MoneySaver

Manage investments and keep track of debt with MoneySaver!

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Inspiration

We were inspired to make a "financial calculator" and "debt saver" after being inspired by one of our group members (who is an accounting major). We also heard that the "finance" challenges were not tackled as much as the other prompts, giving us an edge over the competition.

What it does

MoneySaver calculates how much your investment will be worth in the future, how long it will take to pay off your debt, and how much to invest now to get a specific sum of money later. It has options for simple interest (interest on principal), compound interest (interest on interest), ordinary annuity (payments at the end of each year), and annuity due (payments at the beginning of each year).

How we built it

We originally used Python to figure out how to calculate each scenario. Then, we translated the formulas into JavaScript, and used CSS alongside HTML to build our website. Visual Studio allowed us to collaborate and handle both the front-end and back-end of our program.

Challenges we ran into

Python makes formulas relatively simple, but JavaScript requires you to think out of the box. In Python, a line that references variables and puts something to the power of a number is straightforward; meanwhile, in JavaScript, you must play with nested loops and reorganize the entire formula to get it to work. It was very tedious. It's also one of the reasons we had a hard time incorporating annuities, mainly due to time constraints, despite having the formulas written down and translated into Python.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to get our website up and running, despite missing some functionalities. This was great since 3/4 of our group members were relatively fresh to the software we used and had to watch several, long tutorials to learn how to contribute and push changes.

What we learned

Before we settled on our final project, we attempted the candy exchange and did most of the work via JavaScript. From our experiences, we learned how to create functional buttons, amongst other object-oriented concepts. We also learned how to put pictures on our websites. As for the MoneySaver, we learned how to convert chunks of Python code (and formulas) into JavaScript.

What's next for MoneySaver

We plan to add more functionalities, such as the present value of annuities. We also want more specifications (beyond annual payments). Not to mention, we want to upload the program to a website.

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