PennyWise – Personal Finance Tracker

PennyWise is a MERN stack web application that helps users manage their personal finances by tracking expenses, incomes, transactions, and budgets. The system also provides smart budgeting recommendations using a Flask-based Python API, integrates OCR for receipt detection, and ensures secure authentication with two-factor verification (2FA).

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🚀 Features

• Expense & Income Tracking – log daily transactions and view summaries.
• Budget Management – set budgets and monitor spending progress.
• Smart Budget Recommendations – Flask API generates personalized suggestions.
• OCR Integration – scan and process receipts to automatically capture transactions.
• Secure Authentication – user login with JWT and two-factor authentication.
• API Testing with Jest – 4 core endpoints tested for stability and reliability.
• Agile Development – built following sprints, daily standups, and iterative improvements.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Frontend: React.js
• Backend: Node.js + Express.js
• Database: MongoDB
• API: Flask (Python) for recommendations
• Authentication: JWT + 2FA
• Testing: Jest (API tests)

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📦 Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/pennywise.git
   cd pennywise

2. Install dependencies

   • Backend

     cd server
     npm install

   • Frontend

     cd client
     npm install

3. Run the application

   • Start backend:

     npm run dev

   • Start frontend:

     npm start

4. Flask API

   • Navigate to the Flask folder:

     cd flask-api
     pip install -r requirements.txt
     python app.py

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🧪 Testing

Run Jest tests for backend APIs:

npm test

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📊 Project Management

• Developed following Agile methodology.
• Managed sprints, user stories, and daily stand-ups to ensure timely delivery.

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