Budgeting with a Buddy: From Financial Friction to AI-Powered Freedom

This is a submission for the World's Largest Hackathon Writing Challenge: Building with Bolt.

A New Chapter in My Builder's Diary

When the World's Largest Hackathon opened its gates, it felt like the digital equivalent of standing on the edge of a frontier, one built not from brick or steel, but from ideas and ambition. Over 130,000 creators signed on, each with a dream to mould. For me, that dream became Budget Buddy, a voice-powered personal finance companion designed to turn money management from a dreaded task into a daily delight.

In the past, I’ve struggled with budgeting tools that felt cold and mechanical with no insights. They tracked numbers, sure, but offered no warmth, no intuition, no dialogue, and no financial freedom. Budget Buddy was born from that frustration, from a desire to make financial wellness feel like a conversation with a trusted friend, not a spreadsheet overlord.

What is Budget Buddy?

Budget Buddy is a mobile-first, voice-activated finance app designed to help users manage income, track expenses, and set aside savings, all through a clean, conversational interface. Think of it as having a financially savvy friend in your pocket who listens, learns, and guides.

Key Features:

• Voice Input via ElevenLabs: Add expenses or income just by talking.
• Real-Time Insights: Instantly view where your money goes.
• Budget Safe: Lock your savings using a secure Stripe wallet.
• AI Budget Expert: Get tips and forecasts powered by Gemini AI.
• Dark & Light Themes: Designed for comfort and accessibility.
• RevenueCat Integration: Powering our Pro subscription features.
• Cross-Platform: Runs on Expo for iOS, Android, and web via Netlify.

It’s budgeting, but with personality, presence, and poetry.

How We Built It

The secret ingredient to our velocity? Bolt.new.

Bolt removed the friction from development like a well-oiled gear in a dream machine. From setting up the React Native foundation to building out Expo routes and custom component libraries, everything flowed with structured ease. With Bolt, our time shifted from setup to storytelling, from configuration to creativity.

Tech Stack Highlights:
Frontend: React Native + Expo + TypeScript Navigation: react-navigation, expo-router Voice: ElevenLabs for voice parsing (conversational for simulated demo) Auth & Data: Supabase with Row-Level Security Payments: RevenueCat + Stripe AI: Gemini API for insights and forecasts Deployment: Netlify (web), Expo Go (mobile) Media & UI: Unsplash API, lucide-react-native, and custom themes

Bolt’s discussion assistant was like pairing with a senior engineer who knew your codebase inside-out, suggesting ideas, catching bugs, offering to implement plans, or leaving the fine-tuning to you.

The Challenges We Tamed

Nothing worthwhile comes easy. Here are a few dragons we had to slay:

• Voice API Limits: ElevenLabs' free tier didn’t allow full production use, so we used conversational AI voice system for demo purposes.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Ensuring fluid performance on iOS, Android, and the web meant constant testing and occasional surprise bugs.
• Secure Fund Locking: Stripe wallet integration required careful handling of user auth and tokenization. We built it from the ground up and danced with the complexity of transactional security.
• Gemini Prompts: Prompting Gemini to provide relevant and financial tips, while also retaining a “human” tone, was a balance of science and art.

Moments of Pride

There were several milestones that felt like mountaintops:

• Bolt-Powered Speed: What would have taken weeks, we completed in days.
• Stripe Wallet Integration: A rock-solid savings lock mechanism built from scratch.
• AI Co-Pilot: Gemini’s Budget Expert offered uncanny financial tips tailored to user behaviour.
• Accessibility First: ARIA labels, high-contrast themes, and intuitive UX for all.

But perhaps most rewarding was seeing testers smile during a live demo when Budget Buddy responded to voice input with clarity, context, and compassion.

Lessons Learned

This hackathon wasn’t just a sprint; it was a school.

• Bolt.new showed us how to build fast without breaking quality.
• Supabase proved its might with real-time syncing and RLS-powered data safety.
• ElevenLabs & Gemini taught us that AI is not a gimmick: it’s a conversation partner, an accelerant, a muse.
• Most of all, we learnt to listen. To users, to tools, and to our own instincts.

What’s Next?

The journey doesn’t end here. We’re planning:

• Predictive Spending Models (via Gemini)
• Bank API Integrations for real-time transaction syncing
• Multi-Currency Support for global users
• Gamified Milestones to make saving satisfying
• Full Voice Command Integration once API limits are lifted
• Multilingual Support to expand our reach

And we’re not just building for users, we’re building with them.

Built With

bolt.new, react-native, expo-router, typescript, elevenlabs, gemini, stripe, revenuecat, supabase, netlify, lucide-react-native, unsplash

Final Thoughts

Budget Buddy is more than an app, it’s a mission. A mission to change how we think, talk, and feel about money. And thanks to Bolt, the World’s Largest Hackathon, and a touch of AI magic, we’ve taken our first leap toward that future.

Want to try it? Visit https://budget-budddy.netlify.app or scan via Expo Go for mobile access - Like this post and comment "Budget-Buddy on Expo" to get mobile app Expo link or QR-code.

To everyone building out there, may your ideas find wings and your bugs be few.