LifeCost

Convert money into time of life.

LifeCost is a minimalist mobile app that helps you understand the true cost of purchases by showing how much of your working life each purchase represents.

☕ Coffee ($4) → "23 minutes of your life"

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📱 Features

Core

• Offline-First — No internet required, no data leaves your device
• Price to Time Calculator — Instantly see how long you work to afford something
• Shock Mode — Visual emphasis when a purchase costs more than a day of work
• Shareable Cards — Generate beautiful cards to share your realizations
• Multi-Currency Support — USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, INR

New Features

• 📜 History Log — View all your past calculations with date/time stamps
• ⚖️ Comparison Mode — Compare up to 3 items side by side to find the best value
• ⏳ Regret Timers — Set cooling-off periods before purchases (1h to 30 days)
  • Track how much money you've saved by skipping impulse purchases
  • Get notified when your timer expires
  • Make more mindful spending decisions

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🏗️ Monorepo Structure

lifecost/
├── apps/
│   ├── mobile/          # Expo React Native app (main product)
│   └── web/             # Next.js app (coming soon placeholder)
├── packages/
│   ├── types/           # Shared TypeScript types
│   ├── utils/           # Shared calculation utilities
│   └── ui/              # Shared UI constants
├── turbo.json           # Turborepo config
├── pnpm-workspace.yaml  # PNPM workspace config
└── package.json         # Root package

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🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm 9+ (comes with Node.js)
• Expo CLI (will be installed locally)
• iOS Simulator (Mac) or Android Emulator

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <your-repo-url>
cd lifecost

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the mobile app
npm run dev:mobile

Running on Devices

# iOS Simulator (Mac only)
npm run ios

# Android Emulator
npm run android

# Web (development)
npm run dev:web

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📦 Available Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev:mobile	Start Expo dev server for mobile
npm run dev:web	Start Next.js dev server
npm run ios	Run on iOS Simulator
npm run android	Run on Android Emulator
npm run build:web	Build web app for production
npm run lint	Run linters across all packages
npm run clean	Clean all build artifacts

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Mobile App

• React Native with Expo SDK 52
• Expo Router for file-based navigation
• TypeScript for type safety
• AsyncStorage for local persistence
• expo-sharing + react-native-view-shot for share cards

Web App (Scaffold)

• Next.js 14 with App Router
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS

Monorepo Tools

• Turborepo for build orchestration
• npm Workspaces for package management

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📐 How It Works

Calculation Logic

// 1. User provides income and work hours
const monthlyIncome = 5000;  // $5,000/month
const hoursPerWeek = 40;     // 40 hours/week

// 2. Calculate hourly rate
// Monthly: income / (hoursPerWeek × 4.33 weeks)
const hourlyRate = 5000 / (40 × 4.33) = $28.87/hour

// 3. Convert price to time
const coffeePrice = 4;  // $4
const timeMinutes = (4 / 28.87) × 60 = 8.3 minutes

// Result: "8 minutes of your life"

Data Storage

All data is stored locally using AsyncStorage:

interface UserSettings {
  income: number;           // User's income
  incomeType: 'monthly' | 'yearly';
  hoursPerWeek: number;     // Work hours per week
  hourlyRate: number;       // Calculated hourly value
  currency: '$' | '€' | '£' | '¥' | '₹';
  hasOnboarded: boolean;
}

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🎨 Design Philosophy

• Dark Mode First — Easy on the eyes, modern aesthetic
• Big Numbers — Emotional impact through typography
• Minimalist — No clutter, no charts, no complexity
• Philosophical — "Calculator + Philosophy" approach

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📸 App Icons

SVG assets are provided in apps/mobile/assets/:

• icon.svg — Main app icon (1024×1024)
• adaptive-icon.svg — Android adaptive icon
• splash-icon.svg — Splash screen icon
• favicon.svg — Web favicon

To convert to PNG for production builds, use a tool like:

• CloudConvert
• SVGOMG
• Or install sharp and use the generation script

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🔒 Privacy

LifeCost is designed with privacy as a core principle:

• ❌ No backend servers
• ❌ No authentication
• ❌ No analytics
• ❌ No tracking
• ❌ No network requests
• ✅ 100% offline operation
• ✅ All data stays on device

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📄 License

MIT License — feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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💡 Philosophy

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." — Henry David Thoreau

LifeCost turns this philosophy into a practical tool, helping you make more mindful spending decisions by revealing the true cost of purchases in the most precious currency: your time.

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Built with ❤️ for mindful spending