§ masterplan.md
Glass Personal Finance
A translucent finance overview with spending rings, budget cards and AI-generated savings tips.
01
App overview and objectives
A personal finance overview that layers accounts, budgets and goals on frosted panels: where the money went, what is left, and whether the plan is on track — updated automatically.
02
The problem worth solving
Budgeting fails because entering transactions is tedious. Automatic categorisation with a five-minute weekly review is the only workflow that survives contact with real life.
03
Target audience
- Primary — Households wanting control without spreadsheet maintenance.
- Secondary — Freelancers with irregular income needing runway visibility.
04
Roles and permissions
- Visitor — read-only public pages, can sign up.
- Member — owns their own records, cannot see other users' data.
05
Core features
- Account aggregation or CSV import with automatic categorisation
- Monthly budget per category with a clear remaining figure
- Goals with target date and required monthly contribution
- Cash-flow forecast including known recurring bills
- Weekly review flow to confirm uncertain categories
- Reports by category, merchant and month
Deliberately later
- Shared household accounts
- Bill negotiation reminders
- Investment account tracking
06
Technical stack
React front end, Postgres for transactions and budgets, server functions for import, categorisation and forecasting.
Why: Categorisation rules and forecasts must be consistent across devices and auditable, so they run server-side over stored transactions.
Alternatives: Local-first with encrypted sync (best privacy, hard conflict resolution) or a spreadsheet template (free, high effort and no forecasting).
07
Conceptual data model
Account — user, name, type, currency, balance, source
Transaction — account, date, amount, merchant, category, confidence, note
Budget — user, category, month, planned, spent
Goal — user, name, target amount, target date, contributed
Rule — user, matcher, category, priority
08
Integrations
- Bank aggregation provider or CSV import
- Currency rates
- Email or push for weekly review
09
UI design principles
- Frosted translucent panels over a soft gradient or blurred photographic backdrop.
- Depth through blur and light borders rather than drop shadows.
- Check contrast on every glass surface; text stays readable over any background.
10
Security considerations
- Financial data encrypted at rest with strict row-level security per user.
- Read-only bank connections; never store banking credentials directly.
- Two-factor authentication offered and a visible session list with revocation.
11
Development phases
Phase 1 — Prove the core
- — Account aggregation or CSV import with automatic categorisation
- — Monthly budget per category with a clear remaining figure
- — Goals with target date and required monthly contribution
- — Static content and design system in place
- — Basic analytics
Phase 2 — Make it real
- — Cash-flow forecast including known recurring bills
- — Weekly review flow to confirm uncertain categories
- — Reports by category, merchant and month
- — Accounts, sign-in and password reset
- — Empty, loading and error states everywhere
Phase 3 — Polish and launch
- — Performance, accessibility and SEO pass
- — Legal pages, contact route and 404 handling
- — Wire up: Bank aggregation provider or CSV import
- — Wire up: Currency rates
Phase 4 — Grow
- — Shared household accounts
- — Bill negotiation reminders
- — Investment account tracking
12
Challenges and solutions
Risk — Bank aggregation coverage is poor in many countries
Solution — Make CSV import a first-class path with a mapping wizard and remembered formats.
Risk — Miscategorisation erodes trust
Solution — Show confidence, batch uncertain items into the weekly review, and learn from corrections as rules.
Risk — Users abandon after month one
Solution — Keep the weekly review under five minutes and make the forecast the emotional payoff.
13
Future expansion
- Tax estimation for freelancers
- Advisor collaboration mode
- Savings product recommendations
14
Page list (13 pages)
- 01 PUBLIC Overview — Net position, cash flow and alerts.
- 02 APP (signed in) Accounts — Balances and connection health.
- 03 PUBLIC Budget — Category plan and remaining.
- 04 PUBLIC Goals — Targets and progress.
- 05 PUBLIC Reports — Spending analysis over time.
- 06 AUTH Sign up — Create an account with email or a social provider.
- 07 AUTH Log in — Return to the account, with error and lockout states.
- 08 AUTH Reset password — Request a reset link and set a new password.
- 09 APP (signed in) Account settings — Profile, email, password, language and delete account.
- 10 PUBLIC Contact — Contact form plus real address, phone and email.
- 11 LEGAL & SYSTEM Privacy policy — What data is collected, why, and how to remove it.
- 12 LEGAL & SYSTEM Terms of service — Rules of use, liability and account termination.
- 13 LEGAL & SYSTEM 404 not found — Friendly dead end with search and links back.
15
Page map
PUBLIC AUTH APP (signed in) LEGAL & SYSTEM ─────────── ───────────────── ─────────────────── ─────────────────── ├─ Overview ├─ Sign up ├─ Accounts ├─ Privacy policy ├─ Budget ├─ Log in └─ Account settings ├─ Terms of service ├─ Goals └─ Reset password └─ 404 not found ├─ Reports └─ Contact key flows: Overview ──▶ Budget Overview ──▶ Goals Accounts ──▶ Overview Budget ──▶ Reports