Budgeting for your hobbies

I cosplay and I'm getting into lolita and I'm trying to reign in my desire to buy everything as I build my wardrobe. Right now, I'm sort of buying pieces as I see them second hand, but I'd like to get a better handle on how much I'm spending on my wardrobe.

For cosplay, I only go to 2 or 3 cons per year and the costs are usually low because the badges aren't very expensive and I stay with friends. I usually make 1 or 2 new cosplays and then bring an old one. None of my cosplays have gone above $300 though, so its a cost I'm comfortable with throughout the year.

>>9318324
I'm on the jfashion side but not a Lolita. I spent around $5000 in 2016 out of pocket (basically what gets charged to my credit card and comes out of my bank account). That's increased since I first started but has been reasonably steady over the last couple years.
This doesn't include shipping or second hand buys which I only pay for out of my paypal balance which I maintain by doing my own secondhand sales and other online activity, so I don't really count that.
My flexible monthly budget for non-PayPal balance transactions is usually around $300 but obviously there are exceptions for special releases/fukubukuro or if I travel to Japan where I budget separately for expenses.
I've never really gone over that for multiple months in a row without a special occasion and usually am under budget. I mostly buy new items bc I don't want to regret missing a print or item and I don't want to pay scalper prices later.

I go to cons but I don't cosplay or wear jfash. I'm a student and while I don't have a job at the moment, I don't have a student loan, I live with my parents and I'm granted a scholarship because my family is really poor and disadvantaged. So when I go to cons, usually the local one, I try to spend at most 100€ during the whole con, in merchandises and sometimes food that can't be bought outside of the con, unless you want to buy it online but it would be overpriced. Sometimes I feel guilty whenever I want a figurine that costs 30€ or 40€ so I don't buy it and spend the money on overpriced food because I'm a dumbass.
I'm planning on going to the biggest con of the country, it would cost me way more than that so I have to save money and find a job during the holiday before it takes place.

Honestly; as much as I love anime, manga, video games and cons, those are relatively expansive hobbies and I often feel guilty about indulging in them. It sucks, so maybe I should stop spend money on these things until I'm done with college and have an actual job and a decent income.

>>9318324
>How do you budget for your cosplay or jfash hobbies?

spend money till it's gone

panic

overwork

repeat

I center my big cosplay purchases (no jfash) and comissions around three major points in the year:

1. Christmas time. I work for a private high school and every christmas the parents association collects money for aholiday bonus for all the teachers plus a flat $100 bonus from the school administration. This year it was $330, for example. Its cash, so its not even taxed.

2. Tax return season. Always get at least $2000 in my return so I use it for cosplay stuff.

3. End of June. I read and grade AP tests. It fucking sucks but its $1600 for a weeks worth of work. And since Im still getting my regular school paycheck in the summer months, its all spending/pocket money.

>>9318324
>How do you budget for your cosplay or jfash hobbies?
Honestly I don't exactly budget. Some months I buy absolutely nothing, other months I go buy a few pieces. It really depends on what strikes my fancy.

>How much do you think you spend per month? Per year?
Per month probably only a couple hundred. I'm picky so my wardrobe grows pretty slowly. I spent about a grand on Lolita this last month because I went a bit luckypack crazy.

>Do you limit how much you buy/spend? Has that limit increased or decreased since you've started?
My limit on an individual piece is $200. Sets get different consideration. My limit comes from when I was a broke student, but I still find it good to have. Keeps me contained.

>Have you neglected to pay for something else essential so you can pay for a cosplay/jfash item?
Never. I've changed eating habits to spend less so I can keep my savings intact and growing after a bit of shopping, but that's the most I've done.

>For jfash people, do you tend to buy new releases or second hand? How do you decide if you're going to buy a new release?
My wardrobe was entirely secondhand until I bought luckypacks this year. New releases hold very little appeal to me so I tend to skip them. I'm primarily an old school/gothic Lolita with a little 2010 AATP.

I did the math recently and I think my wardrobe has cost me roughly $4500 give or take. But that's over the last three or so years, with 19 main pieces, and plenty of things to fill the wardrobe out, so it's not too bad.