DEV Community: Michael Holding

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Michael Holding — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:55:15 +0000

TuanPK Builds

Jun 23

Why Perplexity AI Is Becoming My Favorite Research Tool

#ai #chatgpt #python #productivity

1 min read

I Built No-signup Gold Value Calculator (live spot price, multi-currency) — Looking for Feedback

Michael Holding — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 15:24:46 +0000

A few months ago I was helping a family member figure out what an old gold chain was actually worth before they took it to a dealer. We had no idea what 14k vs 18k meant in real terms, the "live" gold price sites we found were either hours out of date or buried the actual number behind ten ads, and every calculator seemed to assume you already knew the difference between melt value and market value.

That whole experience is basically why I built The Free Gold Value Calculator.

The core problem it's trying to solve is simple: gold pricing feels opaque. Dealers quote different numbers, karat stamps wear off or get misread, and gold prices move constantly, so it's genuinely hard for a regular person to know what their gold is worth before walking into a shop or buying scrap.

A few things I focused on while building it: a live spot price feed that refreshes every 15 minutes instead of showing stale numbers, support for every common karat from 9k up to 24k so you're not stuck doing the purity math yourself, and multiple weight units (grams, tola, troy ounce, pennyweight, grain, tael) since gold gets weighed differently depending on where you are in the world.

It also supports nine currencies, since most gold tools I found online were USD-only and not much use if you're in the UK, India, Pakistan, or the Gulf. There's no sign-up wall either, you just enter weight and karat and get the melt value immediately.

The part I cared most about was keeping it honest rather than flashy. It's not trying to be a price prediction tool or an investment platform, it's just trying to give people the same raw number a refiner would use, so they can walk into a negotiation with actual information instead of guessing.

The biggest lesson so far has been how much nuance there is in something that sounds simple. Spot price vs. melt value vs. dealer offer are three different numbers, and explaining that clearly without sounding condescending took way more iteration than the actual calculator logic did.

I'd really appreciate **feedback **from this community, especially on a few things:

Does the calculator flow feel intuitive on your first use, or is anything confusing about karat/unit selection?
Is there a feature you'd expect from a gold calculator that's missing here?
How does it feel on mobile, any layout or usability issues?
Did the live price feel fast enough, or did you notice lag?
Is anything about the melt value vs. market value explanation unclear?
Would a "what dealers typically pay vs. melt value" comparison be useful, or is that scope creep?

Happy to answer any questions about how it's built too. Thanks for taking the time to look at it.

I built a Guide to Make Sense of Confusing SASSA SRD Status Check — Would Love Your Feedback

Michael Holding — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:15:13 +0000

A few months ago, a family member of mine applied for the SASSA SRD R370 grant and spent weeks confused about what their status actually meant. “Pending” turned into “Approved” with no payment, then a “Referred” status appeared with zero explanation.

The official portal works, but it doesn’t really explain anything; it just shows a word and leaves you to figure out the rest.

That frustration is basically why I built SASSA SRD Status Check Online. It’s not a replacement for the official SASSA/SRD portal, it’s meant to sit alongside it as a plain-language guide for people trying to make sense of their application.

A few things it tries to do:

Breaks down what each status message (Pending, Approved, Declined, Referred, Processing) actually means in practice, and what to do next

Lays out the monthly payment windows by grant type, plus how payment method (bank deposit vs. post office vs. cash transfer) and province can affect when money actually lands

Walks through the ITSAA appeal/reconsideration process step by step for declined applications, including timelines

Pulls together every channel for checking status (web, WhatsApp, USSD, app, call centre) in one place, since most people only know about one of them.

The USP, if there is one, is less about features and more about consolidation. Most of this information exists somewhere on government pages, social media threads, or word of mouth, but it’s scattered and inconsistent.

I tried to centralize it and write it the way I’d explain it to a relative, not the way a government FAQ would.

Building this taught me more than I expected about writing for an audience that’s often anxious, on a limited data plan, and checking on a basic phone browser. I had to rewrite several pages three or four times to strip out anything that read like filler.

