How To Spend and Save Your Fortune

This article is about how to save a large amount of neopoints you acquired quickly (possibly from the lottery or a random event) and also spend some of it, too, without emptying your bank account, where I am assuming here that you already put your large fortune. It's not bad to spend a chunk of your new fortune. In fact, it can be good, because it satisfies your urge to spend it all at once. But MAKE SURE you don't get carried away. Think about how much you want to save. Then think about how much you're willing to spend. Draw up a chart. You'll want to spend a chunk on each of your pets, probably, and maybe a chunk on your neohome, or your gallery, or on wearable items. Add up your calculations. Then take that and ten thousand more from the bank. You'll want an extra ten thousand or so for beefing up your Trading Post trades, unexpected costs, etc.

When you set aside this money, you have to think realistically. You may end up eating away all of your fortune with your wants. So you need to prioritize. List what you need first. Then list the things you want the most of all. After you've listed all your sections in the proper order, think about how much of your fortune you're willing to spend on this. Then cut the ones on the bottom of the list first. For example, if you want a Draik more than anything, and the Draik is at the top of the list, and you kind of want a Krawk, too, and the Krawk is nearer to the bottom of the list, your dream Krawk will go first. So spend a lot of time thinking about the way you are going to prioritize. After you're done with this, fetch your money from the bank and go shopping! Shopping is very fun, but it's easy to get carried away. Remember, stick with your plan and buy what you went out to buy. Keep your eyes wide open--there are all sorts of deals waiting to be discovered.

Of course, there's another side to all of this: what are you planning on doing with your fortune that's in the bank? You're probably saving it for something big, like a HUGE neohome makeover, or getting one of your dream pets, complete with petpet, petpetpet, clothes, etc. But what if you have enough already? Or you're not saving up for anything? Well, I've got something to say to both of those. If you have enough already, you need to think it through, and I'm going to warn you about something. You may have spent years trying to get enough for this, and if it goes wrong, you'll be devastated. However, success can be a scary thing, too, even though it sounds strange. You've been trying to reach this point for years, and now you have. What now?

You'll want to get yourself back to the basics of neopets. Playing your favorite game can help. Make sure you just soak up the fun, and not just try to make as many neopoints as possible. Finding a new hobby could help--a gallery is a great idea, or a guild, or you could get into neoquest. Reading old issues of the Neopian Times can be really fun, too. Start at the beginning and work your way up to here. You'll get so lost in old Neopia that when you step out into the present day again, everything will seem fresh! There are so many goals to accomplish on Neopets that you could never accomplish them all. And if you do all you want to do on your main account, you can switch main accounts with one of your sides. Just transfer all the items, neopoints, and/or pets you need to your side. Then have at least a 24 hour period of inactivity on either account. Then you log into the side account, and you can use it as a main account now. But don't change too often. You have to be prepared to have that as your main account for a long time now.

Okay, so, second case: you're not saving up for anything. Easy. Find a goal. Want a fancy neohome? Want a row of Customization Spotlight trophies under your pet's picture? Go for it. Just set your goal, and do whatever it takes to obtain it. That said, neopoints aren't everything. Make sure you're enjoying yourself, or you at least take time to enjoy yourself. Take some time to just relax and have fun.

Well, now all that's over, how do you resist that pile of shiny neopoints in your bank account? Well, you have to have will power. A little for the Wheel of Extravagance? MAYBE in a blue moon, when you think of it this way: I am simply throwing this money away. Throwing it in the garbage. But really, it's completely idiotic. Only do that if you have been working in the Games Room all day, and you made lots of money, and you're exhausted, and you really want to have a little bit of fun, and take a little risk. A little for food? If your pets are starving and you can't make any quick neopoints right then, maybe, but really, there are plenty of places in Neopia to get free food, or to get food dirt cheap, so consider that before you spend away your Desert Krawk... A little for wearables? No, you should just go to the games room and earn your money there yourself. It's not all that hard once you get the hang of it. A little for your pet, a Blumaroo, on Blumaroo Day? Of course, everybody needs a good celebration once in a while, but remember to limit yourself and to work extra hard and making money the next day.

But remember, overall, what Neopets is about is having fun. If you're not having fun on Neopets, you've gotta remember that there are plenty of things to do. And if you really, really are just sick of saving and don't care about that Desert Krawk the least bit anymore, then you should really give yourself a vacation and spend part of that money on something you care about more. Your dreams can become a reality through hard work, and I hope my tips will help you on your way to becoming a happier Neopian.