Kalysha Clark

I'll start by saying that this was my first cosplay ever. I started on it in August and it debuted November 14th at NC Comicon in Durham, NC. The main reason that it took so long wasn't necessarily because I didn't know what I was doing, but mostly because I was tight on funds (since I'm serving in AmeriCorps).

With it being my first cosplay, there was a lot to learn. Pinterest was consulted often. There was a lot of planning and then adjusting and replanning. All in all, I like how it turned out. I got a lot of good feedback on it, plenty of people who wanted pictures, and at the end of the con, I was a happy girl.

Going forward, there are some things I'll change, but like I said, I liked it. I didn't want to replicate Loki's actual costume from the films, but a combination of it and some other Lady Loki artwork I had seen. So here's what I ended up with.

The breastplate was made of worbla, as well as the faceplate

of the diadem, the bracers, the pauldron, and the scepter blade.

The shoulder pads underneath the pauldron was actually

made from a door mat. The scepter itself lights up thanks to

the nifty combination of a miniature flashlight and a painted

squeaker from a dog toy. (Thanks to Axel for destroying his toy.)

All of these photos were taken by PJ Photography and Designs.

I hope to make a video explaining how I made the diadem because when I was trying to make it, I found that there was a lack of instructional videos out there about how people did it. My horns turned out to be preeeetty big, but I actually really liked it.

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

Welcome to my series on budgeting! This is the first post in a series of blogs dedicating to learning how to budget and saving money. If you have questions about anything, feel free to post them down below or reach out to me! Today's post is all about tracking your spending and making a budget.

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So you want to learn how to create a budget and stick to it? The first thing you’ve got to do is identify your spending habits.

For a month, carry around a little notebook and write down any and every time you spend money. Note what you spent it on, how much you spent, the date you spent it and put it into a category. Example categories include: groceries, eating out, entertainment, transportation, etc. You should do this with cash and cards, including your credit card, if you have one.

Once you’ve identified your spending habits, decide what changes you need to make. If you’re spending $100 from every paycheck on eating out for lunch, instead you might choose to add $50 to your grocery budget and pack your own lunch. If you’re going to the movies every weekend, maybe you’ll decide to go to the movies every other weekend and spend the other weekends doing something free like going to the park or watching a movie on Netflix. If you go to Starbucks every weekday and get a $2 cup of coffee, that adds up to $40 a month. You may decide to purchase a reusable mug and bring your own coffee, instead of buying it.

After you’ve figured out how the changes you’ll need to make, you’ll need to decide how you want to break down your budget as far as numbers go. There are two ways to do this. If you get a paycheck that is usually the same price every time you get paid, you can use set amounts. For example, if I know my paycheck is $500 twice a month, I can elect to put $50 from each paycheck toward groceries. If your paycheck varies, you may want to use percentages instead or a combination of both. For example, if you have a variable paycheck, there will still be some things that are a set amount or within a certain range, like your utilities. Here’s a sample budget:

$562.37	Paycheck amount
-$50.00	Internet (rounded up from 48.62, monthly charge)
-$70.00	Utilities (might have to estimate it)
-$100.00	Groceries
-$168.71	Savings (30% of paycheck)
-$112.47	Fun money (20% of paycheck)
$61.19	Remaining balance

Now, that is just a simple example. You’ll have to figure out what your monthly spendings are based on your personal bills and experiences.

Check back soon for the second part of the series, which will be on Grocery Shopping on a Budget.

Between my boyfriend's love of koolaid and my love of hot chocolate, we have a lot of little drink packets in our pantry. Originally, we were storing them in a little basket on the top shelf of the pantry, labeled "drink mixes". It worked okay. But being that I'm pretty short, I sometimes had a hard time reaching the basket, which was annoying. So I decided I wanted to change the way we were storing them. I was inspired by several things I saw on pinterest.

Specifically, I really liked how Traci from Beneath My Heart used bins she found from Goodwill to organize her small items, such as popcorn, oatmeal and drink mixes.

I also really liked how Make Bake Celebrate did something similar with acrylic sink caddies.

