The computer science counterpart is the Optimal Stopping Problem. There's no real equivalent solution irl. In a country without a safety net, and if you don't have a trust fund, then constantly preparing for black swan events is only rational.
Evaluating each chance to use one specific favor, based on your perceived need for it at one moment and its potential outcome, feels equivalent to interviewing one job applicant in this classical problem.
Collecting favors then doling them out rationally is rational.
Being a favor doomsday prepper with an ever-growing favor stockpile is not.