How much gold can you afford to spend in WoW Forever?

Start with the wallet and what you've saved

Use one character's current balance. List the gold already set aside, including what you want to keep for repairs, travel and supplies.

That leaves 10g for purchases outside the funds. You could spend it without touching the 12g saved for riding. You could also add some to riding instead. Saving the 12g doesn't mean riding is fully funded: another 18g is still needed in this example.

Keep the target separate from the savings

A price and a fund answer different questions. The example riding purchase costs 30g; you have 12g of that money. The gap is 18g.

Only the saved 12g comes out of the wallet calculation. Subtracting the other 18g as well would treat money you haven't saved as though it were already spoken for. If you want to protect more cash, move a specific amount from the free balance into the riding fund.

You can save before you have a quote. Write down the money held and leave the target unknown. An unknown price isn't zero, and it doesn't tell you whether the fund is complete. Once the price is known, the gap is the target minus the fund, or zero if you've already saved enough.

If a price falls, your wallet hasn't grown. You have a smaller gap, or some excess savings you can release for another purchase.

Count the repair and supply buffer once

The 4g buffer belongs in the total alongside riding and professions. These calculations give the same result:

• 32g − 12g riding − 6g profession − 4g buffer = 10g.
• 32g − 22g total put aside = 10g.

Taking another 4g off the second result would count the buffer twice.

Choose the buffer from what you expect to spend before another check. A dungeon evening and a short quest trip may call for different supplies. You can keep more for an expensive outing without pretending every session costs the same.

When you save, and when you pay

Moving gold into a fund leaves the wallet alone. Paying for something reduces the wallet. If the purchase uses a fund, reduce that fund too.

Each row below starts from the original 32g wallet and 22g put aside. The rows are alternatives, not a sequence.

In the last row, the wallet and profession fund both fall by 6g. The free balance stays at 10g because the purchase used money already saved for it. Leaving the 6g in the fund after paying would make it look as though you still needed to protect it.

For a partial purchase, reduce the fund by what it actually paid. If the quote has changed, check how much more cash is needed before buying rather than assuming the old fund will cover it.

Wait for sale money to arrive

A bag of materials or a posted auction may help you save later. It can't pay the trainer while you're still waiting for a buyer or payment. Leave it out of today's cash balance.

When the money arrives, use the updated wallet. In a fictional example, a 5g receipt takes a 32g wallet to 37g. Enter 37g; adding the receipt again would give you 5g you don't have.

A transfer from an alt belongs in the receiving character's wallet too. Keep it separate when comparing earnings: moving your gold between characters hasn't earned more gold overall.

If you've promised more than you have

A 20g wallet with 24g put aside gives a spendable balance of −4g. You've put aside 4g more than the wallet contains.

Check the wallet is current, remove funds for completed purchases and look for a buffer counted twice. If the figures are right, reduce one or more funds. Keeping a riding fund intact might mean postponing a profession purchase.

Keep the negative result visible until you've fixed it. Zero means every coin is assigned; −4g means the assignments exceed the wallet.

Before you buy

Refresh the wallet and check the full price. If you haven't saved for it, its price needs to fit the free balance. If you already have a fund for it, use that money plus any free cash you're willing to add. The wallet after payment must still cover the other funds you want to protect.

If it doesn't, wait or choose which other fund to reduce before paying. The spending guide can help weigh those purchases; the riding guide follows a fund through contributions, a withdrawal and the final payment.