Update: It’s been three years since I wrote this guide, and the strats have changed massively. I'll still keep it for historical purposes. Consult to more updated guides if you need to know this stuff.

In this guide, I will show you how the economy of different runs work, how many items you need and how to spend your earnings.

Part 1: ng+ run This is pretty straightforward. You need a minimum of 16 lockpicks and optionally 7 invisibility potions and 150 coins to spend to revive yourself. This all adds up to a minimum of coins 3250 per run with additional utility and 2400 without. You may think that's a lot, but here is how to earn these coins easily:

1. You need to have completed every level, up until bonus 3 and it's recommended that you are connected to the internet
2. Load up bonus 4 and complete the level with all the loot collected. You should earn anything from 60 up to 90 coins
3. (If you don't have an internet connection, then skip this step) Watch an ad to double your income. This should make your income 120 up to 180 coins
4. Go back to the main menu and repeat the process

Part 2: Any% runs You will earn roughly around 1160 coins in the entire run. It depends on how your run turns out. Your points of interest should be to upgrade your stamina and speed. Any additional money can be spent on upgrading your grab-ability and to buy lockpicks. By upgrading your stats, I mean you should upgrade them to level three and not fully, so you have enough money to buy the lockpicks. Buy the lockpicks in levels, where there is a locked door at the start of the level, which leads to the main loot. Examples include Downtown's "All Work No Play" and others.

I hope this guide helped. The whole guide is a close estimation and will not exactly apply to your run, but it should be close enough to give you an idea of what to expect.