The surprise AI bill that changed how I think about building TokenBar

I got a surprise AI bill and it hit harder than I expected.

Not because the number was huge. Because it made the cost visible.

That is why I built TokenBar.

When I am shipping solo, I do not want invisible usage turning into a weird end of month tax on my attention. I want to see what is happening in real time and make choices fast.

The same lesson keeps showing up in product work:

• invisible costs become bad habits
• visible costs make better decisions easier
• small feedback loops beat big surprises

TokenBar started as a tool for me, but the deeper idea is simple: if you can see the cost while you work, you can stay honest about the tradeoff.

That has changed how I build, how I ship, and how I price tools.

If you are building solo, I think that visibility matters more than people admit.