Thanks.
Yeah it took a few attempts for me to keep it in the green. Haven't used any loans so far, you just have to follow the RCI demand (and tweet/Chirper requests) closely and do things only when they need done. After a while when you build up funds it makes it easier.
The great thing is it's easy to upgrade and relocate things, so don't worry too much about city design until you unlock more 'blocks'.