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Voiceover: Cosplay is expensive
The fabric
The notions
The wigs
The makeup
The props
The conventions
It all adds up and before you know it, you're broke as a joke
This is where budgeting comesin
It's an absolutely vital skill to have as a cosplayer
Unless, y'know, you're totally rich and you can do whatever you want with your money
For the rest of us, here are some tips and tricks to use to manage your money as a cosplayer
Obviously, there are a lot of good financial practices to follow outside of this hobby as well
Such as putting a portion of your paycheck directly into savings
Starting a RothIRA
And avoiding excessive debt
Seriously, credit cards may seem like a great thing
And they can be used to build your credit score
But don't use them unecessarily
Otherwise you'll end up with tons and tons  of credit card debt
When you're at a young age, and you don't want that, unhunh
But these tips are gonna focus exclusively on what you can do as a cosplayer to manage your money
Rather than, y'know, just a smart human being
And I'm going to preface this
If you are seriously struggling financially
Like you can't pay rent or buy food
Then buddy, you should hold off on cosplay until you can afford basic needs
Believe it or not, cosplay is a hobby
It is not necessary for your survival
It should never, ever be your first priority when it comes to how you spend your money
Buying that wig can wait
Your heating bill... probably not
All right, now that we're on the same page, onto the basics of cosplay budgeting
If you are already pinching pennies
Doing a Trinity Blood costume or full armor from Skyrim
May be out of the question
Good rule of thumb, if it's extremely detailed, it's gonna be extremely expensive
There are always exceptions
But generally, if the costume is large or has a lot of elements to it, it's going to cost a lot to recreate
Instead, consider doing something simpler
School uniforms are a great choice
Or more basic outfits like those seen in Pokemon, Naruto, or -yes- even Homestuck
When you're deciding on a costume
Consider factors like what materials you want to use and whether or not you'll need a wig
Those are the little factors that really start to add up
If you commission or purchase a costume
You're paying for more than just the costume
You're also paying labor cost
If you can't sew or style wigs or make props
Then sometimes commissioning is necessary
But if you're able to make a costume yourself
It will generally be a lot cheaper than hiring someone to make it for you
Outline what you need for a costume and for each item, estimate what you'll need to spend
For example, let's use Starfire from Teen Titans since I'm planning to make that costume soon
I know right away that I'm going to need a wig
Since I don't have long, flowing, burgundy hair
Going from past experiences, a wig like that will probably cost me around 50$
Starfire has super bright green eyes, so I want to wear contacts for her
Those will likely cost around 25$
She's also orange, like straight up orange
So I'm going to need a vibrant orange Jersey Shore tanner
I already have other makeup supplies
So in total the makeup should only cost me 20$ at most
Look at that, we're already at $95 and we haven't even gotten to the costume yet
Alright, materials
For all the silver pieces I'll probably use craft foam covered with spandex
Alternatively, I could also use fleece instead of foam
Either way that will be cheap
But the spandex, not so much
I'll need at least two yards of it, so that's $20 right there
As for purple spandex, I'll need about two yards
One for the boots and another for the outfit
I'll likely use spandex milliskin and that's $9/yard so $18
Let's not forget shipping for both orders of spandex so another $10
Finally Starfire has green gems and I'll need to cast those from resin
I won't need much but between the resin, epoxy, ink, and molds that'll come to at least $25
Total: at least $168 for this costume
I'm going to set aside $200 just to be on the safe side
And you know what, that's really not that bad
It's within my spending budget
So I know I won't be straining myself financially in order to make it
I'm going to keep this list on hand when I start shopping for supplies
If things start snowballing and I find myself spending more than anticipated
Like the wig costs more or I screw up on the costume and have to order extra fabric
I'll see if my budget will allow me to do so
Otherwise, I'll have to figure out a cheaper method
That's basic budgeting!
Not so hard, right?
And the rest of this is easy stuff
If you plan your costume ahead of time, you can spread all that spending out
That way you don't have to drop $200 all at once
You can buy the wig first, then a few weeks later buy the fabric, and so on
This puts a lot less strain on your wallet
Look in your kitchen
Your basement
Your garage
Chances are there are a ton of materials you can snag for a costume
Cereal boxes can be used for cardboard
Old clothing you're planning to throw away can be used for fabric
Empty cans or tissue boxes can build a frame for your prop
Get creative and see how you can save yourself a buck or two by recycling
Scour magazines and use papers for coupons
Fabric and hobby stores offer tons of savings and discounts especially if you sign up for their mailing list
Also if you have a smart phone be sure to check out if your store has an app
A lot of times they'll offer coupons digitally
Pay attention to when there's sales too
It can save you a lot of money to hold off on buying something until it goes on sale the following week
Save that half yard of fabric, that extra foot of elastic
Reuse patterns
Steal old shoes that mom wants to throw away
You never know when something may come in handy down the road
And it will always help if you can use stuff you already have instead of having to buy something new
Take parts from costumes you've already made to use for new costumes
For example if you already purchased a really expensive wig for one costume
See if there are any characters you'd like to cosplay that have a similar hairstyle
That way you already have the wig so it makes it worth your investment
You can do this with things like school uniform blouses, ties, petticoats
You get the picture
Hopefully these tips come in handy for you
Again, cosplay can get really expensive
But there are definitely ways to make it affordable to your budget no matter what that budget is
And again, I just want to reiterate
Good cosplay budgeting starts with good financial practices in your day to day life
Not just for cosplay
There are a ton of books like this one that are available to you
Read them cover to cover
Learn the basic financial practices
And do them
Learn how to avoid debt, learn how to pay off loans
Learn how to not abuse credit
And please... please, please, please, please
If you cannot feed yourself, if you cannot pay rent
If you cannot afford medical coverage or insurance or some sort of treatment that you need for your health
Then do not cosplay
That sounds horrible
And it makes it sound like "Oh, only the rich can cosplay"
It's so not true
But you need to take care of your basic needs and your basic survival and your basic health and happiness
Before you get into... a hobby
This goes for video games
Clothing shopping, attending concerts
Model train collecting
Your health and your survival are more important than dressing up as fictional characters
And sometimes it sucks having to hold off on doing something you really want to do
But if it's not financially feasible for you at this time, wait. Just wait.
'Cause in the future you may have tons of money to spend on cosplay
So just sit tight until then and wait until you're financially stable
Before indulging in something that should be a really fun stress-free hobby
At least stress-free in the way that you should still be able to feed yourself every day
And still buy fabric. And wigs.
As always, if you have suggestions for a Cosplay 101 video, leave them in the comments down below
I'll see you next time, and until then, happy cosplaying!
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