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PennyWyze

Inspiration

When I lost my job while actively trying to get pregnant via IVF, I was suddenly faced with a daunting question: Could I afford the $1,000/month it cost just to keep my health insurance? While I had a rough idea of my financial runway, the sheer number of expenses—big and small—made it overwhelming to figure out exactly how long my savings would last, or what I could realistically cut.

What it does

PennyWyze is a comprehensive financial runway calculator that helps users determine exactly how long their savings will last. It features smart expense categorization with helpful suggestions, supports multiple payment frequencies (bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and custom), and provides actionable insights on what to cut to extend your financial runway. The tool normalizes all expenses to monthly equivalents and gives users a clear, visual understanding of their financial situation.

How we built it

I built PennyWyze using Bolt's one-shot challenge approach, creating the entire application with a single, comprehensive prompt. I focused on creating detailed UX specifications and iterating through multiple prompt versions to achieve a production-ready tool with React, TypeScript, and modern web technologies.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest part was getting complex interactions to work within the constraints of a one-shot prompt. Features like dynamic row creation from suggestion clicks, proper frequency normalization across different payment schedules, and maintaining data persistence required very specific and detailed instructions. I had to balance functionality with simplicity.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud of creating a tool that genuinely solves a real problem I was facing. The smart categorization and suggestion system helps users discover expenses they might forget, while the multi-frequency support handles real-world payment schedules. Most importantly, my family has found it genuinely useful, validating that it addresses a common need.

What we learned

This project taught me a lot about effective prompting for complex applications and the importance of detailed UX specifications. I also learned valuable lessons about user feedback—suggestions from my family led to several feature improvements.

What's next for PennyWyze

I'd love to add more advanced features like goal-based savings recommendations, integration with bank APIs for automatic expense tracking, and collaborative planning for couples or families. Additional visualization options and AI-powered expense optimization suggestions could make PennyWyze even more valuable.

Built With

• bolt.new
• netlify
• react
• tailwind-css
• typescript