Final Project Idea: Tithr

04 Nov 2025

🌿 Tithr: A Faith-Based Financial Budgeting App for UH Students

Overview

The Problem

Many UH Mānoa students struggle to manage their finances wisely—balancing tuition, part-time work, rent, and social life often leads to anxiety about money. For Christian students, financial management isn’t only practical but spiritual—stewardship and tithing are acts of faith and discipline. However, most budgeting tools ignore this perspective, focusing solely on material spending and wealth growth rather than spiritual balance and generosity.

The Solution

Tithr helps UH students honor God through wise, intentional stewardship. It’s a faith-based budgeting app that organizes income into categories based on biblical financial principles:

Tithe (10%) — giving back to God first.
Needs (50%) — essentials like food, rent, and tuition.
Savings (20%)— planning for the future.
Wants (20%)— life’s enjoyments handled responsibly.

All percentages are just example percentages.

Tithr helps users customize categories and percentages to reflect their personal convictions, track expenses, and view how faithfully they’ve maintained their priorities. Every time they log in, they’re greeted with a random Bible verse reminding them of God’s provision and wisdom in financial stewardship.

Key Features

Core Functionality

User authentication and profiles (NextAuth.js or Firebase)
Customizable budget categories and percentages (must total 100%)
Income logging that automatically distributes funds to each category
Transaction tracking — purchases automatically reduce from the correct category
Transfer between categories (e.g., move unspent “wants” to “savings”)
Monthly summary dashboard with charts showing spending and giving ratios
Randomized daily Bible verse API (using an open source API like BibleAPI.co or Scripture API)

“Special Sauce” (Personalization)

Each user’s account includes:

Their unique budget configuration
Their income/spending history
Faith metrics — e.g., how consistently they tithe or save This makes the app’s experience individualized and spiritually meaningful.

UI and Visual Design

Clean Bootstrap 5 dashboard
Soft, minimalist color scheme (greens and neutrals)
Tabs: Home (Verse + Balance Overview), Transactions, Budget Setup, Reports, Profile
Encouraging verse at the top (“Honor the Lord with your wealth…” — Proverbs 3:9)

Mockup Page Ideas

Login Page – simple faith-based welcome, logo “Tithr”, Bible verse footer.
Dashboard – pie chart (Tithe / Needs / Savings / Wants), balance summary, daily verse.
Add Income / Transaction – form with amount, source, and category.
Customize Categories – sliders to allocate percentages.
Reports Page – charts of monthly giving/spending.
Profile Settings – user email, church affiliation (optional), dark/light theme toggle.

Use Case Scenarios

Kaleo, a UH Mānoa student and Inspire Church member, logs in after payday. He enters his $800 paycheck, and Tithr automatically allocates:
- $80 to Tithe
- $400 to Needs
- $160 to Savings
- $160 to Wants
  He sees a verse: “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25)
A week later, Kaleo logs a $15 Starbucks purchase — Tithr deducts it from “Wants” and updates the pie chart.
At the end of the month, Kaleo views his report, realizing he saved 20% more than usual and tithed every week.

Beyond the Basics

Integration with local UH life: budgeting presets for “UH Expenses” (books, parking, dining).
Encouragement section: show streaks for consistent tithing or savings goals.
Optional community feature: (future scope) “Church Partners” page linking to UH ministries like Inspire Movement or BCM.
AI suggestion feature: analyze past spending patterns and recommend adjustments (stretch goal).
Spiritual focus: dynamic verse generator and journaling tab for prayer notes about stewardship.

Authors

Written collaboratively by Adones Morales, ICS 314 Fall 2025, inspired by personal involvement with Inspire Church and a passion for integrating faith with technology.

Criteria Satisfaction

Criterion	Fulfillment
Uses Next.js + React + Bootstrap 5	Fully integrated front end and routing
Hosted on GitHub / Vercel	Public deployment for evaluation
Individual state	Personalized finance data + spiritual metrics
Local community focus	Designed for UH students and the Inspire Church community
Demonstrates full-stack and standards	Code linting (Airbnb TS), form validation, and dynamic components
Beyond the basics	API integration, customizable categories, data visualization