Question 1

What is helpmedecide.org?

Accepted Answer

helpmedecide.org is a free collection of decision-making calculators. Instead of one generic tool, we offer a few focused ones — Expected Value for risky calls, Pros & Cons for weighing reasons, and Cost–Benefit Analysis for decisions that play out over years. All of them run in your browser, and none of your inputs leave your device.

Question 2

Which calculator should I use?

Accepted Answer

Use the recommender on the home page. It asks a few quick questions and suggests the best fit. In short: pick Expected Value when probability matters, Pros & Cons when you already have a list of reasons, and Cost–Benefit when you're comparing dollar amounts across years.

Question 3

Is it really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. No account, no paywall, no trial. If the site ever adds a paid tier, the current calculators will stay free.

Question 4

Do I need to sign up to use the calculators?

Accepted Answer

No. There's no sign-up. Your work saves to your browser's local storage so you can come back to it, but nothing is sent to a server.

Question 5

Does it work on mobile?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The site is a PWA — you can add it to your phone's home screen and use it like a regular app, including offline.

Question 6

What is an expected value calculator?

Accepted Answer

Expected value (EV) is a single number that summarizes a decision with uncertain outcomes. You list each way things could go, guess the probability of each, score how each outcome would feel (or what it would cost or gain), and the calculator multiplies probability by value and sums them up. Positive EV means the decision tends to pay off on average.See The Math Behind Your Gut Feeling for a walkthrough.

Question 7

Can I use expected value for decisions that aren't about money?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely — and that's most of the point. Score each outcome on a feeling scale from −100 to +100 (or −1000 to +1000 for life-altering decisions) and the math works the same way. An awkward conversation might be a −20; finding your person could be +800.

Question 8

How do I know if my probability estimates are realistic?

Accepted Answer

You usually don't, and that's fine. Rough probabilities are better than no probabilities. A few tips:Use round numbers (10%, 25%, 50%). False precision is worse than no precision.Make sure your probabilities sum to 100%. The calculator warns you if they don't.If the answer changes dramatically when you nudge one probability by 5%, the decision is more fragile than it looks.

Question 9

My expected value is positive but I'm still scared. Is that normal?

Accepted Answer

Very. A positive EV doesn't mean you'll win on any single try — it means you'll come out ahead on average over many tries. If this is a one-shot decision with high variance, check the repetition number the calculator shows. See How Many Times Before the Math Pays Off?

Question 10

What is loss aversion and how does it affect my decision?

Accepted Answer

Loss aversion is the well-documented tendency for losses to feel roughly twice as bad as equivalent gains feel good. It distorts your intuitive EV math — you'll overweight bad outcomes and underweight good ones. A practical fix: double your negative feeling scores when entering them, and see if the decision flips.

Question 11

What's wrong with a normal pros and cons list?

Accepted Answer

Unweighted lists reward length over importance. Seven small upsides outvote two serious downsides — even when the downsides should clearly win. Adding a 1–7 importance score per item fixes this. See Weight, Not Length.

Question 12

When should I use pros and cons instead of expected value?

Accepted Answer

Use pros & cons when you already have a list of reasons and probabilities feel like overkill. Use expected value when the outcome is uncertain and rough odds are possible to guess. Both are valid — EV is sharper; pros & cons is faster.

Question 13

What if my pros and cons come out nearly tied?

Accepted Answer

That usually means the decision is genuinely close. Useful tests when the net is near zero: flip a coin and notice which result you hope for; sleep on it and see which option you wake up relieved about; or imagine you'd already chosen each side a year from now and ask which story you'd rather tell.

Question 14

What is Net Present Value (NPV)?

Accepted Answer

NPV takes every future dollar in a decision, discounts it back to today's value using your chosen rate, and sums the total. Positive NPV means the benefits outweigh the costs after accounting for the fact that future dollars are worth less than today's. See Why Future Dollars Count for Less.

Question 15

What discount rate should I use?

Accepted Answer

It depends on what you'd do with the money otherwise. Rough defaults: 3% if the alternative is a savings account, 7% if it's index funds, 10–15% if it's paying down high-interest debt or funding a business. The rate is a claim about your opportunity cost, so it should match your real one.

Question 16

What is a benefit-cost ratio?

Accepted Answer

The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) is present-value benefits divided by present-value costs. A BCR above 1.0 means each dollar of cost produces more than a dollar of discounted benefit. Higher is better; projects below 1.0 lose money at your discount rate.

Question 17

When should I not use cost-benefit analysis?

Accepted Answer

When the important variables aren't dollars. Deciding whether to have a hard conversation, move closer to family, or leave a relationship — these can't be forced into NPV without stripping out what matters. Use Expected Value (for risky emotional trade-offs) or Pros & Cons (for qualitative lists) instead.

Question 18

Where does my data go?

Accepted Answer

Nowhere. All calculators run entirely in your browser. Your inputs are stored in your browser's local storage so you can close the tab and come back later, but nothing is sent to a server and nothing is tracked against an account.

Question 19

How do I clear my saved work?

Accepted Answer

Clear your browser's site data for helpmedecide.org, or open the devtools console and run localStorage.clear(). A built-in "reset" button is on the roadmap.

Question 20

Does the AI feature send my decision to a server?

Accepted Answer

Only the optional "Map It Out" button on the Expected Value calculator sends your decision text to our server, which forwards it to an AI provider to suggest starter outcomes. The calculators themselves never send anything. If you prefer, skip that button and fill in outcomes manually — the rest of the tool works exactly the same.

Frequently asked questions.

Getting started

Expected Value

Pros & Cons

Cost–Benefit

Privacy & data