Saving Gold Will Make You Successful in WoW

The Importance of Saving

World Of Warcraft’s virtual economy has a lot in common with established economies throughout the world.  You will find that market trends, upswings, downswings, and an abundance of other economic terms and ideas can just as easily be associated with World Of Warcraft as they can be associated with the economy in which you live your everyday life.  With that in mind, I want to talk about why saving in the World Of Warcraft is just as important as saving in your real life.  Like real life, World Of Warcraft comes with it’s share of expenses.  There are certain things you must buy to be successful in the game. Whether it’s mounts, training, duel-specialization, or repairs you’ll find that almost every time you play the game you’ll have to spend some gold out of your pocket.  For some, this is easy and goes almost unnoticed.  However, for those who have not enhanced their gold making skills, paying for these expenses can often be an overwhelming and demanding task.  While some of you may be reading this saying “Wes, I have more than enough gold to pay for that stuff.  Tell me how to reach gold cap!” Others are reading this simply looking for a way to make ends meet.  The great thing about saving is that no matter which party you are, you will benefit from this lesson.

How To Save

This is probably one of the biggest problems an average person faces on a daily basis.  Both in game and out of game.  Most of us have great intentions on what we want to do with our money.  We want to put it back for a rainy day and not have to worry about our financial situation.  However, those good intentions often go array very quickly.  Whether they be that unexpected car repair you had to pay, or that awesome Firelands Epic you just had to buy from your guildy who beat you on the roll.  The majority of us will often look down at our pocket books and think “Where did my gold go?!?”  I know.  I’ve seen me do it.  With that in mind I want to share my secret for helping you help yourself in the World Of Warcraft.  Whether you’re a new player looking to make your name on the Auction House, or you just can’t seem to get over that 355k hump.  This will help you.

If You Can’t See It, You Can’t Spend It

When I was on my original journey to the gold cap, which is why I first started writing my blog Capped By Cata, I had to find a way to quit spending all my gold.  I was addicted to obtaining the Mountain O’Mounts achievement and would often get just enough gold to buy a mount, spend the gold and be left with nothing.  Thus having to restart the gold making process all over again.  To combat this, I started to make my gold disappear.  But in a good way.  At that point I was doing most of my Gold Making on two toons.  So instead of keeping all of my gold in those toons bags, I opened my guild bank and started making deposits.  Sure, anyone can do that; but if you do it with proper reasoning and intention, then saving will become systematic.  Instead of keeping thousands of gold in your bags, pick a a number which you can work with.  If you’re a new player, this should be enough to pay your daily repairs and other basic necessities.  Everything else you need to send off and store somewhere.  Out of sight, out of mind.  If you’re a seasoned Gold Maker, then  you need to determine a value that you actually need in your bag.  For me, I’ve determined that value you to be 10,000 gold per crafting character.  This leaves me enough gold to purchase anything the character may need, and leaves plenty of gold to buy supplies to process into profitable materials.  Anything I make back from those materials above the 10,000 gold mark is then shaved off the top and sent to my guild bank on a daily basis.  This allows for two things.  Seamless savings to build up, and for me to quickly calculate my profits for that day.  If at the end of the day a character has 13,700 gold on it, then I know that character has made me 3,700 gold for that day.  Which will then be shipped to my guild bank.  I have found this technique to be the easiest way to get over being stuck at a certain amount of gold.

Putting It All Together

At the end of the day, the old adage holds true.  Those who have money, make money.  If you’re unable to save your gold and don’t have a consistent system of tracking your incoming and outgoing gold, you will find yourself at a lose in regards to your financial stability.  If you are able to put this simple method into practice, it will take but a few weeks to see increased results in your overall liquid wealth and the health of your financial situation.  Sure, saving may sound simple enough; but if you do not put in the time and effort to make saving a systematic process you will find yourself, once again, staring down at your bags wondering what happened to all your gold.