I built a budget tracker in a weekend — here's what I learned about why people hate finance apps

Let me tell you something embarrassing: I have a master's degree in computer science, I build software for a living, and I had no idea where my money was going. Not because I'm irresponsible. I'd tried the apps. Mint, YNAB, Copilot, Personal Capital. Every single one. And every time, I'd quit within two weeks. Recently I got fed up enough to figure out why — and then I built something different. Here's what I found. Why People Actually Quit Budget Apps Problem 1: They Want Your Bank Credentials Every major budgeting app starts the same way: "Connect your bank." I know, I know — it's OAuth, it's Plaid, it's "read only." Technically it's fine. But there's something deeply uncomfortable about handing a startup my banking credentials, even through an intermediary. And the anxiety doesn't go away when I see headlines like "Plaid data breach" or "Yodlee sells user data." The thing is, this fear is rational. You're giving a third party persistent access to your financial data. If they get acq