In my last post, I laid out the disconnected, messy systems I was using to manage my life . I had a financial problem, a productivity problem, and an idea-capture problem.

Then came the “aha!” moment: What if I could build a single app to solve all three? A Personal Management System (PMS) that could track my expenses, automate my to-do lists, and serve as a home for my thoughts and ideas.

There was just one, massive roadblock: I don’t know backend.

As an iOS engineer, I’ve spent my career on the client-side, consuming APIs that other teams built. The world of databases, servers, and authentication was a black box to me. This single limitation had always stopped me from building a full-solution product.

But this time was different. Because now, we have AI.

The real “aha!” moment wasn’t just the idea for the app; it was the realization that AI could be my co-pilot, my backend tutor, and the leverage I needed to finally break through my biggest technical barrier.

Suddenly, this project wasn’t just a solution to my personal problems. It became a perfect vehicle for my professional growth, offering multiple benefits:

1. I had my “niche”—a project I was passionate about that would keep me engaged.
2. I could learn backend development (starting with a BaaS like Supabase) in a practical, hands-on way.
3. I could master modern, cross-platform SwiftUI for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS with a single codebase.
4. I could build my portfolio and brand by documenting the entire journey.
5. I could tackle my insecurities with writing and speaking by creating these posts and future videos.
6. I could learn how to effectively use AI as a development partner.

I told my wife, “I’ll build an app for us to track our expenses. No more calculations; the app will do it all.”

That was the promise. So I started. I began working on the PMS app with Supabase, using AI to guide me through the setup. And I quickly discovered that with this new workflow, I could accomplish in days what would have taken me weeks of research before.

This is the true start of the technical journey.

This concludes the origin story of the PMS app. Now that the ‘why’ is established, the next posts will dive into the ‘how.’ We’ll begin with the first technical milestone: Milestone 1: Laying the Foundation & The Supabase Schema