About Dollars & Life
Hi, I'm Tarek I. — the founder, writer, and full-stack developer behind Dollars & Life. This blog began after nearly two years of hands-on building and testing, not just in code but through real-world financial trials.
Whether it's budgeting, side hustles, or building digital income streams, every post here is rooted in experience — no fluff, no outsourcing. Just real experiments and what actually works.
Why I Started This Blog
Most personal finance advice feels recycled or disconnected from how real people hustle to make ends meet. I created Dollars & Life to fill that gap — a place where financial guidance meets technical skill and everyday practicality.
It's not just a blog — it's a toolkit for those navigating gig work, starting side businesses, or trying to stretch every dollar while staying in control.
What This Site Is Really About
My mission is simple: to help people take control of their income with strategies that work in real life — no jargon, no gatekeeping. Whether you're driving deliveries, learning to code, or launching something of your own, this site is here to support that journey.
How I Built This Site
Dollars & Life is a fully custom project built from the ground up using the MERN stack — MongoDB, Express.js, React 18, and Node.js. For this site, I used Next.js on top of React for its powerful features and ease of implementing server-side rendering (SSR), which helps with SEO and performance.
MongoDB powers all dynamic content for blog posts and articles, while Firebase is used for forum user data, authentication, and storage. This hybrid approach lets me leverage the strengths of both platforms: MongoDB for flexible content management and Firebase for real-time, secure user interactions in the community forum.
The site now includes a live, full-featured community forum secured by Firebase Authentication and powered by Firebase Storage. You can sign in securely with your Email, Google or Microsoft, ask questions, and connect directly with other readers.
The frontend is built with React 18 and TypeScript, with client-side routing handled by React Router v6. I used Helmet Async for SEO metadata, and Styled-Components alongside raw CSS to build out a clean, responsive layout.
To enhance performance, the stack includes Webpack 5 with compression and bundle analysis tools. I also integrated EmailJS for contact handling and used FontAwesome for clean iconography.
Throughout development, I leaned on tools like ChatGPT and Gemini Studio for brainstorming, debugging, and feature planning — combining human creativity with AI speed.
Want to chat or dive deeper into the build? Connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm always open to collaborations, freelance dev work, or just sharing ideas.
Thanks for stopping by — and welcome to Dollars & Life.