I'm 27, been a software engineer for 5 years, and today I realised I'm financially illiterate.
Last night I spent 2 hrs debugging a tough production issue at work, felt proud, and then immediately dropped ₹1200 on a random tech gadget from Amazon that I'll never use.
I tried those "standard" expense trackers, but they're depressing. Just a bunch of red charts shouting that I'm a failure in some corporate font. Feels like homework. I open the app, see a pie chart of my "miscellaneous" spend, get a mini‑panic attack, and close it.
A friend and I joked I don't need a "tracker", I need a Duolingo for my bank account – something that turns saving into a game, roasts me with memes when I order Swiggy for the 4th time in a week, and maybe lets my mates "punish" me if I break a saving streak (like forcing a cringey selfie).
Why can't I have a "saving streak" with my homies where the loser pays for the next round of coffee because they couldn't stop impulse buying?
Is it just me, or would anyone else prefer an app that bullies them into saving instead of boring charts? Or am I just looking for an excuse to gamify my lack of self‑control?
What do you all use to stay in check without wanting to smash your phone?
Looks like you're just finding an excuse to gamify your lack of self‑control.
That sounds like a fun idea.
I'm thinking of a Python script that links bank accounts, categorises expenses and shows a visual dashboard. I'm also after something like that. Since you're a software engineer, could you build it for us?
Banking and finance apps have to follow strict regulations – a single slip and you could get sued.
Bhai, the first step is tracking and a dashboard that sends automated WhatsApp messages comparing actual spend in each category against the budget.