Personal Finance Tool

There is one thing that most people, regardless of nationality or culture, have in common: Concerns about money. My project is not meant to solve the world’s monetary issues, but rather it is meant to be a helpful tool in the quest to get a handle on one’s everyday expenses. I call my project “The ₵entinel: Guardian of Your Dollars and ₵ents” because I look at it as a guard against ignorant spending.

Over my adult life I have used several different software solutions to keep track of my personal finances and have been seriously disappointed in all of them for various reasons—cost and/or functionality being the two biggest. The ₵entinel is my preliminary attempt at a solution to these and other personal finance pickles.

In its current form, this tool is able to automatically download personal checking account data (only from Wells Fargo’s website at this time), format the data and categorize the data according to customized spending categories. This tool can also “learn” over time—meaning that new or unfamiliar expenses will trigger a manual categorization process that the tool will use in future auto-categorization processes. In its final form, this tool will eventually evolve into a total financial tool, both for short-term management as well as long-term planning.
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