Expense Tracker (MERN)

This is my first MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) project. I built it as a learning project to understand the full-stack development process. The app helps track expenses by storing them in a MongoDB database and displaying them through a simple UI.

🚀 Features

Add, view, and manage expenses

Backend built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB

Frontend with React (basic UI)

Environment variables handled with dotenv

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend: React

Backend: Node.js, Express

Database: MongoDB (Mongoose for ODM)

Other: CORS, dotenv

📂 Project Structure /backend → Express server + MongoDB connection /frontend → React app (UI) /.env → MongoDB connection string & environment variables package.json → Dependencies & scripts

⚙️ Setup Instructions

Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/H-1709/expense-tracker.git cd expense-tracker

Install dependencies

npm install

Set up environment variables Create a .env file in the root directory and add:

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string PORT=5000

Run the backend

node index.js

Run the frontend (if React is set up in /frontend)

cd frontend npm start

📖 Notes

This is my first MERN project, so the focus is on learning rather than perfect design.

I will improve the UI/UX and add more features in the future.