1.) Your Closet/ The attic/ The garage

By far, the cheapest and best place to look for material to work on your cosplay. Practically, a treasure trove of stuff to bring life to your cosplay if you happen to be a pack rat or just plain lazy with throwing out stuff.You might find old stuff like eye glasses or little trinkets that would go well with whatever your making.

2.) Dollar Stores/Thrift Stores

If you’re lucky enough to have a budget to work with, the dollar store is the best place for you to find tools and material to use for your cosplay. Need lots of aluminum foil for that robot costume? Dollar stores have boxes of those... ALL FOR A DOLLAR! Though I don't suggest buying anything to eat at a dollar store unless you're really hurting financially.

3.) Terrible ready-to-wear Halloween  costumes (pic via Kotaku)

You're probably reading this to avoid those terrible packaged costumes from your local retailer's seasonal aisle  that look so cheesy. But I still urge you to go look at those to get inspiration for your cosplay and maybe even purchase one of them to complement your own creation.

A couple of years ago when I went cosplaying, I could never find a hat that fit my huge head until I bought a cheap kid's toy cowboy hat and cut it up to accommodate my huge cranium.

4.) Old Clothes
After I stopped eating that overrated Pocky and drinking all that diabetes-inducing ramune, I lost a lot of weight and now I can wear my old clothes again that I put away in shame years ago. I was surprised with the amount of clothes I had that could be used for cosplay.

5.) Old Toys
I’m sure a lot of you have lots of old toys just holed up somewhere but those forgotten friends can now live on again now that you've grown up.That old toy chainsaw and that old toy gun could be your next inspiration to cosplay.

6.) Don’t know how to sew? Use a glue gun!
A lot of you manly men out there may not have the skill of the needle and thread, unless its for sewing up your cuts from your ninja training, a hot glue gun may be your answer in mangling together some cloth for yoru cosplay.

7.) Use your imagination

That cardboard tube you have there? That's a sword.

8.) Post Halloween Clearance

Many retailers such as CVS will want to clear out all their stock of crappy Halloween costumes and accessories at a discounted rate after the candy-giving holiday. Take this as your chance to snap up some discounted cosplay material for any future cons or for next Halloween.

9.) Be careful!
Always be mindful of what you're doing at all times when working with tools and sharp objects. Now is not the time to turn on the Caramell-what-sen on full blast while you're working with a hot glue gun that can burn your skin (I know this all too well).

Wear gloves (or else!) when using the glue gun. Watch out for lead in some spray paint cans. You don't want to end up in the ER before a con and lose valuable time and money.

10.) Don’t cheap out on your tools!

Never sacrifice quality and safety for price. Tools like that hot glue gun mentioned above can be picked up at a dollar store, but those cheap things can become a pain to use and break through extended use. Just go to a Wal-mart or some other store that can sell you a better tool for a couple dollars more since you'll be using those throughout the whole process.

11.) Don't forget to set your clocks back by an hour this Sunday, November 1st.

Just in case you're cosplay actually nets you some action this weekend, you might want to remember this the morning after when you gather your senses. This will come in handy just in case you've made a terrible mistake (ITS A TRAP) and need to make that quick escape.

12.) FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY PLEASE STOP.

I know it's a cheap and easy cosplay to do but IT SHOULD STOP. NOW.