Meet Aris, an ex-business consultant and financial planner who spent six years helping clients of all income levels manage their finances. Despite working with a wide range of individuals—from corporations to individuals—Aris noticed a recurring issue: no matter how much people earned, there was always uncertainty about whether they were on the right financial track. Motivated by this insight and her recent transition into a full-stack developer, Aris joined Sigma School to learn the technical skills needed to build solutions for real-world financial challenges.
What Problem GoalDigits Solves
Aris' capstone project, GoalDigits: Your Path to Financial Freedom, is designed to simplify personal budgeting and financial goal tracking. Aimed at working adults aged 18 to 40, GoalDigits helps users:
- Set clear financial goals
- Track income, expenses, and budgets
- Monitor progress—all in one mobile-friendly app
The main problem GoalDigits addresses is the lack of accessible, straightforward financial tools that can fit seamlessly into a busy, modern lifestyle. Most existing apps require tedious manual entry, are unable to integrate with various financial accounts, and often lack flexibility. Aris' solution is a dynamic, responsive, and user-friendly app that encourages users to take control of their finances effortlessly.
Tech Stack
To develop GoalDigits, Aris carefully selected a robust, modern tech stack that ensures scalability, performance, and a smooth user experience across all devices. Here's an in-depth look at the tools and technologies she used:
- Frontend: React.js
React.js was chosen for its flexibility and component-based architecture, allowing Aris to build a highly responsive and dynamic user interface. It also ensured that the application could easily adapt to different screen sizes—from mobile phones to tablets and desktops—providing a seamless experience for users managing their budgets on the go. - Backend: Node.js & Express.js
For the backend, Aris implemented Node.js along with the Express.js framework. This combination allowed her to efficiently set up RESTful APIs, handle server-side logic, and manage user authentication and data requests with ease. Node.js's non-blocking architecture helped in maintaining fast server response times, crucial for real-time financial tracking. - Database: PostgreSQL + Sequelize ORM
PostgreSQL was selected as the relational database due to its reliability, scalability, and strong support for complex relationships between entities like users, transactions, budgets, and accounts. Aris utilized Sequelize ORM to streamline database operations, making it easier to perform CRUD operations and manage relationships without writing raw SQL queries extensively. - Media Storage: Cloudinary
For any media storage needs, such as profile pictures or visual assets, Aris integrated Cloudinary. This cloud-based service allowed her to store, manage, and deliver images efficiently, contributing to the overall performance of the app. - Deployment: Vercel & Railway
GoalDigits is deployed using Vercel for the frontend and Railway for the backend and database hosting. This setup not only allowed for continuous deployment but also simplified the management of different environments, ensuring smooth updates and minimal downtime.
With this well-rounded stack, Aris ensured that GoalDigits is not only functional but also scalable, secure, and user-friendly—laying a strong foundation for future feature enhancements.
Challenges Faced & How Aris Solved Them
Building GoalDigits came with its fair share of obstacles:
- Complex Database Relationships
Aris initially designed an extensive entity-relationship diagram involving users, budgets, transactions, and accounts. However, when attempting to implement all entities at once, she faced difficulties managing and linking them. After receiving advice from her instructor, she decided to simplify by starting with just one entity—the transaction table—and built out from there. This incremental approach helped her make steady progress. - Frontend Logic Bugs
While working on the frontend, Aris encountered a recurring bug where unusually large or incorrect digits appeared in users' financial summaries. The issue stemmed from overlooking integer parsing in her functions. Fixing this required constant debugging and fine-tuning—half of her time was spent testing and troubleshooting rather than building, which taught her valuable lessons in code maintenance and attention to detail. - API Integration Roadblock
Aris wanted to implement a speech-to-text feature to enhance user interaction. She invested significant time researching and learning how to integrate a third-party API. Unfortunately, she discovered that the API was no longer available after being acquired by another company. With only two days left before submission, she pivoted, realizing the importance of testing new integrations on a smaller scale before adding them to core projects.
Conclusion
Through her capstone project, Aris proved not only her technical growth but also her problem-solving mindset. GoalDigits: Your Path to Financial Freedom reflects her unique combination of financial expertise and software development skills. She plans to continue refining and expanding the app, with hopes of collaborating with others who share the same passion for financial empowerment.
