Security & Privacy
Encrypted Note Apps Compared: Who Can Read Your Notes, and What Each Plan Costs
Which note apps are end-to-end encrypted, what each paid plan costs, and how you get your notes back out — five apps checked against their own pages.
Archive
Everything we've published, newest first.
September 2026
Security & Privacy
Password Managers Compared — Free Limits, Annual Price, and Who Can Read Your Vault
Seven password managers compared on free limits, annual price, zero-knowledge encryption, and export, checked against each vendor's own pages.
Subscription Creep
Most Subscriptions Have No Turn Off Auto-Renew Button
How to turn off auto-renew on nine subscriptions: most make you cancel, Microsoft has a real off switch, and Adobe charges 50% to leave.
Subscription Creep
Streaming Prices: Compare Ads, 4K and the Plan You Need
Compare US streaming prices, ad-free upgrades, 4K and screen limits with official sources, verification gaps, and a worksheet for your annual viewing budget.
Security & Privacy
What a VPN Costs per Device, and Which Providers Publish Proof of No Logs
Seven VPN providers compared on real prices, device limits, logging policies, jurisdiction, and refund windows, checked against each vendor's own pages.
Subscription Creep
Which Gift Cards Actually Stop a Subscription From Auto-Renewing
Compare gift-card renewal rules for seven services, including saved-card billing, prepaid-plan exceptions, and what to check before redeeming credit.
Security & Privacy
Cloud Backup Is Not Sync: What a Real Backup Costs and Who Holds the Keys
Six backup services compared on price, encryption, version history and restore — and why a synced folder is not a backup.
Subscription Creep
Which Subscriptions Let You Quit Online — and Which Still Make You Call
Gyms and cable still force a phone call, a letter, or an in-person visit to cancel; Audible and Amazon take two clicks. Eight subscriptions compared on leaving.
Subscription Creep
Where Your Subscriptions Are Hiding, and the Tools That Find Them
Subscriptions hide in five places and no single app lists them all. Here's what bank-linked detectors, manual trackers and free lists each find.
Security & Privacy
Who Holds the Keys to Your Email Inbox
Most email is encrypted in transit, but only some providers cannot read your inbox. Seven services compared on price, storage and who holds the keys.
Security & Privacy
Which 2FA Authenticator App Lets You Leave — and Which Locks You In
Seven 2FA authenticator apps compared on price, platforms, backup, and whether you can export your codes — the real risk is an app that won't let you out.
Subscription Creep
What Actually Happens When the Card on File Dies
Six subscriptions compared on what a failed renewal triggers — who retries quietly, who cancels you outright, and whether your data survives the gap.
Security & Privacy
What Cloud Storage Actually Costs per Terabyte, and Who Can Read Your Files
Cloud storage pricing per terabyte: what nine providers charge a year, and which plans encrypt files so the provider cannot read them.
Subscription Creep
The Free Trial That Bills You Anyway
Free-trial reality check: how long eight common subscriptions stay free, what each charges the day the trial ends, and why the 30-day trial is gone.
Subscription Creep
What Actually Happens to Your Data When You Cancel a Subscription
What seven subscriptions keep after you stop paying, from their own help pages. Netflix holds history 10 months; Adobe and Dropbox start a 30-day clock.
Subscription Creep
Why a Subscription You Decided to Cancel Keeps Renewing
Status quo bias, billing inattention and a missing trigger keep a decided cancellation alive. A dated if-then fix, plus where click-to-cancel law stands.
Gadget Reviews
Buying a Webcam for Video Calls: What the Software Actually Sends, and Why Light Comes First
Zoom, Meet and Teams cap what a webcam can send, so 4K rarely reaches anyone. A sourced guide to resolution, sensors, autofocus, mics and lighting.
Tech for the Rest of Us
How to Read a Privacy Policy in Five Minutes
You click 'I agree' on documents nobody reads. Here is the five-minute scan that finds the three sentences that actually matter before you hand over your data.
