$$$ Spending Tracker $$$

A simple, clean web app to track your monthly spending by category. Built with Flask and SQLite.

Features

• Add spending entries with amount, category, date, and notes
• View all entries organized by date
• Organized grocery categories (Costco, Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, Indian Store)
• Delete individual entries or clear all data
• Prevents future date entries
• Timezone-aware (PDT support)
• Persistent storage with SQLite database
• Live online at https://spending-tracker-yiao.onrender.com

Tech Stack

• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Backend: Flask (Python)
• Database: SQLite
• Hosting: Render (free tier)

Installation & Setup

Local Development

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/hamsaram1406/spending-tracker.git
cd spending-tracker

2. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run the app:

python app.py

4. Open your browser and go to:

http://localhost:5000

Project Structure

spending-tracker/
├── app.py                 # Flask backend with SQLite
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── templates/
│   └── index.html        # Frontend HTML/CSS/JavaScript
└── spending.db           # SQLite database (auto-created)

Categories

The app comes with the following spending categories:

Groceries:

• Costco
• Indian Store
• Walmart
• Trader Joe's
• Target

Other:

• Food
• Transport
• Entertainment
• Utilities
• Shopping
• Health
• Other

How to Use

1. Add Entry: Fill in the form with amount, category, date, and optional notes. Click "Add entry"
2. View Entries: All entries appear in "Recent entries" section, sorted by date
3. Delete Entry: Click the "Delete" button on any entry to remove it
4. Clear All: Click "Clear all data" to delete everything (use with caution!)

Deployment

The app is deployed on Render's free tier. To redeploy after making changes:

1. Make changes locally and test with python app.py
2. Push to GitHub:

git add .
git commit -m "Your message"
git push

3. Go to Render Dashboard
4. Click "Manual Deploy" on the spending-tracker service
5. Changes go live in 1-2 minutes

Future Features

• Monthly spending summary
• Spending by category visualization (pie/bar charts)
• Budget alerts
• Search/filter entries
• Dark mode
• Export to CSV

Notes

• Uses PDT timezone (can be adjusted in code)
• Prevents adding entries for future dates
• Data persists across sessions in SQLite database
• Free deployment means app may sleep after 15 min of inactivity (wakes up on next visit)

Author

Created as a personal spending tracker project.

License

MIT License - feel free to use and modify!