financeapp/
├── backend/     ← Spring Boot (Java) — the server/API
└── frontend/    ← React + Vite — the website you see

You need to install these tools once. Follow each link:

• Go to: https://adoptium.net/
• Download Eclipse Temurin 21 (LTS)
• Install it (click Next → Next → Finish)
• ✅ Verify: Open Terminal/Command Prompt, type:

  java -version
  

  Should say openjdk 21...

• Go to: https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi
• Download the Binary zip archive (e.g. apache-maven-3.9.x-bin.zip)
• Extract it to C:\Program Files\Maven (Windows) or /opt/maven (Mac/Linux)
• Add to PATH:
  • Windows: Search "Environment Variables" → Edit PATH → Add C:\Program Files\Maven\bin
  • Mac: Add export PATH=/opt/maven/bin:$PATH to ~/.zshrc
• ✅ Verify: mvn -version

• Go to: https://nodejs.org/
• Download LTS version (e.g. 20.x)
• Install it (click Next → Next → Finish)
• ✅ Verify: node -version and npm -version

• Go to: https://www.postgresql.org/download/
• Download for your OS and install
• During install, set password for postgres user — remember this password!
• Default port: 5432 (leave as-is)
• ✅ Verify: pgAdmin 4 opens (installed automatically)

• Free Community Edition: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/
• Or use VS Code with the Java Extension Pack

1. Open pgAdmin 4 from your Start menu
2. Login with your postgres password
3. Right-click Databases → Create → Database
4. Name it: financedb
5. Click Save

psql -U postgres
CREATE DATABASE financedb;
\q

Open this file in any text editor (Notepad is fine):

backend/src/main/resources/application.properties

Change these two lines to match your PostgreSQL password:

spring.datasource.password=yourpassword   ← PUT YOUR ACTUAL PASSWORD HERE

Also update the JWT secret — you can use any long random string:

app.jwt.secret=3cfa76ef14937c1c0ea519f8fc057a80fcd04a7420f8e8bcd0a7567c272e007b

That's the only configuration change needed! The app will auto-create all database tables on first run.

Open Terminal (Mac/Linux) or Command Prompt / PowerShell (Windows).

Navigate to the backend folder:

cd path/to/financeapp/backend

(Example: cd C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\financeapp\backend)

Run the app:

mvn spring-boot:run

First run takes 2–5 minutes (downloads dependencies). You'll see lots of text scrolling.

✅ Success looks like:

Started SmartFinanceApplication in 3.5 seconds

🔴 If you see an error about the database:

• Make sure PostgreSQL is running
• Double-check your password in application.properties
• Make sure the financedb database exists

Leave this terminal open. The backend runs on http://localhost:8080

Open a NEW Terminal window (keep the backend one open).

Navigate to the frontend folder:

cd path/to/financeapp/frontend

Install dependencies (first time only):

npm install

Start the development server:

npm run dev

✅ You'll see:

  VITE v5.x  ready in 500 ms
  ➜  Local:   http://localhost:5173/

Open your browser and go to: http://localhost:5173

You'll see the FinanceIQ login page. Click "Create one" to register your first account!

1. Register with your name, email, and password
2. You'll be taken to the Dashboard automatically
3. Start by adding your Income (left sidebar → Income)
4. Add your Expenses
5. Create Budgets to set spending limits
6. Set Savings Goals for things you're saving toward
7. Add Bill Reminders so you never miss a payment
8. Check Analytics for beautiful charts of your spending

• users — user accounts
• incomes — income entries
• expenses — expense entries
• budgets — monthly budgets per category
• savings_goals — savings targets
• bill_reminders — upcoming bills

Another app is using that port. Either close it, or change the backend port: In application.properties: server.port=8081 Then update vite.config.js: change 8080 to 8081

• Make sure PostgreSQL service is running
• Windows: Search "Services" → find "postgresql" → Start it
• Mac: brew services start postgresql

Maven isn't in your PATH. Re-read Step 1.2.

• Make sure backend is running on port 8080
• Check browser console (F12 → Console tab) for errors

Backend is not running. Start it first (Step 4).

cd backend
mvn clean package -DskipTests
java -jar target/smart-finance-backend-1.0.0.jar

cd frontend
npm run build
# Files are in the /dist folder — upload these to any web host

• Java Spring Boot: https://spring.io/guides
• React: https://react.dev/learn
• Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/docs
• PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/

Built with ❤️ — FinanceIQ v1.0.0