Subscription Creep
Are Subscription Bundles Worth It? Compare What You Would Pay Separately
Compare Apple One, Amazon Prime and Microsoft 365 with separate purchases. Use household needs, billing terms and replacement costs to judge bundle value.
AI in Practice
Is an AI Subscription Worth It? Compare Workflow and API Costs
Compare AI subscriptions with direct API use using documented Claude, Notion and Otter features, a total-cost example, and an export checklist before paying.
Subscription Creep
The Discount They Offer When You Cancel: What It Means
Retention offers explained: why firms discount only when you try to leave, what the Amazon, SiriusXM and Adobe cases showed, and a rule for deciding.
Subscription Creep
The Price Hike Buried in Your Renewal Email
Subscription price increases arrive weeks before the charge. What Apple, Google Play and vendors must tell you, when you must agree, and where to catch it.
Security & Privacy
Which Messaging Apps Actually Encrypt by Default
Four popular messaging apps compared on default encryption, group chats, backups and metadata, because 'encrypted' means different things from app to app.
Apps & Tools
Free AI Meeting Notetakers: Limits, History and Exports
Compare Otter, Fathom, Fireflies, tl;dv and Granola free plans: transcription caps, summary allowances, history access and export limits before choosing a tool.
Subscription Creep
What 'Pay Annually' Actually Saves: The Real Monthly-vs-Yearly Gap
The annual discount runs from a real 55% on Headspace to nothing at all on Spotify. The monthly-vs-yearly gap for six services, read from their pricing pages.
Subscription Creep
Family Plans: The Subscription Four People Use and One Person Pays For
A shared plan puts the cost on one card and the benefit on several people. What each family plan's help page says about who pays, who can join, and cancelling.
Tech for the Rest of Us
What a VPN Protects: HTTPS, Tracking, and Free Plans
Understand what a VPN hides, what HTTPS already protects, and how to check free-plan claims, kill switches, and privacy policies before paying for a service.
Subscription Creep
How Six Subscriptions Actually Handle Cancelling and Refunds
Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, YouTube Premium, NYT and Canva compared on cancelling, mid-cycle refunds and trials, from each vendor's terms. One bills you to leave.
Apps & Tools
The Free Tier of Every Video Call App Ends in Forty or Sixty Minutes
Zoom, Meet, Teams and Webex all cut a free group call at forty or sixty minutes, and none records to the cloud. The differences are smaller than you'd think.
Subscription Creep
When Every Subscription Renews in the Same Month
Annual plans renew on the signup anniversary, so one busy month becomes a future month where everything is due. Which services let you move the date, checked.
Subscription Creep
Cost Per Use: The Subscription Math That Changes Decisions
Divide a subscription's monthly price by how often you use it. Flat-rate bias research, where Netflix, Spotify and YouTube keep usage logs, and a worksheet.
Apps & Tools
The Day You Outgrow a Project Tool's Free Tier
Six project tools, one table: where each free plan ends, what the cheapest paid tier costs, and how you get your data out. Every cell links to its vendor page.
Apps & Tools
Scheduling Links Compared: What "Free" Actually Lets You Book, and What a Year Really Costs
Compared the free plans and yearly cost of Calendly, Cal.com, SavvyCal and TidyCal. One caps you at one event type, one is free forever, one has none.
Subscription Creep
Pause or Cancel a Subscription? Netflix and YouTube TV Rules Compared
Compare Netflix and YouTube TV pause limits, automatic restart billing, and access rules, then use a checklist to decide whether to pause or cancel your plan.
Apps & Tools
Newsletter Platforms: What "Free" Actually Gets You Before You Pay
Mailchimp, Kit, Buttondown, MailerLite and Beehiiv free tiers compared from their pricing pages. Caps run from 100 to 10,000 subscribers, plus hidden limits.
Subscription Creep
The Same Subscription Is Two Different Cancellations: App Store vs. the Vendor
A subscription bought through Apple or Google is billed by the store, not the vendor. Where each one is cancelled and refunded, from the official help pages.
