Those that know me well know that I am at heart a children’s entertainer.  I have always had a knack for working with the young and young at heart.  I was lucky enough to turn that into a business and have it provide me with my livelihood for many years.  I love every minute I spend working with children and creative people.  Getting paid to do so was the icing on the (birthday) cake.

What I was never terribly fond of was “the business”.  Writing proposals, managing employees, paying taxes - all the things that take time away from my passion of working with kids.

I was often so busy that the finances had to be handled by someone else.  I had bookkeepers and accountants.  They handled the numbers while I was organizing birthdays, Mitzvah's, Take Your Child to Work Day, and more.  Like every business we had our ups and downs.  There were worrying times, cash flow problems, new vehicles that needed to be purchased.  But ultimately I was very lucky to be successful.

In March everything changed.  Events, and gatherings of people, became a thing of the past.  As did most of my business.  For the first time, I like most of my fellow business owners and friends, am left trying to find ways to keep our business and personal lives afloat.  All of a sudden I am managing all sorts of financial challenges, both personal and professional.

I was recently told about Pigly. Of course, I immediately thought it was a kid's game! I imagined all of the children in a circle making oinking noises. Or that someone had created one of my duct tape pig bags and given it a name.  I was certain I could turn it into a song to use at my Story Time.  Turns out it is a financial planning site with one of the silliest, and I think best, names ever.  What started out as a joke has turned into something that I have found to be incredibly useful in navigating these challenging financial times.  Pigly is basically a bunch of financial calculators that help you manage finance, understand loans and credit cards, car payments, mortgage payments, you name it.

I started with the bank reconcilation calculator.  This is something that I have been having to do lately - and something that takes at least an hour of my time every morning - imputting expenses and balancing my registers.  This calculator is great - and so simple to use.

Basically, simplicity is the key to Pigly.  The descriptions, advice and calculators are all very easy to understand.  Remember, I am the "right-brain" girl.  But I find myself using the various calculators to track and maintain my savings and retirement and plan ahead for payments I have to make.

The site is free to use and free of ads.  If you or someone you know needs any help navigating the multitude of financial challenges we are all presently facing, I highly recommend Pigly.  Hopefully, when this present crisis has passed thanks to Pigly we will all be able to go "wee, wee, wee, all the way to paid bills, full savings accounts and a comfortable retirement".