how to cheap con

>there's nothing wrong with rewearing cosplays to different cons (as long as you wash/Febreeze them)
>group discounts on passes, if you can
>car pooling
>using Uber takes out the price of parking
>ghosting, if the con doesn't have many badge-checkpoints
I usually only get badges to access the DR/AA, which is essentially spending money to spend more money. So if you're good on merch and only want to talk to people, you might not need a badge.

>>9248338
>step 1: don't be poor

>>9248338
>be cute girl
>make friends who will let you room for free
>ghost and have friends who'll let you borrow badges for stuff you want to go to
>buy cosplays from taobao and sell them for the same price or more after you're done wearing them because the retards in facebook cosplay sales group are too dumb to use taobao and are used to ebay prices for costumes.

If you can help it, don't stay at a hotel.

Treat this the way you would a vacation. Budget for it well in advance.

If you are staying in a hotel, make a grocery store run early in your trip so you can make sandwiches/breakfast/snacks.

Its an expensive hobby. Resign yourself to the fact that there are certain expenses that you simply can't help.

Working or volunteering at a con is sometimes the way to go. All things depending, some cons offer free badges, crash spaces, and other perks.

The only down side is that you would obviously have to give up some of your weekend (hours depend on the con) but some definitely let you ask for certain times off for events and things so you don't completely miss out.

The idea to bring your own groceries is a great way to save money. The fancy rooms will often have a mini-fridge and microwave. The cheapest hotels usually have a microwave in the breakfast room that can be used to heat up non-perishables. The cost of an item at even the nearest gas station pales in comparison to a fast food trip.

Second tip is to room cheap, especially if you have a car. As far if you rely on a taxi once you get to your hotel, you aren't likely saving much money taking a 3 mile taxi cab ride as opposed to a 9 mile taxi cab ride in larger cities.

Stay in a cheap ass hotel. Knight's Inn, Super 8, and so forth... even the cheap ass motel with the corny name is a good option to save money.

You can easily stay in larger cities for well under 30$ a night normally at cheap hotels/motels. (You'll have to drive a little farther to get to the convention.)

Also, if you know for sure you are going, book as early as possible through online sites, not direct through the hotel/convention. You can find great deals if you book months in advance through third-party sellers.

Third tip, Don't fill up in the city! Sorry for all caps, but that is vital. A lot of money can be saved by just filling your car at rural stops. I'm not saying fill up in the sticks (which could also be expensive), but fill up in the small outlying towns as opposed to say... filling up in the middle of Charlotte.

I don't go to a lot of conventions, but I've traveled quite a bit, and that's how I save money.

Obviously I changed my wording quite a bit throughout that post and it got confusing, but you get the idea.

>>9248368
What's the alternative? Friend's house? Car?

>>9248399
Seconding volunteering. I don't know what kind of volunteer benefits you can get in the US, but where I live volunteers get free badge, snacks and usually at least one free warm meal in exchange for 8-12 hours of work (depends on a con, how many days the con lasts etc.). I've had lot of great volunteering experiences but of course cons (and countries!) can be very different. Most of my savings from volunteering comes from the food that I don't have to buy.

If you want to lower your con costs without diminishing your con experience, there are a lot of different ways to go. In short, there are three major costs involved with attending a con: Travel/Hotel, Tickets and Cosplay.

Room offsite, or if the con is in your area, no hotel room at all. If this isn't an option, get roommates and carpool. The more people splitting the hotel bill and travel, the cheaper it is.

Volunteering is also a great way to make it to a convention that you can't afford tickets for, plus you can help the community/convention grow. I never do this personally because I go to conventions to have fun, not to work.

Last is food costs. You NEED to eat. Bringing food costs less than ordering or going out for food, and food available at the con is usually overpriced and terrible.

But for an optimal con experience, you will want to room as close to the con as possible, try not to overload your room and enjoy some good food and fun while traveling with your friends. In short, a convention trip is a vacation with your friends and should be treated as such. If you're worrying about money, it severely will hamper your fun and bring the people around you down.

>>9249038
>In short, a convention trip is a vacation with your friends
>Friends

Well you see there is a major problem. Having to do stuff solo makes shit expensive.

>>9249058
>make friends at cons
>plan future cons together to cut costs

>>9248422
I stay friend'a houses or stay local. (It helps that I live close toSan Francisco and have friends in both LA and Orange County)

>>9248338
I used to work at a hotel so I would just find a hotel in that chain nearby and stay at that one with a few friends. $35 a night for a 4 star hotel was pretty boss and even though I don't work for them anymore, my old manager will still throw me a bone every once in a while. Have to drive a little bit farther, but the money I save in the hotel easily covers gas/parking costs with much left to spare.

I mostly go to nearby cons, I live in the northeast and the farthest con I've gone to is Otakon and I carpooled with like 5 people so that split gas costs. Not having to worry about air fare, gas, or taking an extra day off work for travel eases the strain quite a bit.

I make my cosplay over the course of the year and rewear. By not struggling to make a costume the week before the con I can take advantage of sales/coupons at the fabric store, buying cheaper wigs from overseas (Arda may be nice, but a $15 wig from Ebay is perfectly fine for most purposes) and being able to do a bit more research on bits and pieces to find cheaper alternatives. I rewear my costumes, so a costume I spent $100 I wear to at least 3 cons with proper maintenance (I don't understand people who wear a costume once, you spent all that time and money for just a few hours? Wear it to a few cons!)

I NEVER eat food at the con center. That shit is jacked up and also garbage. I either buy food from a grocery store and bring it with me (snacks like granola bars, beef jerky, or nuts can be carried all day if I'm staying offsite, I can keep real food in a hotel room), or I take a walk to a nearby restaurant for food/order a pizza to the con.

I staff one of my cons a year, too. So I get a free hotel room, the con feeds me, and I still get to the enjoy the con.

tl;dr don't just splurge to splurge, think shit through and plan ahead.

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Im going to NC Comicon today from SC and am staying at a house with all 5 star reviews in the heart of downtown Durham, which Ive heard is a hip little town, and is a 6 min walk from the con. My 3-day, 2-night stay is roughly $64 less than one night at the host hotel.

Go to Trader Joes and pick up theyre ready-to-eat salads. The combined protein from the chicken, carbs from the quinoa and fiber from the veggies will keep you full throughout most of the day.

Have Uber and Lyft installed on your phone, always be comparing prices for rides.

BYOB: get an easily hideable flask, fill with booze from home. Bam dont gotta pay for drinks either.

>>9248355
Febreeze is not washing

>>9248338
I usually voulenteer work at conventions. We get 1 meal a day and sleeping hall tickets (There's a voulenteer-only area)
Usually it doesn't take more than a 4½ hour bus drive for me and that's really cheap. Even though it's the more expensive part of my con-going. I don't cosplay so I don't have much luggage with me. Work is usually busy and fun, so I don't mind not cosplaying, even though I got a cosplay ready for my next con!

>>9248355
Honestly, I've taken cosplay to the dry cleaners before and they've done their magic and cleaned stuff for me before.