Apps & Tools
Free vs Paid Password Managers: Limits and Annual Costs
Compare Bitwarden, 1Password, Dashlane and NordPass free-plan limits, annual prices and promotional terms, with a worksheet to check costs before subscribing.
Subscription Creep
Why Annual Plans Get Regretted: The Break-Even Month Nobody Shows You
An annual discount only pays off if you stay past a break-even month. The arithmetic, what a study of 7,752 gym members found, and a rule for choosing.
Subscription Creep
Cancel a Just-in-Case Subscription? Check What You Lose
Compare Netflix, Spotify and Dropbox cancellation terms, then calculate whether keeping an unused subscription costs less than restarting when you need it.
Apps & Tools
How Much Cloud Storage Is Actually Free, and What the Next Dollar Buys
Seven cloud services, compared: what the free tier really gives you, what the first paid tier costs a year, and why a 5 GB default is an upsell.
Subscription Creep
Why the Small Subscription Is Harder to Cancel Than the Big One
Small recurring charges get rounded to zero and never audited, so a $5 subscription outlives a $50 one. The reframe that finally makes you cancel.
Spending Habits
Why Purchases Under $15 Feel Free: The Research, and a One-Month Log to Check Your Own
Small purchases slip past the budget because of how they are paid, not how much they cost. The payment research, plus a 30-day log that needs no app.
Gadget Reviews
Trackball vs Mouse: What to Check Before Switching
Compare trackball controls, connection options, and desk fit, then use a practical trial checklist to decide whether switching from a mouse makes sense.
AI in Practice
Rolling Out an AI Meeting Notetaker to a Team: Retention, Export and Seat Questions
A sourced checklist for putting Otter, Fathom, tl;dv or Granola in front of a team: history limits, export formats, per-seat prices and recording consent.
Money Psychology
Price Anchoring: How to Compare a Deal Against Your Own Budget
Price anchoring can make an expensive option feel cheap. Use a worked comparison and a pre-purchase worksheet to judge the price against your own budget.
Money Psychology
Why You End Up Defending Purchases You Regret, and How to Keep a Regret List That Survives It
Memory rewrites past purchases in your favour. The research on choice-supportive memory and sunk cost, plus an append-only regret list that exposes it.
Apps & Tools
The Annual Discount Is a Loan You Make to Your Vendor
Twenty percent off for paying yearly sounds like free money. Priced as an interest-free loan with a cancellation penalty, it is a much narrower deal.
Budget Systems
Four Budget Categories: A Simple Worksheet Without Losing the Details
Build a four-category budget with a worked example, rules for irregular bills, and checks for when a broad category hides a decision you need to make.
Apps & Tools
Cloudflare Pages vs Netlify: Free Limits, Redirects, Caching
Compare Cloudflare Pages and Netlify for a static marketing site using documented limits, 500 builds versus 300 credits, redirect rules, caching and analytics.
Apps & Tools
Which Software Can You Cancel? A Dependency Test for Small Teams
Before cancelling team software, check exports, shared access and fallback workflows. Use a dependency worksheet to separate real savings from hidden work.
Apps & Tools
Overlapping Software: When to Drop a Tool That Still Works
A sourced method for deciding whether to keep a tool another product now duplicates, using Figma, Filestage and Ziflow documentation and a blank worksheet.
August 2026
Gadget Reviews
Headphones for Work: Fit, Calls and Battery Checks
Compare Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser Momentum 4 battery claims, then use a practical checklist to test fit, device switching and calls before keeping a pair.
Security & Privacy
1Password for a Three-Person Team: What the Plans, Recovery Rules and Logs Actually Document
A documentation-based guide to 1Password for a very small team: Starter Pack vs Business cost, who can recover a locked account, and what to check on the trial.
Security & Privacy
Shadow IT Audit for Small Teams: Find Unlisted Apps and Review Access
Find unlisted team software by matching bills, signups and account permissions. A sourced Google and GitHub checklist with a reusable inventory worksheet.
