Split It In Two: A Guide to Bugeting and List Making

Hello chuuu guuuys!!

So it's been a shamefully long time since I made a post, and I apologise for that, I got a little bogged down with things (despite it being summer holidays T.T) and then I went on holiday to a festival for a week.
But yes!! I think the 5 most interesting things that I actively did since I last posted are:

1: Going to my friends 16th birthday party *coughousepartycough*. Which was fun enough until we woke her mum up at 4:30am and me and my friend Bebhinn went all ninja and dropped to the floor where we were standing and pretended to be asleep. It just so happened that I was standing next to the table. Thus I ended up firstly attempting to sleep in a sea of bread stick crumbs, and next to a sizable chunk of half chewed fried/battered chicken (not nice for a non meat eater like myself >.<). Luckily I was able to move and found a better spot where I was away from the chicken, but was continually kicked in the head by my friend Tom.

2: Went to see the new Harry Potter movie! Blimey such a good fucking movie!!! But why, oh why did they feel it necessary to change bits of the end??? Douche bags!!!
Aside from that... SNAPE'S MEMORIES!!!!! I cried so freaking much. I thought I was being subtle as well! But apparently not, because my mum, who was sitting two seats away from me told me afterward that she heard me sobbing >->

3: Went to the London Film and Comic-con with Rima-chan!! Hence the name, not so much focused on anime and manga, but it provided a refreshing change from the norm!
I have two things to say... YAOI STICKER... NERDS!!!!!
Good timezzzz!!

4: MAH SEBBY WIG ARRIVED!!!!! AHGSHFGDLJGSLGSFLSGFLSGAFFFFAFJSFGSSLJGFAAHSSGS!!! And fuck me is it gorgeous!!! I styled it pretty well me thinks!! It's seriously the most natural feeling, comfiest wig I've ever worn! Much love for it already and I've only worn it 3 times!!

5: Went to the great ol' land of Bury St. Edmund's for HES FES, Home Educators Summer Festival (it used to be seaside festival but the douche bags moved it away from the beach so they had to change it *grumble*).
Anywayz, I had a wonderful time trolling around with Siobhan, Echo-anechan and Jum-chan!! Bocchan moshed and much Caribbean Twist was consumed!
We discovered that I CAN dance when forced, and that when you get Echo tipsy she rants about OzxAlice and hugs you a lot. That I'm still terrified of Doctor Nye from Skulduggery Pleasant, Mortal Coil and that Echo can be quite sadistic when it comes to scaring me with Nye inspired sound effects. When someone has sex in a tent next to you, listen to Ali Project and laugh loudly! Role playing as Sebastian and Ciel with Beri-chan whilst drinking Bacardi Breezer and getting hyper off only half a bottle of it before you have to give it to your friend 'cos you hate pineapple and watching 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' produces interesting *coughdirtycough* conversations! And lastly... YOU CAN PLAY REAL LIFE TRON WITH GLOW STICKS!!! I have tons more cosplays to do, some new clothes, a whole bunch of lolita photos to upload and some extraordinary memories!! Thank you for a wonderful week... And just to piss Anechan off.... SQUID PORN!!!!!!

'HES FES 2011- Year of the squid porn'

~*~

But I did come here today with a topic in mind, so now that that mini-update is over I can get right to it!

Split it in two... Or three... Or four... 

Currently I'm struggling under a mountain of cosplays (no joke, 16 planned ones!! *Shot*), and with very little funds, but a crap ton of ideas that gets a little hairy.
So I wanted to write this article for those that -like me- have a couple of interests, or lots of things they wanna buy but not much money to play with.

Step 1: The basic list~So get onto Microsoft Word, pages, or just grab a pen and a bit of paper and start writing a list of all the cosplays you wanna do, costumes for parties or themed coords you wanna put together if this is your things. If not, skip this step!!

Step 2: The slightly more detailed list~
Now you've got your basic lists you're obviously gonna need to dissect them a little more!
Split them up into the separate pieces you'll need for each cosplay, coords or costumes.
E.g; "1: Material/buttons/cotton for tailcoat and waistcoat
2: White gloves
3: Head butler pin
4: White tuxedo shirt
5: Red contact lenses
6: Black eyeliner
7: Black eyeshadow"
(They're all the things I still have to buy for my Sebastian cosplay *dies*)
Again, if costumes and coordinates aren't your thing -if not then why are you reading this blog? O.o, skip this step!!




Step 3: Split lists~If you're starting off on your list journey here then you're going to need to split your list of "Things to buy" into two parts: Things you NEED and things you WANT.
For us cosplayers things we'll NEED are things that make up costumes and basic necessities; new underwear, make up, food, travel money, toiletries etc.
And for those normal people amongst us your lists might look something like this (I'll try and make it as normal as possible!!)



E.g "Things to buy: Wants~
1: New hat
2: Green eye shadow
3: Party dress
4: 'Gormenghast' by Mervin Peak
5: That new video game that just came out

Things to buy: Needs~
1: New foundation
2: Socks
3: Top up rail card
4: Text book
5: Tampons/sanitary towels/condoms etc"

You get the idea!!
Splitting things up into WANTS and NEEDS matters a lot more if you don't live with your folks anymore.
Of course you can split your list into as many different categories as you like, and have as many different names for categories as you like. I split mine up into "Things to buy for cosplay~" and "Other~" (which basically consists random things I want!! Hehe~<3).

Step 4: Actually getting hold of money~This is mostly up to whether you're prepared to work or not. Personally I like keeping my Saturday mornings for sleeping, or just generally being a lazy fuck. And seeing as I'm not 18 yet I can't work on a weekday in term time... Which is shiiiit! Shit I tell thee!!
There are of course other ways to obtain doh, plant sitting, pet sitting, baby sitting, dog walking... That kind of usual shizz that us young teens get lumped with *grumble*.

Step 5: Separate your pennies~
Split your money between your different lists as you see fit. Personally I'd put more towards cosplay and literature and less towards fashion and movies!


Step 6: DON'T GET DISTRACTED!!!~
I think this is the most crucial step! Or it is for me personally anywayz >->
If you have coordinate pieces to obtain (I MUST HAVE THAT HUGE PUFFY LILAC PETTI AND THOSE ADORABLE PASTEL SKETCHERS!!!), or you need large quantities of black suiting fabric, buttons and silk. DON'T GET DISTRACTED!!!!
It's hard to resist the temptation sometimes, but saying no to that milkshake, or putting off buying that box set is something you really won't regret!
It's also good to focus. Especially if you're into cosplay, lolita or some other type of street fashion or otaku themed... Thingy-thing (>-<''''), also if you collect something or other. Don't spread yourself too thin, think about the things you need to get sorted now, and save the rest for later.
Using myself as an example again; I keep feeling very tempted to shell out on a Luka wig, an Ashford Academy uniform, or even just a simple black waist coat for Shizuo. But I don't need to have those cosplays finished until next year. Right now I need to be thinking about material, tuxedo shirts and white kid gloves!! ^-^




That is all!!




I be ye goodnight!!



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Chiru
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