understand the consequences of their spending choices while earning rewards for smarter decisions.

How we built it

We built BoilerBudget using a browser extension paired with a web application. The frontend was developed with Next.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The backend was implemented in Python. We integrated ElevenLabs for text-to-speech to create an engaging, immersive experience, and used Gemini to dynamically generate BitLife-inspired questions and prompts based on user behavior.

Challenges we ran into

  • Designing meaningful financial questions that felt engaging rather than intrusive
  • Managing state and data synchronization between the browser extension and web app
  • Handling API integration and permissions within a browser extension environment
  • Balancing gamification with real-world financial accuracy ## Accomplishments that we're proud of
  • Successfully building a working browser extension and web app integration
  • Creating a unique, gamified approach to financial decision-making
  • Implementing AI-generated scenario questions tailored to user spending habits
  • Adding text-to-speech for accessibility and engagement ## What we learned
  • How to build and debug browser extensions that communicate with backend services
  • Best practices for integrating AI-generated content responsibly
  • The importance of user-centered design when dealing with personal finance
  • How gamification can positively influence real-world behavior ## What's next for BoilerBudget We plan to expand BoilerBudget with personalized financial insights, long-term spending analytics, and adaptive difficulty for questions based on user behavior. Future features include goal-based budgeting, social accountability, and deeper AI-driven personalization to help users build healthier financial habits over time.

Built With

  • css
  • css-web-application-?-next.js
  • elevenlabs
  • gemini
  • github
  • html
  • javascript
  • next.js
  • python
  • typescript
  • typescript-backend-?-python-ai-/-ml-?-google-gemini-(dynamic-bitlife-style-question-and-prompt-generation)-text-to-speech-?-elevenlabs-apis-&-integration-?-rest-apis-styling-?-css-version-control-?-git
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