Spending Habits
Does Paying in Cash Make You Spend Less? What the Research Says, and the Part You Can Keep
Studies do find people pay more with cards than with cash. What they measured, what they did not, and a two-minute habit that keeps the useful part.
Security & Privacy
Fastmail vs Proton Mail for a Business Inbox: Search, Encryption, Export and Price
Fastmail vs Proton Mail for a small business address: how search, encryption, custom domains, export and per-user pricing actually differ, with sources.
Apps & Tools
Notion vs Separate Tools: A Job-by-Job Consolidation Test
Before moving a wiki, docs, task tracker and client portal onto Notion, price each job and test exports, speed and publishing limits. Worksheet included.
Budget Systems
Why Zero-Based Budgets Break on Unplanned Expenses, and the One Category That Fixes It
Zero-based budgeting assumes surprises are rare. Survey data says most households get one a year. How it fails, and how to size a line for the unplanned.
Apps & Tools
Team Tool Migration Checklist: Data, Integrations, Links, and Cutover
Plan a team tool migration with export checks, an integration inventory, link mapping, a cutover checklist, and a worked example of switching costs.
Gadget Reviews
Monitor Arm or New Monitor? Check the Screen Position First
OSHA and CCOHS placement guidance, stock-stand ranges from Dell spec sheets, and two arm spec sheets compared, with a compatibility checklist before you buy.
Spending Habits
How to Log Every Purchase for 30 Days, and What the Log Is Likely to Show
A one-month purchase log is the cheapest spending audit there is. A method that survives the month, plus sourced benchmarks to read your results against.
Apps & Tools
SaaS Pricing Audit: Seats, Tiers, Meters and Exit Terms
A five-step SaaS pricing audit that rebuilds the real annual cost before a trial, using published Slack, Asana, monday.com, Zapier, Atlassian and Adobe terms.
Money Psychology
What Is an Hour of Your Time Worth? A Deliberately Low Number, and Where to Use It
How to price your own time without flattering yourself, what transport economists and a 6,000-person study say, and the few decisions it should touch.
Security & Privacy
SaaS Data Export Checklist: Can You Rebuild the Work?
Check SaaS exports for missing files, relationships and access limits. Notion and Slack documentation anchors a practical worksheet for testing your exit.
Apps & Tools
Figma vs Penpot: Costs, File Portability, and a Trial Checklist
Compare Figma and Penpot using official pricing and export documentation, then test components, client handoff, and migration costs with a practical worksheet.
Spending Habits
The Budget Category No App Offers: "I Don't Know Why I Bought This"
Add one bucket for purchases you cannot explain, then sort it by what went wrong, not what was bought. The method, plus the research behind it.
Apps & Tools
Quarterly Stack Audit: A Four-Column Worksheet and Where to Check Seat Activity
A quarterly software audit for small teams: build the sheet from payment records, check seat activity in Slack, Workspace and Microsoft 365, decide every line.
Apps & Tools
Per-Seat Pricing: Calculate Minimums, Guests and Renewal Costs
Calculate software seat costs with documented Slack, Notion and monday.com billing rules, a headcount worksheet, and examples of annual renewal commitments.
AI in Practice
Does AI Actually Save You Time? What Four Studies Measured, and How to Check Your Own
Four controlled studies on AI and work speed, side by side: where the gains were real, where people got slower, and a ten-second log to test your own use.
Gadget Reviews
The Keyboard You Stop Noticing: Why First-Fortnight Reviews Pick the Wrong One
Keyboard reviews measure what you feel in the first fortnight. The properties that decide whether you keep one show up later. How to buy for those.
Budget Systems
Every Budget System Assumes a Salary. Here Is How to Budget Without One.
Budgets start from a fixed monthly figure. If your income is irregular, convert it into one first with a reservoir account, a fixed monthly draw and a floor.
Apps & Tools
Linear for a Small Team: Cycles, Search, Pricing and an Exit Test
Evaluate Linear with sourced details on optional cycles, search, annual pricing and exports, plus practical checks for your team before switching tools.