budget friendly convention resources!

a resource blog for people attending anime, comic or pop culture conventions, focused on enjoying a con while on a budget.

[fiti-vation]

[mamabearteacher]

Lunch ideas

[scatterpatter]

These are actually amazing??? This can really help me eat more??? And are legit good and creative lunches??? THANK YOU IM AAAAAAAAA-

[neurodivergent-crow]

Good for spoonies who like to pre-prepare stuff when they do have some extra spoons

[conthrift]

here’s some snacks that i’m pretty sure you can find for fairly cheap! look into your local dollar store / bulk food store.  pricing is in CAD. it’ll probably be a bit cheaper for US peeps!

nuts - i love cashews, but they’re pricey. i can get a decent bag from the dollar store for $2.  there’s also usually trail mix or mixed nuts. 

jerky - i prefer a little higher end farmer’s market stuff, but again, dollar store!! $2.50 for a decent pouch of jerky, and the stuff is usually room temperature friendly if it’s jack link’s or another brand. 

granola bars - try to buy something like nature valley, where it’s a little more protein or grains. i really like made good’s chocolate chip granola bars! there’s vegetable servings you don’t notice. Also just super tasty. I personally like made good’s chocolate chip granola bar, or nature valley’s sweet and salty dark chocolate and nut

stay away from more junk food stuff - buy some as a treat, but try to make sure you fill up on more protein related foods first!

 if you have to have sweets:

pocky typically goes for about $2 for plain strawberry or chocolate, but you can spend $3-4 dollars on the other more luxury varieties.  

ramune / marble pop can be found at asian grocery stores, and i’ve found some for fairly cheap at other grocery stores in the asian food aisle. They can go for about $2-3 dollars there, where as cons might have them for 4 or more dollars. 

in general, check your dollar store, walmart, and keep an eye out in grocery stores! if you can afford a membership, or have a friend who does - costco and sam’s club are excellent resources for bulk purchases!

[conthrift]

alright! so as my first post here, i’m going to post my typical budget for a con! this includes rough estimates on food / drink for my province. my budget will differ from my partner, as well as anyone else, but this can be a rough guide for anyone’s first con! 

under the cut will feature the full detail i go into for building my personal budget for the cons i attend!

all my prices are in canadian dollars, for reference! 

passes:     depending on the con, you can pay from $40 - $100+ per full weekend pass. i try to buy the passes in early bird times, so i save some money. there’s a tax and service fee that typically adds another $10 dollars on.  i buy my partner’s pass as well, when she pays for gas and parking. we don’t buy the vip pass. they do have nice benefits, but it’s usually at least another hundred dollars. we usually only attend expos for one day, and that can be the same price as an anime con we attend, so we only go if there’s guests attending we really want to meet. cost: $100-140

transportation:      i do not drive, but my girlfriend does. we have a costco membership and buy our gas there, and typically we get it for $0.88/litre as a standard.  compared to 0.92-1.00/litre at other places without coupons. she spends about 20-25 dollars on gas when she fills up.      parking depending on convention ranges from $10-25/day.  on fridays, we use public transit to get to our local anime con, using bus tickets. i buy bus tickets at about $23 for a sheet of 10. we use 4 during the day.  cost: $12-25/day

food and beverages:      we usually buy a majority of our snacks and drinks before hand. we tend to have protein heavy foods for snacks - nuts or jerky or pepperoni sticks as snacks. we’ll also take sandwiches for at least one meal.  we invested in a cooler that’s come in handy ( and does a fantastic job at keeping our stuff cool )      we usually keep an eye on sales and stock up. - loaf of bread: $2 - deli meat: $6 - pepperoni sticks: $11 / 16 not on sale - jerky: $10  - nuts ( typically cashews ) : $2/bag at dollar store - granola bars: $3 / box of 4 - muffins: $8/12 muffins@ costco     for drinks, we keep water bottles on hand and refill them at water stations around the cons. we also usually have a powerade each. in the morning, we stop at the local starbucks to get coffee.  - powerade - $6 @ $1/bottle - grande blond white mocha or latte with vanilla and hazelnut syrup -  $33.00 @ $5.50 a piece ( though i might get something different, but the white mocha is my Go To )  cost: approximately $66 with this spread. depending on if we pack bentos, it might be closer to $100.  

eating out:     now, this is something we like to do at cons. we like to go to a dinner with friends somewhere nicer than we usually go on date nights. or it’s the day’s other meal.    - other meal ( usually a coupon at a fast food place ) $15-20 / meal for two - social dinner with people - $60 with tip  cost: $120

grand total of these other expenses at the high end of potential costs: $435

alright, since we’re already spending $435 or so dollars just to have fun that weekend, give or take, i’ll usually take $200 dollars with me personally to spend in the artist alley and dealer’s room.  i work a job with tips, and i save it as my main con spending money, and take out some more, depending on the con.  so, i usually spend about $535 per convention we attend. this does not include the money i spend on cosplay. that’s another post.  this is what i can afford, and i make sure all my bills are paid first before attending a con.