Problem
Splitting shared expenses with friends is more annoying than it should be. Who paid, who owes whom, and how much is left to settle gets messy fast — across trips, flatmates, and one-off group spends. Most people fall back on notes apps, mental math, and awkward “you still owe me” reminders.
Why I built it
I wanted a shared-expense tracker that felt fast and personal — a clean take on the “split it and settle up” problem rather than a heavy ledger. Building it myself meant I could keep the everyday path short and shape it around how I actually use it.
Product decisions
- Groups first. Expenses live inside a group — a trip, a household, a one-off — so balances stay scoped and readable.
- Settle up, not bookkeeping. The core loop is: add an expense, see who owes what, settle up. The common path stays a few taps.
- Low friction. Adding an expense should take seconds, and the app should be useful on the first screen rather than after setup.
Engineering decisions
- React Native for one codebase across iOS and Android.
- Node.js + MongoDB for the groups, expenses, and balance data, plus the settle-up logic.
- Balance and settlement math is centralized on the backend so every client sees consistent, authoritative numbers.
What shipped
The core expense-and-settlement flow: create groups, add and split expenses, track who-owes-whom, and work toward settling up.
Current state
Live and in active development — I’m still iterating on the product.
