About True Cost

What this is

True Cost is a free set of calculators for the money decisions people in Guyana face: a Courts plan against cash, a loan against saving, what a salary really takes home, the house price a salary can afford, and where money can go in Guyana. Every figure comes from a published rate with a date and a source, and every result is a link you can send on WhatsApp.

How the numbers work

• Loans: the true annual rate (APR) is worked out from the actual money flows, what you receive after upfront fees against every instalment plus monthly fees, not read off the brochure. A flat rate is converted to the reducing-balance rate banks quote.
• Hire purchase: the deposit, the instalments and the upfront fees form the cash flows; the rate is compounded at the plan's own frequency, so a weekly plan shows the yearly rate both before and after compounding.
• Take-home pay: the PAYE rules carry their tax year and the date they were checked against the Guyana Revenue Authority; NIS stops at the insurable earnings ceiling, the most pay it is charged on, and is deducted before tax where the law allows.
• Savings: interest compounds monthly, with each contribution landing at the end of the month, the way a passbook account accrues; inflation is taken off the exact way, by dividing, not subtracting.
• Buying a house: the loan is the lesser of what the debt service ratio allows and the loan-to-value cap; the deposit must also cover the closing costs, each of which is listed with its source.
• Every rate on the site carries the date it was read and a link to the page it was read from.

Take-home figures match the Guyana Revenue Authority's own 2026 calculator to the dollar for the salaries we tested.

What this is not

True Cost is general information, not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. It is not registered with the Guyana Securities Council and does not give investment advice. Before you invest, speak to a broker or adviser registered with the Council.

• No accounts, no sign-up, no data stored: the calculators run in your browser.
• Nothing is sent anywhere when you use a calculator; the link in your address bar is the only record, and it lives on your device.

Sources

Every source the site draws on, grouped by website.

Report a wrong number

Saw a rate that is out of date or a result that looks wrong? Write to hello@stratumics.com with the link from your address bar.

Who runs this

True Cost is made by Stratum ICS, Georgetown, Guyana. hello@stratumics.com

We keep no accounts and store nothing you type; the advisor only counts how many questions each connection asks in a day, to stop abuse, and keeps nothing else.