During my scholastic life I had a knack for defying stereotypes. I was always proud that I was never who people expected me to be nor did I have the characteristics they expected me to have. I was unique. I was beyond being labeled and often did yoga just so I can prevent injury whenever I gave myself a pat in the back. The most prominent stereotype that I did not fit into was the one about Asians being adept at math. Actually, I sucked at it. No matter what I did, I never was able to generate enough interest in numbers.

Getting help

But as we all know, we have to take a minimum amount of math courses. Yes, even though California is ranked near the bottom of all the states in the entire country, we were still forced to study math. It was cruel torture until I realized that the situation was easily remedied by one invention: the calculator.

For basic arithmetic, there was the 99 cent calculator. For trigonometry, there was a specific calculator for that too. And for calculus? Well, me and my TI-82 graphing calculator became very well acquainted. I honestly doubt I would have been able to progress in my studies if not for my little helpers.

Numbers keep chasing me

Now that I am an adult, numbers still seem to keep intruding in my daily life. It seems when your existence is based on the amount of numbers you have in your bank account, then numbers will always be a part of your life. And it is more complicated than just subtracting (money leaving your account) and adding (paycheck deposits). Oh well.

Grown up cheating

So I looked for calculators again to save the day and… I found a whole bunch of them. Just like before, there seems to be a different calculator for every single type of financial math you wanted to do.

Debt calculators:

• for crunching the numbers on your house
• for finding out when you will have freedom

In the moment calculators:

• for trading this and that for savings
• for finding a lifeline
• for seeing the whole picture

Future calculators:

• for reminding you that discipline works
• for motivation
• for peace of mind
• for extra padding

Keeping the progress going

These and others like them are very important tools that will enable anyone to master the numbers course that is their financial life. Just as my old TI-82 helped me feel secure in my classes, these calculators are valuable to anyone who would like to get their finances in order but are just too intimidated by math.

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