FL Finance Manager

Overview page
Sign in screen
Overview page showing drop down menu
Adding purchases screen to keep a record
Shows history of past purchases
User can set or update their budget plan

Inspiration

As students, we have found that it becomes increasingly more difficult to manage personal finances during the transition to university due to progressively busier schedules. However, as we all know, it is important for students especially to be aware of their spending habits to effectively manage their available funds as most do not have a steady stream of income throughout the year on top of paying off tuition and other loans.

What it does

Allows students to form a budget plan to keep on top of their financial situation
Tracks and analyzes students’ spending habits for patterns to predict and project their typical purchases out for the duration of the school year
If the student is approaching their limit the app will send the student a warning notification that their recurring purchase coming up is going to push them over their budget assuming their spending habits continue, giving them advance notice so that they can adjust their schedules to make time for cheaper alternatives
Makes day to day decisions for students, updates in real-time, and calculates the numbers for the students, opposed to simply suggesting a number from the students manual input of information and leaving the student to monitor and manage their spending habits without real-time guidance throughout the month/year

How we built it

We used HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Photoshop to build the website which models our app.

Challenges we ran into

The time constraint of 24 hours was challenging to work with, especially since we are all beginners with different backgrounds and skill sets. Since this was our first Hackathon, we didn't have any idea of what to build nor what to expect. We decided to focus on a finance related hack as two members had a business background. Converting an abstract idea into a realistic visual app or website is the most difficult part. We needed to consider all aspects that users might want or not want. We discussed all the features and decided on ones that could be done within the time limit, as well as a list of ideas to implement in the future. Also, putting all the necessary details or data into one page can also be challenging in the design aspect.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The overview page design summarizing of the user's finances has a clean and easy to use interface. Radio selection buttons divides the budget into monthly, weekly and daily for a straightforward presentation of data. We found a way to put all the data that would interest the user the most into one page in order to provide a smoother experience. As well, we're proud of the fact that we were able to quickly connect as a team and come up with an idea.

What we learned

We all gained new skills and experience while thinking up and making this project. Finishing a project based on abstract ideas within the time limit can be hard, however, we were able to divide the project into achievable features and learned new skills in the process. As well, attending workshops inspired us in many ways by learning about advanced technologies and ideas not touched upon in school.

What's next for FL Finance Manager

The original intent for this project was for it to be an app, so creating that from the website model would be the first step. The app would be linked to the user's bank account, with their data being encrypted for security. We would like to implement a machine learning algorithm to analyze spending patterns of the client and be able to provide suggestions on how to save costs. As well, we would like to make it easier for students to input their purchases by allowing them to take pictures of their receipts, and train an image recognition AI to automatically enter in their purchases along with the cost and date. We would like to make this compatible with both computer and phones for convenience. With more time, we would use php and MySQL to create APIs for users to achieve synchronous data.