Skip to content
VarligGuide
Varlig home
Varlig Guide
Varlig home

Little things to try today

Nothing to set up and nothing to learn first. Open a note, press ⌘Y for a calc block and type any line on this page. Each one stands on its own, so you can skip straight to the moment you’re in and borrow the line that fits. When one of them sticks, the page it came from goes further.

At the shops

The sale sign, the shelf label and the receipt, read the way they’re printed.

calc
20% off £80 gives £64.00
£110.40 with a third off gives £73.60
£8/kg in £/100g gives £0.80/100 g
6 tickets at £14.50 each with 10% off gives £78.30
£54 is 20% on what gives £45.00
£2.49 x 3 + £5.99 gives £13.46

Two of these are worth keeping. in £/100g gives you the figure that’s already on the price label, so you can settle the big-box-or-small-box question in one line. is 20% on what works back from a receipt to the price before VAT. More in Percentages and Money.

In the kitchen

American cups, a British oven and a roast that has to be ready at a particular time.

calc
2 cups flour in g gives 250 g
350 °F in °C to 0 dp gives 177 °C
gas mark 6 in °C gives 200 °C
1 UK pint in ml gives 568.26125 mL
two thirds of 450 g gives 300 g
1.5 kg * 20 min/500 g + 20 min gives 1 hour 20 min
7:30pm - 1 hour 20 min - 15 min gives 5:55 PM

Varlig knows what a cup of flour weighs, and around ninety other ingredients besides. The last two lines are a roast working backwards from dinner. More in Cooking and recipes.

Out with friends

Nobody wants to do this bit on their phone at the end of the evening.

calc
£168 split 4 ways gives £42.00
£64 with 12.5% tip gives £72.00
£97 between 6 of us gives £16.17
3 coffees @ €2.80 gives €8.40
£90 split among 3 people gives £30.00

Say it however it comes out: split 4 ways, between 6 of us and split among 3 people all land in the same place. More in Splitting a bill.

On the move

A journey, a tank of fuel and a run, all in the units you actually think in.

calc
186 miles / 62 mph gives 3 hours
8:15am + 3 hours gives 11:15 AM
240 miles / 48 mpg in L gives 18.92705892 L
70 mph in km/h gives 112.65408 km/h
26.2 miles in km gives 42.1648128 km
5 km in 26:45 gives 05:21/km

A distance over a speed gives a time, and adding that to when you set off gives when you’ll arrive. A distance written in a time gives your pace instead, the way a running watch shows it. More in Cars, driving and the school run and Running and fitness.

Around the house

Measure once, and let the room do the rest of the arithmetic.

calc
4 m by 3.5 m gives 14 m²
14 m² in sq ft to 0 dp gives 151 ft²
2 kW * 3 hours * 24.5p/kWh gives £1.47
6'2" in cm gives 187.96 cm
3/4 inch in mm gives 19.05 mm
£3,603.91 in 9 instalments gives £400.43

by is how sizes are written on a plan, and it gives you an area. Feet, inches and millimetres mix freely, which helps in an old house and a metric shop. More in Home and garden projects.

At your desk

Hours worked, a file that has to arrive, and a screen you’re thinking about buying.

calc
9am to 5:30pm gives 8 hours 30 min
27 hours * £48/hour gives £1,296.00
£45k per annum in £/workday gives £172.49/workday
25 GB / 60 Mbps gives 55.5555555556 min
2560 x 1440 gives 3.6864M
4.2 MB * 2,400 in GB gives 10.08 GB

to between two clock times gives the time in between. A resolution written with x gives the megapixels, and a file size over a connection speed gives the wait. More in Photos, files and everyday tech.

Looking ahead

These count from today, so they’re a different answer every morning. That’s the point of them.

calcAnswers depend on today’s date or live data
sleeps until 25 December 2026
first friday of next month
6 weeks from today
whole years since 14 March 2016
workdays until 18 December 2026
time in Tokyo

sleeps until is the one to show a child. first friday of next month finds a long weekend, and whole years since a birth date gives somebody’s age. More in Dates and the calendar.

Just because

Not useful. Still good.

calc
1 million seconds in days gives 11.5740740741 days
1 light year in km gives 9,460,730,472,580.8 km
Mach 1 in km/h gives 1,225.044 km/h
5! gives 120
10 choose 3 gives 120
2^64 gives 1.8446744074e19

Where to go next

Everything above is one line. The rest of the Guide is what happens when you give those lines names and stack them up: