Lowering Avatar-Related Costs

[MaukaShowers]

Times are tough. Have you noticed fewer shoppers in SL's in-world stores recently? The pandemic economy is forcing many of us to pay more attention to how, when, and why we spend money. With that in mind I looked at the cost today to upgrade a system avatar to a bento one.

Maitreya body - L2750
Lelutka Evolution head - L3990
Stealthic hair - L300
ItGirls shape/skin - L990

That's a total of L8030, which at today's exchange rate would cost USD $35.67.
Some people add personals, which would cost:

Lotus nipples - 299  
VAW ***** - 825 or 1200, average 1013

Bringing us to a new total of L9342, which today would cost $41.50. THEN add new clothing, because some of your system avatar clothing may no longer work.

These are just examples of some options used by me and my alts, so of course the cost to you can vary widely given your individual choices. Whatever our choices, in the end this is a lot of money. For many of us then we must also add rent, house, furnishings, and more. Things are really beginning to add up in an ironic art-imitates-life sort of way. What have you done to lower your expenses in SL?

[Cali Souther]

Shop sales more

Shop less [I wish that were true]

Go thru my inventory and see what I've forgotten about,   wear it again!

Go to events and grab gifts

Don't log in 😉

 

[Stephanie Misfit]

15 minutes ago, MaukaShowers said:

Times are tough. Have you noticed fewer shoppers in SL's in-world stores recently? The pandemic economy is forcing many of us to pay more attention to how, when, and why we spend money. With that in mind I looked at the cost today to upgrade a system avatar to a bento one.

 

My alts (and I have a few) are all mesh. They have the Lucy body free from the Midnight Mania board, which fits Maitreya clothes that I grab from weekend sales. They have gift mesh heads from Lelutka or Akeruka. Hair is from weekend sales, skins too or sometimes freebies. I have made some really nice looking avatars very cheaply, and it is fun seeing what you can come up with for very little.

[Ceka Cianci]

Take your time getting these things, shop around.. just like any other hard times, we have to scrimp and save sometimes and figure out our wants vs needs..

Get what you think you need and save for what you want. shop for deals wait for sales, things like that..

Trying to grab it all at one time , ya it's gonna be a bit of an expense, but  do it over time it won't hurt as much..

ETA: Just to add, We are heading into the holidays soon ,so it's a good time to be patient and start looking for deals, because it's getting to that time of year where mesh heads and bodies and many other things , you can get for way better prices or even for free..

Black Friday is next month ,it's a good day to start saving for.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Ceka Cianci

[Piikoi]

These are all such good ideas!

Rather than buy a shape, use the "edit appearance" sliders on your current shape and you may be able to adjust to your liking. 

Rather than spend a fortune on new clothing, join the groups of inworld stores and take advantage of their group freebies (be polite by going back later when you have cash and buy something). Note: some hair stores (like DP YumYum for example) have free hairstyles for group members. Lelutka had free heads (!!!) for group members back in Christmas 2019, but not sure of they'll be doing that again this year.

Good luck!

 

[Ceka Cianci]

9 minutes ago, Piikoi said:

These are all such good ideas!

Rather than buy a shape, use the "edit appearance" sliders on your current shape and you may be able to adjust to your liking. 

Rather than spend a fortune on new clothing, join the groups of inworld stores and take advantage of their group freebies (be polite by going back later when you have cash and buy something). Note: some hair stores (like DP YumYum for example) have free hairstyles for group members. Lelutka had free heads (!!!) for group members back in Christmas 2019, but not sure of they'll be doing that again this year.

Good luck!

 

Lelutka actually did Lilly in 2020, which is the head i fell in love with.. Then also did the Kaya head in 2021, so ya hopefully they keep the trend going..

[Charalyne Blackwood]

1 hour ago, MaukaShowers said:

Times are tough. Have you noticed fewer shoppers in SL's in-world stores recently? The pandemic economy is forcing many of us to pay more attention to how, when, and why we spend money. With that in mind I looked at the cost today to upgrade a system avatar to a bento one.

Maitreya body - L2750
Lelutka Evolution head - L3990
Stealthic hair - L300
ItGirls shape/skin - L990

That's a total of L8030, which at today's exchange rate would cost USD $35.67.
Some people add personals, which would cost:

Lotus nipples - 299  
VAW ***** - 825 or 1200, average 1013

Bringing us to a new total of L9342, which today would cost $41.50. THEN add new clothing, because some of your system avatar clothing may no longer work.

These are just examples of some options used by me and my alts, so of course the cost to you can vary widely given your individual choices. Whatever our choices, in the end this is a lot of money. For many of us then we must also add rent, house, furnishings, and more. Things are really beginning to add up in an ironic art-imitates-life sort of way. What have you done to lower your expenses in SL?

Left all my shopping related groups. I only deal with a select few, and only long enough for the sale. Of course, not the ones that cost too join...

[Rowan Amore]

I used to rent exclusively on private estates since joining SL.  I was always a.premium member but never bothered with my free 1024 tier.  When the pandemic began and we were out of work,  I lucked into a inexpensive (for Horizons) parcel with double.prims and haven't had to spend a dime on rent since.  It ALL goes to shopping now.  Win/win

Edited October 18, 2022 by Rowan Amore

[Ayashe Ninetails]

I just finished creating a brand new non-human avatar using a combination of inventory shopping and grabbing things on sale.

Spent:

New head: L1500 (that's with 25% off), with the skin, a bunch of eyes, body patterns, and shapes included.