I’m also very conscious that I’m not SASSA, so I’ve tried to be upfront in the disclaimer and copy that this is an independent resource, not an official channel. Happy to hear if that’s coming through clearly enough or not.

I’d genuinely appreciate feedback from this community on a few things:

Does the site read as trustworthy and clearly not official, or is that distinction getting lost anywhere?
Is the explanation of status messages actually clearer than what’s on the official portal, or am I overestimating that?
How’s the mobile experience? Is anything slow, cramped, or awkward on a phone?
Are there any status scenarios or edge cases I haven’t covered that you’ve seen people struggle with?

Any features you’d add, or anything you’d cut entirely?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any honest feedback, even harsh, is welcome.

I Built a Free UK Share Incentive Plan Calculator — Would Love Your Honest Feedback

Michael Holding — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:37:19 +0000

A while back, a friend came to me with a printout from his company's HR portal. He'd been in the company's Share Incentive Plan for three years and was thinking about pulling out early.

The numbers looked decent on paper, but when we actually worked through the tax implications — income tax, National Insurance, the HMRC holding period rules — the picture looked very different. He nearly left thousands of pounds on the table because no calculator online handled UK SIP rules properly.

That conversation stuck with me.

Most equity calculators I found either treated UK SIPs the same as US RSUs (completely wrong), or they were buried inside expensive financial planning software. So I built one myself.

It is a free, browser-based tool that helps UK employees (and global employees at UK-listed companies) understand the real after-tax value of their equity — whether that's a UK SIP, RSUs, stock options (ISO/NSO), or an ESOP.

Here's what it does that I haven't seen elsewhere:

→ HMRC-specific SIP logic: it actually applies the 3-year and 5-year holding period rules that determine whether you pay full income tax, partial tax, or nothing at all — a distinction worth thousands for many employees.

→ Custom vesting schedules: instead of locking you into a 25%/year model, you can enter your exact split year by year.

→ Side-by-side scenario comparison: useful if you're comparing two job offers with different equity structures, growth assumptions, or vesting periods.

→ Multi-currency support: GBP, USD, EUR, and CAD — useful for anyone working for a US company while based in the UK.

→ PDF export: so you can share the projection with a financial adviser or employer without retyping everything.

Building it taught me a lot — mainly how poorly documented UK SIP tax rules are, even on official resources. I spent more time reading HMRC guidance documents than writing actual code.

Now I'd genuinely love your feedback:

Is the interface intuitive, or does anything feel confusing on first use?
Are there equity types or tax scenarios you'd want the calculator to support that it currently doesn't?
How is the mobile experience? Does it feel usable on a phone, or does it need work?
Would a comparison export (side-by-side PDF of Scenario A vs B) be useful to you?
Are there edge cases in UK SIP rules — like leaving a company early or a share price drop — that you'd want modelled?
Is the explanatory content clear enough, or does it assume too much prior knowledge?

No sign-up required, no data is stored — everything runs in your browser. I'm not trying to sell anything; I just want to make this genuinely useful for employees navigating equity compensation.

Thank you for taking the time to look at it. Any feedback, harsh or otherwise, is very welcome.

🔗 https://shareincentivesplancalculator.com/

Hello DEV Community! Would love your feedback

Michael Holding — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:47:49 +0000

Hey DEV!👋

I'm Michael! A full-stack developer, blogger, and SEO Expert with over 6+ years of experience, currently building niche web tools powered by real player data.

My latest project is The Grow a Garden Calculator (thegrowagardencalculators.com), a suite of profit calculators, mutation guides, and farming tools built for Grow a Garden players who want to optimise their in-game earnings.

The stack is straightforward, but the SEO and data challenges have been genuinely interesting, building tools around live game data that changes with every update keeps you on your toes.

I'm here to share what I learn along the way, mostly around:

Building niche web tools.
SEO for developer-built sites.
Using AI to accelerate content and code.

Happy to be here. Looking forward to reading and contributing!

I would love your feedback on my project. Thank You