Knowing that I was going to make a trip to Ikea, which is a good 1.5 hour drive from where I live, I browsed the website to see what I could find that would work for me. I found the BESTÅENDE flatware caddy and knew it was perfect. For $3 each, the price was pretty good too!

So I took all my drink packets and organized them, then put them into the two caddies.

I then used two large command hooks to mount them on the wall of the pantry. The caddies already had a hole in them, though you can't see it in the picture, which fit perfectly over the large hook. I haven't yet labeled them, but for now, since they're at eye level, I can actually see what I'm grabbing for.

Now just to tackle the rest of the pantry. We received lots of candy and food gifts for Christmas so it's a bit of a hot mess.

Last weekend, I attended the Environmental Education of North Carolina Conference in Columbia, NC. Even though I was born and raised in North Carolina, I haven’t spent much time on the coast. I was excited that the conference venue was directly on the Albemarle Sound, specifically Bull Bay. The conference was hosted at the Eastern 4H conference center and therefore, the theme of the conference was centered on the 4 H’s: Hands, Head, Heart and Health.

Friday night at the start of the conference, we got a cool opportunity to hear from two brothers who grew up in Columbia as they shared stories of fishing with their father, getting into trouble, and even going to war. They talked about the importance of getting outside and learning about the natural world, but also touched on the importance of taking care of our earth, which reinforced the reason a lot of us began our work in environmental education.

Saturday consisted of several sessions. Over the course of the day, I learned about a cool project created by UNC Chapel Hill and UNCTV that allows students, teachers, and the everyday citizen to learn about their watershed and how it is impacted by humans through technology and online modules. I also learned how to tie a fly fishing fly and how to integrate bird-watching into classes.

Best of all, I reunited with one of my former supervisors (who supervised me during my conservation internship at Piedmont Wildlife Center), I met one of the other students in my graduate lab, and I got to network with a lot of professionals in the field.

One of the great things about my AmeriCorps position is that I get to work with kids from all over the Piedmont Triad and show them that science can be fun. When these kids are having fun and playing, they don't even realize that they're learning, just as they would if they were in a classroom.

Hands-on and interactive learning is a great way to get kids outside and that's one of the great things about environmental education. Check out some of my pictures below from activities and programs I've been doing.

Participants at a camp in Burlington learn about macroinvertebrates and water pollution by playing tag.

Each kid was given a different tag that showed a bug. Some bugs were more tolerant to pollution than others. Those that were sensitive to pollution had their movements more limited. This illustrated that more sensitive bugs are more susceptible to pollution because they're more likely to be tagged.

My supervisor talks about why the Yadkin River is low and why it's brown in color. Sediment, which is the biggest pollutant in NC, makes the water brown.

Students in Burlington sample the stream at City Park.

And then they look at what they found.

Kids at a Wildlife Camp in Burlington sample Lake Cammack.

Then they use buckets and pipettes to study what they found.

These kids may not even realize that what they're doing is science. And they're having fun!

Our family of two consists of myself and my boyfriend. He's a mechanic and he works long days, usually 10-11 hours, so he eats a lot. It's easy for someone to go into Costco and walk out with a $200 bill. I did not want that to be me. I spend $200-$250 a month on groceries for the two of us.

If you aren't sure whether a Costco or some other wholesale membership club is right for you, see if you know anyone who already has a membership. If so, tag along with them one day and look at items you typically buy. See the price per ounce or price per serving and compare that to where you usually shop.

The following things are what I buy at Costco for a family of two:

Individual bags of chips

54 for $11, that's a great deal for us and will last us the whole month if not more. If you're the type of family that can buy a big bag of chips and portion them into individual bags, that tends to be a bigger bang for your buck. However, I can't do that because I end up sitting down and eating the entire bag as a "snack".

Goldfish

In a regular grocery store, you will spend about $2, if not more, for one of the small bags of goldfish. At Costco, you can get a box with three large bags for about $9.

Sodas

While I realize it's not so great for me, I love soda. And soda can get expensive. If Food Lion isn't having a sale where you can get 4 12-packs for $11, then I can wind up spending $5-6 per 12-pack. Costco has 30-packs for about $7 to $8.

