Budgetly

Budgetly: The ultimate financial companion that tracks spending, manages investments, and optimizes meal planning—all in one seamless platform, helping you stay on top of your budget effortlessly.

Comment

Inspiration

In today's fast-paced world, managing personal finances has become increasingly complex. We noticed that while there are many budgeting apps available, most of them focus solely on tracking expenses rather than providing actionable insights and personalized data for saving. Our team members' own struggles with financial planning during college inspired us to create a solution that would make budgeting more accessible for everyone.

What it does

Budgetly is a comprehensive personal finance management platform that combines intelligent expense tracking with personalized financial education. Key features include:

  • Goal-based Savings Calculator: Enter your target savings amount and deadline, and our calculator determines the required weekly contributions to reach your goal.
  • Budgeting: Customizable budget templates based on income and lifestyle.
  • Meal Prep: AI-powered meal prep to plan meals for the week based on budget, number of meals, and dietary restrictions.
  • Stock Recommendations: ML trained on stock API to help choose which stocks are best for you.

How we built it

We developed Budgetly using a modern tech stack designed for scalability and real-time performance:

  • Frontend: React.js
  • Backend: Node.js and Express for the API server
  • Database: MongoDB for flexible data storage and quick retrieval
  • Machine Learning: PyTorch for stock training
  • Authentication: Firebase
  • Real-time Updates: WebSocket implementation for live transaction updates
  • Cloud Infrastructure: MongoAtlas hosted on AWS

Challenges we ran into

Building Budgetly came with several significant challenges:

  • Developing accurate machine learning models for transaction categorization with limited initial training data.
  • Creating good and consistent recipes.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are incredibly proud of how everything has come together. Not only does the project look and feel amazing, but it’s also something that will provide real, practical value. It’s great to see how our hard work and attention to detail have resulted in something not only visually appealing but also truly useful in a way that will make a difference. The balance of form and function is exactly what we set out to achieve, and it’s rewarding to see it all come to life in a way that will have lasting impact.

What's next for Budgetly

Our immediate focus is on expanding Budgetly's financial integration capabilities:

  • Direct integration with major banks through their APIs for real-time transaction tracking
  • Connection to popular stock brokerage platforms to monitor investment portfolios
  • Implementation of a unified dashboard for viewing both banking and investment data
  • Development of automated transaction categorization for investment activities
  • Creation of comprehensive financial reports combining banking and investment data
  • Building robust security measures to protect sensitive financial account information
  • Setting up automated alert systems for unusual banking or trading activities
Share this project:

Updates