Editorial Policy

VaultlyApps publishes plain-English guides and free calculators about everyday money: budgeting, paying off debt, saving, renting, and the finances of freelancers and small businesses. Because these topics affect real decisions, we follow the standards on this page for everything we publish.

Who we write for

Our guides and calculators are written for readers in the United States. Dollar amounts, tax rules, credit terms and examples follow US federal rules unless an article says otherwise. If you live outside the US, the general ideas may still help, but the numbers and rules may not apply to you.

Who creates our content

• Emma Whitfield writes and edits our blog and calculator guides. Her focus is US household money — budgeting on a real paycheck, credit card and student debt, emergency funds and saving goals — and the money side of freelancing and small-business income. See her author page.
• A finance expert on our team reviews every guide and calculator for accuracy before it is published.
• The VaultlyApps studio builds and tests the calculators and apps.

Our writers are not licensed financial advisers, CPAs, attorneys or tax preparers, and we don't present ourselves that way. Our content is general education, not personal advice.

How we research

• Primary sources first. Tax, retirement and benefit figures come from official sources such as the IRS (irs.gov), the Social Security Administration (ssa.gov), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov) and the Federal Reserve. We don't rely on other blogs for numbers.
• Current figures. When a rule changes each year — tax brackets, the standard deduction, the Social Security wage base — the article or calculator says which year it uses.
• Real methods, shown openly. Where we explain a calculation, we show the formula so you can check it yourself.

How we build and check calculators

• Every formula follows the published method — for example, self-employment tax follows the IRS Schedule SE method (15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings).
• Before a calculator goes live, we test it with worked examples and compare the results with independent calculators. Where results differ, we find out why and document the difference.
• Calculators run with automated tests, so a later change can't quietly break a result.
• Calculations run in your browser. We don't collect or store the numbers you type.

Expert review

Every money guide and every calculator is reviewed by a finance expert on our team before it goes live, and again whenever it is updated. The review checks the method, the figures and the worked examples against primary sources, and makes sure the guidance is clear about what it can and can't tell you.

Updates and review

• Tax-related calculators and guides are reviewed every year when the IRS publishes the new year's figures, usually in the fall.
• Other guides are reviewed at least once a year and whenever a relevant rule changes.
• The "Updated" date on an article or calculator shows when its content last changed meaningfully.

Corrections

If you spot a mistake, please tell us through the contact page. We check every report, correct factual errors promptly and update the date on the page. Significant corrections are noted in the article.

Independence, products and advertising

• VaultlyApps makes and sells its own planning apps. Our articles and calculators sometimes mention them — always clearly, by name — and every app has a free demo you can try first.
• We don't accept payment to cover, rank or recommend other companies' products.
• The site may show advertising. Advertisers have no say in what we write.

Not professional advice

Everything on VaultlyApps is general information for planning and learning. It isn't financial, investment, tax or legal advice and doesn't create a professional relationship. For decisions that matter, speak with a qualified professional who knows your situation. Read our full disclaimer.