Patch 2.4.3: How to save & waste money

As far as minor patches go, I've been pretty excited about Patch 2.4.3 which will be live within a day or so, depending on where you live. So I thought I'd post a quick note on what to look for in terms of buying and selling;

- If you're about to buy a mount for a level 40 character, stop right now. You can now buy them at level 30, but equally importantly save yourself about 60g in the process. I'm pretty happy about this as I can buy my level 36 druid a cheap mount, and my sister who just ding'd 30 will be getting herself one too. One of my guild friends is an altoholic with too many characters in the 30-40 range, so he'll be saving a huge amount hopefully. You might want to think about how to invest your savings, or just treat yourself at the same time by buying bigger bags.

- Arena players will be able to buy epic gems with Arena points now. For strict PvP'ers this is a great way to save potentially thousands if you're yet to buy epic gems for your Season 4 gear. Although most of you will still be trying to save points for the gear itself, the best news is that these gems are not unique-equipped for you. So be patient and you could save yourself a bundle, as well as destroy anyone you see in Alterac Valley (most likely me).

- Haris Pilton in Lower City will be selling some ridiculously stupid and expensive vanity items for your bank alt (in the 1000-2000g price range). I've pimped out my bank previously with the usual junk of Wedding Ring, Tux set and Monocle, but even I'm not gonna spend that much on a bank. On the other hand she'll also be selling the first 22 slot bags in the game for 1200g a piece. If you already have an epic mount, these might be worth buying. My advice? If you already have 20 slotters give it a miss unless you have too much money, but if you're still holding 18s (or worse) pick one up. Think of it this way, if you have 20 slot bags, you're paying 600g per slot, but if you only have 16s its a mere 200g per extra slot. Also keep in mind that Wrath of the Lich King will most likely introduce 24 slot bags, so you might want to hold off. You're call at the end of the day, but I'll probably get a couple if that's worth anything to you.

- If you're already exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard, and have a penchant for non-combat pets, be sure to check out the Nether Ray Fry. You deserve to treat yourself for all the money you made getting to exalted!

- Mining nodes will once again drop green gems, which is pretty useful as they've gone up in value.

- On the professions side, you tailors out there should be most pleased. The cooldown for Mooncloth has been removed. Also you can now make 28 slot herbalism bags, but you'll have to get exalted with the oft-ignored Sporeggar faction first. Don't worry though, it should be fairly easy for you to get exalted but you might want to grab some Fertile Spores & Sanguine Hibiscus off the Auction House before prices sky rocket, with other tailors hoping to get exalted quickly. This recipe could be a nice little money spinner for you, just don't flood the AH, or you'll regret it. You might also want to head down to Steamwheedle Port (Tanaris) to pick up some new Tailoring recipes, I think they're vanity items which might eventually have some demand on the AH.

- Magister's Terrace (normal) has been heavily nerf'd if you're after some quick reputation (the Exalted Jewelcrafting recipes are a big money maker).

- On the use interface front, a new useful feature is Report Issue function to GM's, which means you no longer have to talk to a GM after reporting an issue. Why is this useful? Well if you see a bot ruining your farming spot, you can send a quick ticket without having to wait for the GM to respond. Hopefully this will encourage more people to quickly report bots and gold farmers, and Blizzard will be able to respond faster.
Also a new stopwatch has been added within the game, so now you can time how long you spend farming spots and maybe try to control you growing addiction to the game (doubt it...)

Let me know if I missed anything and have fun with trying some of this stuff out.