Where I Stand with AI

I've always wanted to write about the "behind the scenes" of building this app, so what's a better way to start this series of #behind-the-build than to address the elephant in the room.......AI. More specifically, where I stand with AI, and is this a vibe coded project, etc.

First, let me give you a bit of background, as I think it's important for context. If you've been following my journey from burn out to exploring different outlets to share my frugal ways, you'll know that this idea of building an app based on my spreadsheet isn't something that I woke up one morning and decided. Before myfi planner, there were several iterations of the idea being a blog, a blog with tools, switching from different platforms and trying to put together something that worked for what I envisioned. But nothing seemed to fit the bill, as I wanted a blog to share my journey, simple recipes (yes I like to cook sometimes), and the tool(s) that I can interactively share what I'm learning on this FIRE journey.

The last iteration before myfi planner, was a website called simplyfreely (which is no longer in commission since the launch of myfi planner). You can probably still go back and find the earlier videos on my YouTube channel where I showed parts of the working version. While this iteration was the closest to my vision (at the time), which was built from the ground up instead of trying to code around the limitations of a blogging platform like Wordpress or Ghost, it was still very blog-first, tools-second, and wasn't created to scale as an app. But in 2025, I decided to rewrite the entire thing and in May of 2026, 4000+ commits later, myfi planner was finally launched.

So what does this have to do with AI? Well, I hope you can get an idea from the brief history of this journey, my passion for building and creating things. It's in my DNA to create and build things, with my hands so-to-speak. It's never about getting it done as fast as I can, but I like to take my time to solve problems, think through the challenges, the limitations, trade-offs and figure out ways to make something work. So, what about AI? Ok, let me get to it.

First of all, no, this project is not vibe-coded, but I do use AI, and have started to find a rhythm on when to use it, while limiting myself from being over reliant on it. The main reason? I do not want to offload the one thing I enjoy doing most; building. I think most companies push for AI use because they want to get results fast, and so they are always trying to "go faster". And as with all corporations, they are out for blood (make money), so they naturally will want to take whatever shortcuts they can, squeeze whatever levers they can, that's what they are designed to do. But for someone who is FIRE'd, this is one of those things that keeps me busy, my mind sharp, and gives me a sense of purpose.

Secondly, I think AI still has limitations on what it can do. While the models are getting better and better, I find that more complex tasks are still a challenge for it. And in those moments, it takes more time to review the code it generates and try to fix up the mistakes it made, than me implementing something myself. Again, not saying AI isn't good, it's good at very specific focused tasks, which I do utilize from time to time.

Thirdly, I don't pay for a subscription for AI, I just use whatever is free and accept the limitations of the free tier. It's probably going away eventually once these companies get people hooked, because they will need to turn a profit eventually, and a free tier probably won't help them in that sense. So without a subscription, my natural limits on AI use are, well, limited. For better or worse, I actually find it a good balance of having a "side kick" to help, while still being fully in charge of the implementation, decision making, etc.

So, I think for the foreseeable future, I'll still be hand-crafting myfi planner as I truly enjoy it. Treat it like the artisan bread that's made with love, vs the factory made ones 😉.

I think AI has disrupted tech in ways I never imagined when I quit my job as a software engineer 5 years ago. But I think the scary part isn't what most people think; it's not AGI, but rather, how over-reliant we've become on AI and the offloading of critical thinking, and most importantly, what it means to be human....I'll probably be talking about this point on this week's YouTube video, so stay tuned, and I'll post a link on here when it comes out.