Input Model

The engine uses five user inputs:

• Purchase amount
• Wage amount
• Wage period (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)
• Spending category
• Display currency

Input validation enforces numeric and category constraints before result generation.

Wage Normalization and Time Cost

Wage is normalized to an hourly baseline using fixed conversion multipliers by wage period. Time cost is calculated as purchase amount divided by normalized hourly wage.

Example: $120 purchase ÷ $20/hour = 6 hours of labor-equivalent cost.

Perspective Generation

One comparison item is selected per perspective category: survivalist, laborer, investor, addict, samaritan, and absurd.

Selection is randomized from curated category pools. Where possible, affordable items are prioritized to keep quantity outputs concrete and interpretable.

Quantity and Affordability Logic

Quantity is computed as purchase amount divided by item unit price, then rendered in human-readable format.

If purchase amount is below unit price, the UI explicitly indicates that one full unit is not affordable and displays the threshold amount.

Scoring and Verdict Tiers

The score is derived from purchase amount, labor-equivalent time cost, and a spending-category multiplier.

Final verdict labels map to configured score ranges. Verdicts are reflective and entertainment oriented, not a normative measure of personal financial health.

Rendering and Receipt Output

Results are rendered client-side and transformed into a downloadable image artifact for sharing. User-entered values are not persisted on server infrastructure.

Known Limitations

• Reference values are estimates and can lag real-world market movement.
• Regional variance may materially affect category-level comparisons.
• Outputs are contextual prompts, not deterministic recommendations.