Z-budget

As Gen Z transitions into financial independence, frictionless shopping and "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) schemes are turning debt into an unnoticeable habit, leading to what regulators call phantom debt. We built Z-Budget to bridge the gap between complex banking tools and youth financial literacy, creating a sleek digital space that empowers young people to manage cash flow, track recurring subscriptions, and simulate impulse purchases before buying. Over an intensive 20-day sprint, our 5-person team mapped user journeys in Figma, conducted user research with over 30 peers, and built a responsive Single-Page Application using React and Tailwind CSS featuring dynamic analytics and a custom BNPL impact engine. Our biggest hurdle was UX design: taking complex cash-flow math, specifically accounting for monthly income, fixed recurring costs, and active BNPL installment obligations to calculate true discretionary budget, and rendering it as an intuitive visual warning without overwhelming the user. Balancing engineering, QA, and business modeling under a strict deadline also required tight team coordination. Ultimately, we learned that young users respond better to visual clarity than rigid rules, and we gained hands-on experience taking an abstract socio-economic issue from research to a functional web application.

Built With

• css
• css3
• html5
• javascript
• node.js
• react
• tailwind