Smart Expense Tracker Development

Fatuade Miracle

Game Developer

Gmail

Google Sheets

Investment & Asset Management

💸 Smart Expense Tracker

A simple, Python project that helps you track your expenses using Google Sheets and sends email alerts when your spending exceeds a certain limit.

This project is perfect for freelancers, students, or anyone who wants to keep their finances in check with automation!

Features

Stores expenses in Google Sheets

Analyzes spending over the last 7 days

Sends automatic email alerts if you overspend

Keeps your credentials safe using .env files

Easy to test and run in Google Colab

Technologies Used

Python 3

Google Sheets API

Gmail SMTP (for email alerts)

Google Colab (for running it online)

dotenv (.env file to hide sensitive info)

How to Use This Project

STEP 1: Set Up Google Sheets API

Go to Google Developers Console

Create a new project

Enable the Google Sheets API

Create Service Account credentials

Download the JSON file → rename to google_credentials.json

Share your Google Sheet with the generated service email

STEP 2: Prepare Your Google Sheet

Create a new Google Sheet

Name the sheet tab (e.g. Expenses)

Add this header row in the first row: Date | Category | Description | Amount

Start adding sample data.

STEP 3: Add Your `.env` File

Create a .env file with: EMAIL_ADDRESS=your_email@gmail.com EMAIL_PASSWORD=your_app_password SHEET_ID=your_google_sheet_id BUDGET_LIMIT=20000

Tip: Use an App Password if you have 2FA on your Gmail.

STEP 4: Run the App (Google Colab or Locally)

You can use main.py to run everything at once.

python main.py
It will:
Fetch the data
Analyze your last 7 days' expenses
Send you an alert if you’ve gone above your limit

Project Structure
smart-expense-tracker/
│
├── main.py                  # Entry point to run the full tracker
├── config.py                # Loads API keys and env vars
├── fetch_data.py            # Gets data from your Google Sheet
├── analyze_data.py          # Checks your spending patterns
├── send_email.py            # Sends alert if you overspent
├── sheet_utils.py           # Sheet helper functions
├── .env                     # Secret keys (not shared on GitHub)
├── README.md                # You're reading this!
├── google_credentials.json  # Google API credentials

Author
Built by Fatuade Miracle

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Posted Jul 31, 2025

Created a Python expense tracker using Google Sheets and email alerts.

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