Harness is not a budget

Inspiration

As students, we know we need to be more responsible with money, but we found that the tools that exist don't work for us: our income varies throughout the year, and so do our expenses. It feels like budgeting apps force you to give up spontaneity. We set out to design something different.

What it does

Harness isn't a budget - it's a tool that lets you know what's safe to spend at a glance, so you can live without worrying about your bank account. It's designed to fit into your life: when you want to meet expenses or save for a goal, set aside cash. Harness is as flexible as you are: if your plans or goals change, you can adjust at any time. It's just a tap away to see what you can spend so that you can live without worry.

With Harness, you set aside the money you need for things like rent, utilities, investing, retirement, saving for a vacation, and then spending the rest however you want. There's no need to worry about accidentally running out of cash - it's easy to check-in at any time with just a tap. But if your plans change, adjust the money you have set aside - it's financial smarts that's easy to stick with because you don't have to change your routine.

How we built it

Harness is an iOS app built with Swift UI and a Ruby on Rails API backend. We use Plaid to connect your bank account and credit card to give you a real-time view of your finances and what's safe to spend at any given time.

Challenges we ran into

While two of us had prior experience with iOS development, this was our first hackathon project. Building on a deadline is difficult: especially when using a new framework like SwiftUI. Notably, we struggled with getting Plaid and phone number inputs to work.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

One of the things we're most proud of is the "available to spend" feature. The formula is relatively simple: bank account balance - money set aside = available to spend, but it provides many possibilities for flexible and straightforward money management, without a lot of extra complexity.

What we learned

This was our first hackathon project, and it was extremely fun to experience working on such a tight deadline. We learned a lot about what we're capable of and how we work through stress.

Additionally, for Ben and Andrew, this was our first SwiftUI framework, and it was a fun experience - it felt very similar to React. I want to find places to use the framework in the future.

What's next for Harness

We would love to turn this into an app that's available for everyone on the App Store. Before we do that, we want to build out iOS home screen widgets and a watch app to check on your money's status even more effortless.