How do I apply for a Blue Badge?
Two routes to eligibility, one automatic and one assessed, and an application that succeeds or fails on how well the assessed route is evidenced.
intermediate1 hr3 min read
Money & Practical
Budgeting, bills and buying decisions, described as processes you can follow. These guides explain method — how to work something out for yourself. They are not financial advice and recommend no specific products.
425 guides
How do I choose a dishwasher and what actually matters in the specification?
The five specification points that change daily life with a dishwasher — size, noise, the third rack, the drying method and the cycle length — and the ones that are marketing.
beginner1 hr5 min readHow do I find out where my money is actually going?
A three-month review of real spending, categorised well enough to be useful without becoming a project.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I keep records for a side income?
A separate account, a simple monthly routine, and keeping the evidence in a form that is still there next year.
beginner1 hr3 min readHow do I make sure my house deposit reaches my conveyancer?
House purchase transfers are the largest payments most people ever make and are targeted deliberately. The verification routine that stops the attack, and what to do in the first minutes if you have already sent money.
beginner8 min4 min readHow do I organise money across several accounts?
Giving each account one job, automating the transfers on payday, and keeping the structure small enough to survive.
beginner1 hr3 min readHow do I read my smart meter in-home display?
The little screen shows watts, pounds, days and a traffic light, and almost nobody is told what any of them mean. What each number actually measures, and the one thing it is genuinely good for.
beginner15 min5 min readHow do I register a birth?
The deadline, who can go, what happens when the parents are not married, and how the process differs in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
beginner12 min5 min readHow do I register for self assessment and get a UTR?
Registration is a separate step from filing, it happens months earlier, and the reference number it produces takes real time to arrive.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I set up a system for school admin?
One calendar, one place for forms and payments, and a weekly slot — the structure that stops things being missed.
beginner45 min3 min readHow do I shop more cheaply without buying rubbish?
Telling a genuine saving from a false economy, and the categories where buying cheap costs more over time.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I stop a salesperson rushing me into a decision?
Every high-pressure technique relies on you deciding before you can check. The three phrases that end them, and the rights that exist because this is so common.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I stop overspending on small things?
Find out what the small spending actually totals, then add friction rather than relying on willpower.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I work out what a loan actually costs?
Total repayable rather than the monthly figure, what APR includes, and the terms that quietly raise the cost.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do student loan repayments come out of my pay?
Repayment is a percentage of income above a threshold, deducted through payroll, and it behaves nothing like a normal loan — which is why the balance is often the wrong thing to watch.
beginner12 min3 min readHow does Shared Parental Leave work?
Converting the balance of maternity or adoption leave into leave both parents can share. The eligibility test on both sides, the three notices, and the trade-offs people discover too late.
advanced18 min5 min readHow does buying a house work, from offer to completion?
The sequence from accepted offer to completion, who does what at each stage, and the points where a chain most often stalls.
intermediate1 hr 30 min3 min readHow much does a fridge freezer cost to run?
Two honest methods — the label figure times your unit rate for an estimate, and a plug-in monitor for the truth — plus why the watts on the rating plate will mislead you badly.
beginner25 min4 min readIs an extended warranty worth it?
What you may already have for free, when the cover is genuinely worth it, and what to check in the exclusions.
beginner15 min2 min readIs it worth repairing a laptop or should I replace it?
Which laptop faults are cheap and which are effectively the whole machine, plus the security-update date that ends a laptop's useful life regardless of its condition.
beginner20 min3 min readShould I fix my energy tariff or stay on a variable rate?
How fixed and variable energy tariffs actually differ, the questions that decide which suits your household, and what to check before you commit.
beginner45 min4 min readShould I insure my belongings away from home?
What personal possessions cover is, when it duplicates something you already have, and the limits that catch people out.
beginner20 min3 min readShould we own the house as joint tenants or tenants in common?
The two ways of co-owning property in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, what each does when an owner dies, how to change from one to the other, and Scotland's completely different mechanism.
intermediate12 min5 min readWhat are my rights buying second hand or from a private seller?
The large gap between buying from a trader and from a private individual, and how to protect yourself in each.
beginner20 min2 min read
Going deeper: ToolFoundry
Interactive calculators — quantities, conversions, costs and sizing — rather than prose.
ToolFoundry is in development — GuideHQ covers the practical answers in the meantime.