Personal Finance Manager

Project Overview

The Personal Finance Manager is an intuitive and lightweight Python application tailored to assist users in managing their personal finances. By leveraging SQLite, a serverless and self-contained database engine, the application ensures ease of use and portability. This project provides essential financial management features through a user-friendly command-line interface (CLI).

Key Features

1. Transaction Management:

   • Users can log income and expenses with details such as date, category, description, and amount.

   • Transactions are stored in an SQLite database, ensuring reliable and persistent storage without the need for complex configuration.

2. Budget Tracking:

   • Users can set budget goals for various categories (e.g., Groceries, Entertainment).

   • The system tracks spending against these budgets and provides feedback on budget adherence.

3. Financial Reporting:

   • Generate detailed reports summarizing total income, total expenses, and category-wise spending.

   • Reports help users understand their financial habits and make informed decisions.

4. Data Visualization:

   • Visualize spending patterns with bar charts using matplotlib.

   • Visual aids make it easier to identify trends and areas for improvement.

Implementation Details

• Database Setup:

  • The project uses SQLite to manage financial data.

  • The database includes two main tables: transactions and budgets.

  • The transactions table stores individual financial transactions, while the budgets table stores budget goals for different categories.

• Command-Line Interface:

  • A user-friendly CLI allows users to perform various operations such as adding transactions, setting budgets, generating reports, and visualizing data.

  • The CLI provides an interactive and straightforward way to manage personal finances.

• Data Operations:

  • Functions are provided to add transactions and budgets to the SQLite database.

  • Data retrieval functions fetch transactions and budgets for reporting and visualization.

• Reporting and Visualization:

  • Reports summarize financial data and provide insights into spending habits.

  • Visualization with matplotlib helps users see their spending patterns clearly.

Usage Instructions

1. Setup:

   • Ensure Python is installed on your system.

   • The script does not require any additional database setup beyond Python's standard library (sqlite3 module).

2. Running the Script:

   • Run the script from the command line.

   • Use the CLI to add transactions, set budgets, generate reports, and visualize spending.

3. Example Commands:

   • Add a transaction: Enter the date, category, description, and amount.

   • Add a budget: Enter the category and budget amount.

   • Generate a report: View total income, total expenses, and category-wise spending.

   • Visualize spending: See a bar chart of spending by category.