If you’ve ever stared at your Riot Points purchase history and felt a quiet sense of panic, you’re not alone. I’ve been playing League of Legends since my first year of college, and last month I finally sat down to tally up exactly how much money I spent on League of Legends over 8 years of casual and ranked play. The number was higher than I expected, but breaking it down also helped me spot easy ways to cut back without giving up the skins and event rewards I actually care about. This post walks through my full spending breakdown, common traps that lead to unnecessary purchases, and small changes you can make to keep your LoL spending aligned with your budget.
My Full Breakdown of How Much Money I Spent on League of Legends
My total spending came out to $1,872 over 8 years, which averages out to $234 a year, or around $19.50 a month. That doesn’t sound like a lot on paper, but seeing the full number stacked up shocked me at first. 62% of that spending went to skins, 21% to event battle passes, 12% to Riot Points for champion unlocks in my first year of play, and the remaining 5% to random limited-time bundles and loot boxes I bought on a whim.
I started spending money my second year of play, when I fell in love with the Star Guardian Ahri skin and bought a $25 RP card on a whim. After that, I’d pick up $10 or $25 RP cards every few months when a new skin line dropped that I liked, and I bought every battle pass from 2020 to 2023 because I thought I was getting a good deal. It didn’t feel like a lot at the time, since most purchases were under $30, but adding it all up hit way harder than I expected. I could’ve paid for three months of rent in my old apartment with that money, or bought a brand new console and three AAA games.
The biggest takeaway from my breakdown is that small, frequent purchases add up far faster than one-off big spends. I only ever bought one skin over $30, but the $10 and $15 buys I made every few weeks added up to 80% of my total spending. I also barely used 30% of the skins I bought, because I purchased them for champions I only played once or twice.
Common LoL Purchase Traps That Drain Your Wallet Without You Noticing
After going through my purchase history, I noticed most of my unnecessary spends fell into the same four traps, which I see lots of other players fall into too. Riot’s marketing team is really good at making purchases feel urgent or valuable even when they’re not, and it’s easy to get caught up in the hype if you don’t stop to think before you buy.
First is limited-edition skin FOMO. Riot labels tons of skins as “limited time” when they first launch, even though most of them come back in the My Shop rotation or event loot pools 1 to 2 years later. I can’t tell you how many times I bought a skin at full price just because it was labeled “limited time”, only to see it show up in My Shop for 50% off 6 months later. I’m still mad about paying full price for the PROJECT: Vayne skin back in 2019, just to get it half off the next January. Unless the skin is part of a charity event or tied to a real-world collaboration that will never return, you almost never have to buy it the second it drops.
The second trap is overestimating battle pass value. A lot of players buy the battle pass because it says you get 1500 RP back if you complete it, but that only counts if you actually have time to grind all the levels. I bought 4 battle passes in a row and only finished one of them, so I wasted over $30 on passes I never got full value from. Only buy a battle pass if you already play 3+ hours a week consistently, not because you plan to play more in the future.
The other two traps are impulse buys after high-emotion games and loot box purchases. I can’t be the only one who’s bought a shiny new skin for a champion right after I lost a ranked game with them, thinking it would make me play better. Spoiler: it never does. And loot boxes almost never give you skins you actually want, even if they feel like a fun gamble. I’ve listed all the most common traps below to help you spot them before you spend:
- Limited-time skin FOMO for skins that will re-release later
- Buying battle passes without checking if you have time to grind to level 50
- Impulse purchases after high-emotion games (win or loss)
- Buying loot boxes instead of direct skin purchases for champions you actually play
Simple Changes I Made to Cut My LoL Spending by 70%
After doing my spending breakdown, I made a few small changes to my purchasing habits that cut my annual LoL spending from $234 to under $70 a year, and I didn’t have to give up any skins or rewards I actually care about. None of these changes required me to stop playing less, or miss out on events I was excited for.
First, I set a strict monthly LoL budget of $15, and I use a separate digital wallet for all game purchases. I only spend that money on skins for champions I’ve played at least 10 times in the last 3 months, and if I don’t spend the $15 one month, it rolls over to the next so I can save up for bigger skin bundles I want. Using a separate digital wallet for game purchases makes it way easier to track your spending and avoid going over your limit.
Next, I implemented a 72-hour cooldown rule for any purchase over $10. If I see a skin I want, I add it to my wishlist and wait 3 full days before I buy it. 9 times out of 10, the hype wears off and I realize I don’t actually want the skin that bad, and I’ve saved over $100 in the last year just from that rule alone. I also stopped buying battle passes unless I’m already 20 levels into the free track 1 week after the event launches, so I know I have the time and motivation to finish it and get full value.
I also started taking advantage of free RP opportunities instead of buying RP outright. Riot runs free RP giveaways for watching official esports matches a few times a year, and partner programs sometimes give out small RP amounts for completing simple tasks like taking a survey. I’ve earned almost $50 worth of RP that way in the last 12 months, and I used that to buy the Arcanist Zoe skin I wanted without spending my own money. Free RP opportunities add up fast, and they let you get the skins you want without dipping into your budget.
Is Spending Money on League of Legends Worth It?
I get a lot of questions from friends asking if I regret all the money I spent on LoL, and the answer is no, not entirely. A lot of those skins gave me hundreds of hours of joy, and I have fond memories of playing with friends while rocking matching skin lines for 5v5 customs. The only part I regret is the impulse buys I made out of FOMO that I never used, and the money I wasted on battle passes I never finished.
Spending money on LoL is worth it as long as the purchase brings you more joy than whatever else you would’ve spent that money on. If a $20 skin makes you happy every time you play that champion, and you can afford it without sacrificing bills or other goals, it’s a perfectly reasonable purchase. There’s no shame in spending money on a game that you play regularly and enjoy.
If you’re a new player, I recommend waiting at least 3 months before spending any money on the game, so you can figure out which champions you actually play and what types of rewards matter to you. Don’t waste money on champion unlocks early on, either—you can earn all champions for free by playing regularly, and blue essence drops fast once you hit level 30.
It’s also important to be honest with yourself about your financial situation. If you’re struggling to pay bills or save for other goals, cutting back on in-game purchases is an easy way to free up extra cash without giving up the game entirely. You don’t need fancy skins to climb ranked or have fun with friends, and most people you play with won’t even notice what skin you’re using anyway. At the end of the day, LoL is a game first, and spending on it should never cause you financial stress.
At the end of the day, tallying up how much money I spent on League of Legends was a really eye-opening experience. It helped me stop wasting money on purchases I didn’t care about, and it let me focus my spending on the parts of the game that actually bring me joy. You don’t have to stop spending money on LoL entirely to be responsible, but taking 10 minutes to look through your purchase history and set a simple budget can save you hundreds of dollars a year without ruining your fun. If you’ve never checked your own RP purchase history, I recommend doing it this week—you might be surprised by what you find.