Why I’m Building a Money Tracking App
How a personal budgeting system turned into WellSpnt.
This app didn’t start as a budgeting idea at all. I was originally trying to launch a vintage resale bag business when one of my CIS professors introduced me to Antigravity and casually mentioned he was making over $15,000 a month from an app he’d built with it. After class, I told him about my business plans, and he gave me advice that stuck: instead of digging for gold, sell the tools.
I went home that night fully expecting to build an app that solved a problem within the fashion industry. I spent hours prompting and brainstorming ideas, but none of them really stuck. They made sense on paper, but I didn’t feel connected to them in a meaningful way.
Eventually, I shifted my attention to something I do almost every day: updating my budget in Google Sheets. That’s when it clicked. I wasn’t struggling to find a problem; I was actively living one. I had been using the same budget template for nearly six years simply because I could never find an app that could replace it. I had tried them all, but none of them gave me the flexibility or customization that my Google Sheets document allowed.
That realization changed everything. Instead of forcing an idea, I decided to build something I actually needed.
Once I started thinking about my budget as something worth rebuilding, I realized how fragmented my money tracking had become. Travel expenses lived in one app. Loans and money owed to friends lived in my head or in notes. Upcoming bills were scattered across reminders and bank alerts. None of it talked to each other, even though all of it affected how I spent and planned.
Over time, it became clear that what I actually wanted wasn’t a stricter system—it was a more honest one. I wanted to track my money in a way that reflected real life, not an ideal version of it. That meant tracking everything: everyday spending, upcoming bills, money I owed, money I loaned out, and even the cost of preparing for things like travel.
So many apps treat these as edge cases or separate tools. Travel gets its own app. Loans become awkward notes in your phone. “Paying someone back” turns into a mental reminder you hope you don’t forget. I wanted one place where all of it could live—because all of it affects how we actually spend and feel about money.
Building From My Perspective
I also couldn’t ignore how disconnected most budgeting apps feel from my lived experience. Fintech is overwhelmingly built and owned by men, and often assumes a very narrow relationship with money. I wanted to build something more intuitive, flexible, and non-punitive, something that reflects how I, as a Black woman, actually interact with money. That perspective shapes everything I’m building.
Tracking First. Budgeting Second.
Over the years, I’ve realized that even though I set a budget every month, I don’t really follow it in the traditional sense. If I wanted an outfit or decided to go to a concert, I’d adjust the numbers and move money around to make it work. At first, budgeting was the goal, but over time, tracking became the real motivation.
I like knowing exactly where my money is going, who I owe, what bills are coming up, and how much I’ve saved. That visibility is what makes me feel in control. Even when I go over budget, it doesn’t feel like failure, because I did it intentionally. That’s the difference.
This is the mindset that WellSpnt is being built around.
I’m building WellSpnt slowly and intentionally, and I’ll be sharing updates as it takes shape, what’s working, what isn’t, and what I’m learning along the way. Awareness has already changed how I think about money, and I’m curious how others experience it too.
If you’ve ever felt frustrated by budgeting tools that don’t reflect real life, I’d love to know, what does tracking money actually look like for you?