Founder, CalcCottage
Hi — I’m Meraj Uddin Provat, the founder and sole author behind CalcCottage. This page tells you who’s actually running the site, why I built it, and how to verify any of that.
Why CalcCottage exists
Most of the “free” money calculators on the web aren’t really free. They hide the result behind a lead-gen form, push you toward a paid version of the same math, or quietly sell the data you typed in. It bothered me that this kind of basic decision support — what will my mortgage actually cost? how long until this debt is gone? am I really saving enough? — was being treated as a sales funnel instead of public utility.
So I built one place that just does the math, shows the real number, and explains what the number means in plain English. Every calculator is free, requires no signup, and is paired with a short honest guide. No paid tier, no upsell, no email capture, no affiliate steering.
Who I am
- Economics student at CUNY Queens College, planning to transfer into a Finance program.
- Day job: Duty Free Americas, JFK International Airport.
- Builder, writer, and reviewer of every calculator and guide on CalcCottage — no anonymous “team,” no outsourced content farm, no AI-generated articles dumped onto the site.
- Verify me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/meraj-provat
- Contact: via the contact page — I read every message.
How the content is produced
Each calculator’s math is derived from published, standard financial formulas — amortization, present/future value, payoff loops — written from scratch in plain JavaScript. Each guide is also written from scratch, paragraph by paragraph. State-specific data is sourced from state or county documents and reputable consumer-finance references at time of writing. Every page carries a “Last reviewed” date in the footer block.
Full methodology, sourcing rules, update cadence, and correction process live on the Editorial Standards page.
What CalcCottage is not
- Not a licensed financial advisor or planner. I’m a student building tools, not someone you should mistake for a CFP.
- Not a substitute for consulting a professional on a real money decision in your jurisdiction.
- Not sponsored. Not selling anything. The only commercial layer is display advertising (Google AdSense, when approved), which never affects the calculator math or what the guide says.
If something is wrong
If you find a broken formula, an out-of-date number, or anything that just feels off — please tell me through the contact page. Confirmed mistakes are fixed within 5 business days and any significant correction is noted in the page footer. That’s the whole quality loop; it depends on real people telling me when something is wrong, and I appreciate it every time.
— Meraj Uddin Provat · CalcCottage · Last reviewed May 23, 2026