paste what you want. get the brutal truth.
Hit me with...
How it works

Buy or Broke is a 10-second gut-check, not a budgeting app. You paste a purchase and a few numbers, and it turns them into plain stats so the trade-off is obvious at a glance.

  • Hours of your life — the price divided by your hourly pay (a month is treated as ~160 working hours).
  • If invested 10 yrs — the same money compounded at about 7% a year.
  • Share of 1 month's pay — the price as a percentage of your monthly take-home.
  • Buffer / months to save — what's left after buying, or how long it'd take to save up from your spare cash.
  • The Other Timeline — invests the money at your chosen rate (5/7/10%) against a thing that loses ~32% of its value each year.

These are rough estimates for perspective — real returns vary and aren't guaranteed. It's not financial advice; your real situation is yours to judge.

FAQ

Buy or Broke exists to turn an impulse into a 10-second reality check — a gut-check for one purchase, not a budgeting app or a financial planner. Just an honest "should you?" before you tap buy.

Is this financial advice?

No. Buy or Broke gives rough estimates for perspective and fun. The numbers are simplified, and your real situation is yours to judge.

Do you store my income or savings?

No. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is sent to a server or saved. Shareable links only carry the item, price and currency, never your financial inputs.

Where does the 7% return come from?

It's a common long-run stock-market average, used only for illustration. Real returns vary year to year and aren't guaranteed — that's why The Other Timeline lets you try 5%, 7% or 10%.

Why are the three tones different?

Gentle, Brutal and Hype only change the wording of the verdict, never the math. Pick whichever voice you need to hear.

Buy or Broke gives rough estimates for fun & perspective. It is not financial advice.

© 2026 Buy or Broke · How it works