For what its worth I give the players their full wealth per level, but restrict purchases in two ways:
1) No single item can be worth more than half of the starting wealth (this is mostly to save them from themselves, overspecializing can be a killer).
2) No more than 20% of the starting wealth can be spent on single use or charged magic items. This is more important if the campaign is a short one, or a one-shot, but you can get a much better ROE on potions and scrolls (and wands) of Bull's Strength than for Gauntlets of Ogre Power. If the campaign is intended to last more than 5 levels, I would raise that to 30%.
Cheers
1) No single item can be worth more than half of the starting wealth (this is mostly to save them from themselves, overspecializing can be a killer).
2) No more than 20% of the starting wealth can be spent on single use or charged magic items. This is more important if the campaign is a short one, or a one-shot, but you can get a much better ROE on potions and scrolls (and wands) of Bull's Strength than for Gauntlets of Ogre Power. If the campaign is intended to last more than 5 levels, I would raise that to 30%.
Cheers