Expense Tracker Bot — Automating Personal Finance in Chat

The Expense Tracker Bot is a lightweight solution that transforms Telegram into a personal finance assistant. Instead of juggling spreadsheets or clunky apps, users simply send a message — the bot instantly saves, organizes, and summarizes their expenses.

I designed and built this bot to demonstrate how everyday tasks can be simplified with automation. The focus was on creating a fast, intuitive, and extensible experience.

Key highlights:

Frictionless input: Users just type $10 groceries #food or 20 rent #housing — no commands required.

Expense overview: /list generates a clear breakdown of all expenses, plus the total.

Smart record management: /delete <id> removes entries cleanly with soft-delete for data integrity.

Guided onboarding: /start and /help make it easy for anyone to begin tracking instantly.

Scalable foundation: Modular workflows allow future upgrades like multi-currency, group tracking, or export-to-CSV.

The bot is powered by BuildShip workflows and Firestore, designed with scalability and maintainability in mind.

Webhook Router: Detects commands vs. new expense entries.

Expense Handler: Parses free-text → validates → saves to DB → confirms to user.

List Handler: Fetches expenses → formats neatly → sends to Telegram.

Delete Handler: Validates ID → updates record → confirms deletion.

This architecture ensures every action is fast, reliable, and easy to extend.

This project highlights my ability to:

Translate messy, real-world user input into structured, actionable data.

Build automation flows that are both user-friendly and technically solid.

Design tools that make tech invisible — the user just experiences simplicity.

Automation: BuildShip

Database: Firestore

Platform: Telegram Bot API

✨ Result: An expense tracker that feels like texting a friend — simple on the surface, powerful under the hood.