Cart Reality Check

See how many hours of work your online cart really costs before you buy.

Cart Reality Check turns your online cart into reality: it shows you how many hours of work your cart really costs before you hit “Place order.” Instead of staring at a random dollar number and guessing if it’s “too much,” you see it in the one unit that actually matters for busy, broke, or overwhelmed people: your time. --- ## WHAT IT DOES • Scans your current cart or checkout page total when you click the button • Converts that total into “hours of work” using your hourly pay • Shows a clean, dark overlay right on the page (no new tab, no confusion) • Helps you pause, think, and decide: “Is this cart worth that much of my life?” • Stays out of the way until you intentionally click it Example: > $132.47 ≈ 6.6 hours of work > “Pause for a second: is this cart worth that much of your life?” That’s it. One purpose, one button, one hard truth. --- ## HOW IT WORKS 1. Install the extension and pin it in your Chrome toolbar. 2. Open an online cart or checkout page (Amazon, clothing sites, tech, etc.). 3. Click the Cart Reality Check icon. 4. In the popup, enter your hourly pay (after tax) once and hit **“Run reality check.”** 5. The extension scans the page to find a likely cart/checkout total. 6. A focused overlay appears on the page with the total and the equivalent hours of work. 7. You decide whether to buy, edit the cart, or back out. If the extension can’t confidently find a total, it will tell you and suggest trying again on the final checkout/summary screen. --- ## WHY IT HELPS Most of us underestimate online purchases because: • Dollars feel abstract, especially on a screen • Carts grow slowly (“just one more thing…”) • Sales, coupons, and timers push urgency, not clarity Cart Reality Check pulls you out of “impulse mode” and into “is this worth my time?” mode. Seeing “7.3 hours of work” instead of “$145.80” hits different. It makes: • Impulse buys easier to walk away from • Big purchases easier to justify (or not) • Budgeting more intuitive without spreadsheets or calculators This is especially helpful if you’re: • A student or on a tight budget • Working hourly, gig, or shift jobs • Trying to save for bigger goals (car, rent, debt payoff, etc.) • ADHD-prone and tired of regret-buying random cart dumps at 2 a.m. --- ## KEY FEATURES • **One-click reality check** – No complicated setup, no accounts, no signup. • **Your hourly pay, your reality** – You control the number used; tweak it any time. • **On-page overlay** – You don’t have to read a popup and then “translate” it; the message appears directly over your cart. • **Dark, distraction-free UI** – Clean, minimal design built for overwhelmed brains. • **Safe by design** – Runs only when you click the button, on the active tab. --- ## PERMISSIONS (AND WHY) Cart Reality Check uses a small, focused set of permissions: • **activeTab** – To run only on the tab you’re looking at when you click the button. • **scripting** – To inject a short content script that reads the cart total and shows the overlay. • **tabs** – To find the current active tab in your window. • **storage** – To remember your hourly pay so you don’t have to retype it every time. It does **not**: • Read your full browsing history • Track you across sites • Send your data to external servers • Sell or share data with anyone All processing happens locally in your browser. Your hourly pay is stored using Chrome’s extension storage and is only used for the time calculation. --- ## PRIVACY & SAFETY • The extension’s single purpose is to convert your cart total into hours of work. • It only touches the page when you click the “Run reality check” button. • It scans visible text on the page to find a likely “total,” then discards that data after showing the overlay. • No external analytics, tracking pixels, or ad networks are used. If a site layout is unusual or heavily scripted, the extension may not find a clear total. In that case, you’ll see a message instead of a wrong answer. --- ## WHO THIS IS FOR Cart Reality Check is built for people who: • Feel “broke but trying” and want fewer regret purchases • Are juggling school, work, and bills without time for complex budgeting tools • Like simple, one-button systems that quietly protect their money and time • Want to build better spending habits without shaming themselves If you’ve ever looked at your bank account and thought, “Where did it all go?”, this extension is for you. --- ## TIPS FOR BEST RESULTS • Use your **after-tax** hourly pay or your best estimate. • If you’re salaried, divide your monthly take-home pay by your approximate hours worked. • For very big purchases, ask yourself: – Would I trade this many hours of my life for this thing? – Does this push back my bigger goals (car, emergency fund, debt, etc.)? • Run Cart Reality Check on the **final cart/checkout page** where the total is clearly shown. --- ## SUPPORT & OPTIONAL DONATION Cart Reality Check is built by Jude, an 18-year-old college student and side hustler in Michigan who likes making small tools that reduce stress for busy, broke people. The extension is free. There are no paywalls and no upgrade tiers. If this extension has: • Stopped you from a regret buy • Helped you walk away from a cart you didn’t actually want • Made money feel a little more real and less overwhelming …you can send a small $2–$5 “thank you” tip via Cash App. It helps keep this free and supports more tools like this. Cash App: **$judeh1l** (You’ll also see a small, optional tip panel inside the popup.) --- ## DISCLAIMERS • Cart Reality Check is a simple educational tool for awareness, not professional financial advice. • It may not detect every cart or every currency correctly, especially on very complex or unusual sites. • Always rely on your actual cart/checkout totals and your own judgment when making purchases. If you have feedback or ideas for future improvements, leave a review and share what’s working (or not). That helps shape the next version so it can protect even more people from “how did I spend that much?” moments.