A WEB-BASED PERSONAL FINANCIAL AND EXPENSE TRACKER FOR EFFICIENT MONEY MANAGEMENT

The Personal Financial and Expense Tracker is a web-based application designed to help individuals manage their income, expenses, accounts, and budgets effectively. Built using Core PHP version 8 and above, MySQL version 8 and above, Bootstrap 5, vanilla JavaScript with AJAX, and Chart.js for data visualization, the system provides a secure, responsive, and user-friendly platform for personal financial management. Key features include user authentication, income and expense tracking, account management, budget planning with alerts, dynamic dashboards, and comprehensive reports with CSV export. The application follows best security practices such as password hashing using bcrypt, CSRF protection, PDO prepared statements, and secure session management. A survey conducted across 200 respondents in urban India revealed that 72 percent are willing to use digital financial trackers, while 54 percent express concerns about data security, confirming security as the primary adoption barrier. System testing against fifty test cases achieved 85 percent accuracy with 0.80 recall for budget alerts. This study contributes to understanding consumer financial behavior and provides actionable insights for individuals seeking better financial management.