Laughing Cow or Babybel Cheeses

These things are expensive if you buy them at a regular store. I got a four pack of laughing cow (each pack with 8 wedges) for $9.29. These are great for afternoon snacks or as part of lunch.

Lance Crackers

My boyfriend and I love those little packs of orange peanut butter crackers. You can get a 40 pack for $6.30.

Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese

Some people may call me out for this, but I don't like Kraft macaroni in the blue box. I prefer Velveeta. These are typically $2 each in the regular store and can get up to $2.50. At Costco, you can get 5 boxes for $9.50, which brings the price down to $1.90. Not a huge savings but when you add it up to the other savings, it makes a difference in the long run!

Vitamins

I got One-A-Day men's for my boyfriend (300 count) and VitaFusion gummies for myself (220 count) at $25 for both.

This isn't much, and will the savings pay off the $55 investment I made to purchase the membership? Maybe not. But I've still got 11 more months to save money, including the month of December. The great thing about Costco is that they have a huge variety of items and I think it'll be a great place to get Christmas gifts and to stock up on food for holiday parties.

Do you have a wholesale club membership? If so, what do you buy there? If not, have you ever considered it?

While I was finishing up my senior year of college, I had a grocery budget of $100 a month. When you break that down, that's $25 a week to feed myself at least two meals a day. Now that I'm living with my boyfriend, I upped that budget, but it's still only $100 a month per person. You might be thinking, how did she do that?

My secret is Aldi. It's actually not that much of a secret. Now, there are plenty of people who shop Harris Teeter with their coupons and can get stuff for almost free. I was going to school full-time and working three part-time jobs. Now I'm working one full-time job and preparing to return back to school. I don't have time to be a full-time couponer.

Here's what I buy at Aldi that I think is really worth it!

Meats

We buy chicken tenderloins and ground beef. I have had good and bad experiences with their bacon. You might just have to try it for yourself and decide.

Sandwich Meat

We buy honey ham and oven roasted turkey for our sandwiches.

Cheese

We regularly buy shredded cheese from here, including cheddar and mozzarella. We also purchase slices of pepper jack cheese and I have enjoyed their cheddar cheese sticks.

Snacks

They have a wide variety of snacks to choose from, including crackers, chips, granola bars, and more. I've even seen name-brand items like goldfish, at a cheaper price than what other grocery stores sell them for!

Yogurt

I love their fit and active vanilla yogurt and my boyfriend likes their strawberry yogurt.

Cereal

I love their frosted flakes. They are a staple for us. I still have to try some others. As a Cheerio lover, however, I will recommend staying AWAY from their brand (Crispy Oats). They're not the same!

Bread

Even my picky boyfriend likes their 12 grain bread. They've had sales where you can get a loaf for less than $0.50. I've also purchased bagels and croissants from Aldi. They've all been good quality, and I often freeze the bagels and croissants to make them last longer.

Baking Goods

I've bought chopped nuts, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar and more from Aldi. They've got great prices.

Some Produce

I've had a fine experience with their produce. It's always a great price, but often bruised. If that doesn't bother you, then you should be fine. We've bought potatoes, bell peppers, bananas, and strawberries

Pasta

We buy pasta regularly from Aldi's as well as pasta sauces, including marinara and alfredo.

Household Items

I've gotten toilet paper here that is pretty comparable to Angel Soft. I've also gotten car vent air fresheners (from Glade!) for a fraction of the price. I purchased outdoor seating pillows for $4 each! They practically paid me to walk out of there with them. They also typically have great storage items (like baskets) and gardening supplies

Things I tend to avoid:

Bagged Salad

It goes bad pretty quickly!

"Scoops" Tortilla Chips

The boyfriend says these don't quite stack up to the real Tostitos

All in all, Aldi is a great place to grocery shop. Remember to bring a quarter for the buggies and your own bags, as they are not provided!

I've also recently purchased a Costco membership, which I hope will allow me to stock up on pantry staples. Stay tuned for a post on that!

Kalysha Clark

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