"By now I've realized I've probably spent a few hundred hours over the course of two or three months in order to avoid maybe $500 of fees over the course of the year."
It's not that you saved $500 but rather expanded your understanding of both the software and a more robust understanding of software development in general.
Congrats
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Great read, thanks for sharing!
The only part I would want to correct is this:
"By now I've realized I've probably spent a few hundred hours over the course of two or three months in order to avoid maybe $500 of fees over the course of the year."
It's not that you saved $500 but rather expanded your understanding of both the software and a more robust understanding of software development in general.
Congrats