Meet Mikael La Ferla, Founder of Shopden

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Mikael La Ferla is a Philadelphia-based finance professional and the founder of Shopden, a budgeting and shopping list app designed to help people control spending, manage debt, and build better financial habits.

By profession, Mikael La Ferla works in real estate accounting and asset management at PMC Property Group, one of the largest privately held real estate firms in Philadelphia. In his role, he handles detailed financial reporting, expense tracking, cash reconciliations, collections, and budget oversight across multiple properties and bank accounts.

That professional experience is what led to the creation of Shopden.

Through both his career and personal financial coaching, Mikael La Ferla saw the same issue repeatedly: most people do not fail at budgeting because of major financial mistakes, but because of everyday spending. Groceries, household items, shared shopping, and unplanned purchases quietly break budgets, yet most budgeting tools focus on high-level categories instead of real behavior.

Shopden was built to solve that problem.

The app focuses specifically on shopping and recurring household spending, helping users see exactly where their money is going before overspending becomes a debt issue. Shopden allows users to securely connect bank accounts through Plaid, scan receipts using Microsoft-powered receipt technology, and manage shared shopping lists so spending decisions are more intentional and transparent.

In addition to building the app, Mikael La Ferla also provides free financial coaching, primarily focused on debt management, budgeting basics, and sustainable spending habits. Mikael La Ferla holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA with a concentration in investments and wealth management.

Shopden is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play and continues to grow as more users look for simpler, more realistic ways to manage money. Mikael La Ferla’s long-term vision is to make financial organization easier for everyday people by combining technology with real financial guidance, without sales pressure or hidden costs.

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