The 5 Dollar Bill Helper....

I was a young mom learning to pay bills. Traditional methods were not working for me. My bills kept increasing and I had trouble balancing my money from paycheck to paycheck. I would often forget that I wrote a check or spent money because I thought all my bills had cleared.

I tried using other apps (X); But when I didn’t have the money to cover the bill, it was suggested that I get a loan! The(X) app, I used, also wanted me to hook up my bank account. At the time, I did not feel comfortable doing that. I didn’t understand this new highly integrated technology. The (X) app would not allow me to successfully use manual entries and would only update status unless I linked my bank account. I knew I had to do something.

I quickly learned I needed to “Balance” my bills. I decided to create my own spreadsheet and keep it simple. I began working long hours and eventually had trouble updating my spreadsheet. It was too complicated. So, I added columns that I thought would help. I then began adding formulas to help with the calculations. I soon realized I needed color coding. I still had to do everything manually and sometimes the formulas would get messed up. But overall, I could keep making it work with some determination.