MERN Expense & Income Tracker

I need a full-stack MERN application that lets users record both expenses and income, view running balances, and keep everything securely behind a straightforward email-and-password login. The flow should feel effortless: sign up, log in, add a transaction, immediately see the updated totals and a minimalist dashboard that never feels crowded.

Design
Keep the interface clean—white space, subtle accents, and typography that makes figures easy to scan. No flashy gradients or heavy graphics; the focus is on clarity and speed.

Core build notes
• Front end: React with functional components and hooks.
• Back end: Node.js, Express, MongoDB, JWT authentication.
• Routes for registration, login, CRUD operations on transactions, and a summary endpoint that returns total income, total expenses, and balance.
• State managed cleanly (Redux, Context, or React Query—your call so long as it stays lean).

Deliverables
1. Source code for client and server, ready to run with `npm install && npm start`.
2. A concise README covering environment variables, build steps, and one-click seed data.
3. Postman (or similar) collection for all API endpoints.
4. Deployed demo link (Heroku, Render, or any free tier) so I can test instantly.

Acceptance
I’ll consider the project complete when I can:
• Register a new account, log in, and see an empty dashboard.
• Create, edit, and delete income or expense items and watch the balance update in real time.
• Refresh the browser and retrieve the same data from MongoDB.
• Log out and see the session closed securely.

If any questions come up about edge cases, data models, or hosting, let’s clear them early so the hand-off is seamless.