5 Ways To Do A Convention On A Budget
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You’ve been planning for months. You’re so excited. It’s going to be a great convention. But then, disaster strikes. All of a sudden, the money you budgeted isn’t there. How can you go to a convention without money to spend on the things you were hoping to buy, let alone food? Here’s a quick guide on how to still have an amazing convention using Gen Con, the TTRPG/Board Game convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, as the example.
5. Make Sure You Have Money For The Important Things
This can be a hard thought to swallow. “What! I can’t buy the board game I’ve been thinking about for months? I can’t bring home lots of art pieces from my favorite artists?” Don’t discount that out completely, however, make sure you have money for the hotel (if you’re staying in one) and food first.
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Also, if you are staying in a hotel where you need to drive to the convention, use an app like SpotHero to find a space with a discount. Sometimes you might have to park a little way out, but many times, garages aren’t as expensive if you prepay on these apps, and sometimes, they even have an early bird discount if you park super early. And an extra perk with this is you don’t have to waste time driving around to find a garage that isn’t full! An added note for Gen Con is that they also have electric scooters you can rent throughout the city, so this can help save you money as well. Budget here first, then go from there
4. Only Transfer The Money You Have The Moment You Need It
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Some of the best advice is to go to a convention with only cash to spend because then you really have to budget to make sure that you aren’t just impulse buying (which is so easy to do at any sort of comic or board game convention). However, if just bringing cash doesn’t work, treat your cards like they are cash. Know how much you have in your bank account, and transfer what you need when you need it. As long as you’re intentional about it, this will help you curb any impulse buying. Just make sure you know how much you have left in your account!
3. Snack, Snacks, Snacks!
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Conventions are notorious for making people lose track of the time and forget to eat and drink. Especially if you’re trying to save money, the thought of buying a bunch of food from overpriced concession booths or artisan (but delicious!) food trucks can be daunting. “But that’s the money I could use to buy the new TTRPG I want to play!” Never fear. Most conventions don’t care if you bring in snacks or even a sandwich, although coolers are usually prohibited. Backpacks are your friends at conventions, and they are excellent places to keep a Ziploc bag/container full of nutritious snacks.
Before going to the con, go to a dollar or grocery store to buy cheaper, nutritious snacks. That way, you can also eat that protein bar while walking through the convention floor and still be able to do things in case you forget to eat because you’re distracted. Don’t just buy chips or fruit snacks. Make sure you have protein in there as well, because then you can eat those for breakfast or lunch and only have to spend money on one, maybe two meals, a day.
Also, bring your own reusable water bottle. There are plenty of stations to fill it up, so make sure you are doing that regularly throughout the convention. If you feel like you won’t drink enough to stay hydrated, hydration drops or Liquid IV are good to keep on hand.
2. What Do I Do If I Can’t Afford Anything Extra After Food, Parking, And Hotel?
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Booths have business cards. Taking those with you, along with taking pictures of the booths and the items you might want to purchase later is always a good idea. There are a lot of independent artists, and sometimes not being able to buy something from them can be sad because you want to support them. But supporting artists by talking to them and telling other people about their booths is still supporting them, even if you can’t purchase from them yet.
Also, specifically at Gen Con, they have board games you can play. Most of these you have to sign up for ahead of time, but many of the games to play are completely free (or cost just $2) and are totally worth checking out because it’s a fun thing you can do that will cost you zero or very little money! You get to play a game and, if you really love it, add it to your growing list of games to buy.
1. If I Have A Little Extra, Should I Still Buy That Game?
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Absolutely! Once you’ve made sure you’ve paid for everything you need, go ahead and spend some of the extra on the items you wanted to buy. Buy that copy of Daggerheart, buy that board game, Moon Bunny, you’ve been looking at for over a year, and back that Kickstarter. Just because you may not be able to come home with the haul you imagined doesn’t mean that you can’t buy a few things that you were really looking forward to. Pick your top items and start there.
The other cool thing about conventions, especially Gen Con, is that they have coupon books you can get for free (and tote bags!) In the books, they have coupons for free things or discounts if you buy something at a booth. Always check this out. At Gen Con specifically, there is a booth where you can get a free D6 that’s a special for Gen Con. Always check out the coupon books if the con you’re going to has them! It’s definitely worth it.
Even if you can’t afford as much as you were hoping, you can still have a blast at conventions. There are plenty of free things to do, from events, seminars, and panels, not to mention just walking around and checking everything out. It is totally doable to do a convention on a tighter budget and still have a blast. So go to that convention, play some board games, check out the vendor hall, and have fun.
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