Budget-Conscious Writing: How Early Should Location Limits Influence Creative Choices?

Hey everyone, I'm Nina Kowalski, a working screenwriter. I'm currently outlining a new project, a character-driven thriller, and I keep hitting a wall with location ideas. I've always been told to write the story first, then worry about budget, but I also know that minimizing locations can drastically cut production costs. I'm grappling with this right from my initial beat sheet. Should I be actively limiting myself to, say, three main locations from the get-go? Or does that stifle creativity too much? I've tried writing without any thought to it, and my script ends up needing twelve distinct sets which I know is a non-starter for most independent productions. How do you all balance creative freedom with the very real constraints of a production budget, especially for location count, when you're still sketching out the first draft?