That's it. That's all I've spent so far and I've got an entirely new look - though I may purchase a second skin for L600 while the sale lasts. And pick up a few accessories for L60-75L each. I already have a ton of clothes (much gotten for free or L75 or less), so nothing needed there.

In general, I save by buying *everything* on sale or with free store credit, event freebies, and group gifts. I do pay full price for things when I'm able or for things that almost never go on sale, but I've gotten pretty good at the bargain hunting thing lately and rarely spend much putting together new looks.

[Sparkle Bunny]

Most of my alts run around in Lucybody or the Classic Meshbody, depending on how many outfits they want. Their free heads are from Genus, Genesis Labs, Lelutka, Logo or Akeruka; their free skins are courtesy of 7 Deadly Sins, for the most part. One girl belongs to the Escalated VIP group, another to the Truth VIP group, so they never spend money on hair; the others wear freebies, old gachas or stuff from the weekend sales.

Obviously if you want to set things up in a hurry and not wait for annual gifts or free group join you're going to to spend more, but I wouldn't budget more than L$500 to meshify an alt unless they were a child.

[Ceka Cianci]

32 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

I used to rent exclusively on private estates since joining SL.  I was always a.premium member but never bothered with my free 1024 tier.  When the pandemic began and we were out of work,  I lucked into a inexpensive (for Horizons) parcel with double.prims and haven't had to spend a dime on rent since.  It ALL goes to shopping now.  Win/win

I may end up doing something like that, just because I'm not really using a 1/4 sim the way I should be.. it's nice to have but more room than I need..

[SeattleChris]

Honestly, I've been avoiding all those tempting, monthly shopping events like the plague.

Though it's been a while and I could use a few updates...

I haven't even logged in as either of my alts, so they can stay stuck in 2019 as long as they need to.

Other than that, and re-wearing old stuff as if it were new again, I'm focusing more on building than trying to be social. If I "forget" to change my outfit for a few days (weeks), well, fortunately pixels don't stink, and nobody will know but me.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

8 minutes ago, SeattleChris said:

Honestly, I've been avoiding all those tempting, monthly shopping events like the plague.

I avoid most regular non-supersale events like the plague, but I popped over to Engine Room last night to peek at another head there and discovered there were free gifts there, too! AHH! Might be worth checking some events just to grab those. For men, it's harder to find nice free stuff, though. I did see some freebies for guys at the Shop & Hop, though.

 

9 minutes ago, SeattleChris said:

If I "forget" to change my outfit for a few days (weeks), well, fortunately pixels don't stink, and nobody will know but me.

I'm telling! 😏

[Rowan Amore]

3 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I avoid most regular non-supersale events like the plague, but I popped over to Engine Room last night to peek at another head there and discovered there were free gifts there, too! AHH! Might be worth checking some events just to grab those. For men, it's harder to find nice free stuff, though. I did see some freebies for guys at the Shop & Hop, though.

 

I'm telling! 😏

You should check out the 50L Friday Halloween event, too.  Not only are items priced at 50L but Free Gifts!  

https://www.seraphimsl.com/2022/10/14/this-is-flf-o-ween-everybody-scream/

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Rowan Amore said:

You should check out the 50L Friday Halloween event, too.  Not only are items priced at 50L but Free Gifts!  

https://www.seraphimsl.com/2022/10/14/this-is-flf-o-ween-everybody-scream/

Yeeeeeeees, I need to go there, next! I just finished my big Shop & Hop runthrough a few days ago and I'm still exhausted, so I haven't made it there yet.

Shop & Hop has too. Many. Sims. Omg!

 

[Ceka Cianci]

10 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Yeeeeeeees, I need to go there, next! I just finished my big Shop & Hop runthrough a few days ago and I'm still exhausted, so I haven't made it there yet.

Shop & Hop has too. Many. Sims. Omg!

 

I still haven't went there.. how much longer before it's over?

 

[Blaise Glendevon]

To answer your first question, no. I haven't noticed fewer shoppers when I look around Second Life. The first week of most of the A-tier events is packed. People may be buying less, but they haven't stopped buying.

As for the list of costs in your post - most of those are one-time costs. Your head and body are places you shouldn't skimp on for your everyday avatar. You should budget to get the thing you want in specific, because things like skins and hair and clothes go on sale all the time. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Just now, Ceka Cianci said:

I still haven't went there.. how much longer before it's over?

 

Shop & Hop? Event Closing Date: November 1, 2022

[Laylah Yaseotoko]

I have a long list of shops to go to for Black Friday. But I haven't really changed my spending habits all that much. I am lucky to be getting raises that go with the changing economy so I am not all that affected. Some of the bodies and heads also go on sale for Black Friday, I plan alt shopping around that every year.

[Blaire Xenga]

I understand your pain. I have spent a small real life Fortune on customising my avatar and I regret many many purchases.i have now too many heads and too many bodies and too little cash in my bank account... clothes are too expensive, fat packs are close to what you'd pay for a real life piece of clothing, rent is ridiculous in sl, that's why I'm living now on a sandbox. SL is an addictive money machine and probably as I'm writing this I'm converting another 20 dollar bill into effing Lindens. What has my life come to...

[Ezbeharra]

A nice thing about having a body that hardly anyone makes things for anymore is that you're rarely tempted to spend money on clothes. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

[Lysistrata Szapira]

3 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Yeeeeeeees, I need to go there, next! I just finished my big Shop & Hop runthrough a few days ago and I'm still exhausted, so I haven't made it there yet.

Shop & Hop has too. Many. Sims. Omg!

 

You should also visit Kustom9 this month. They have gifts there too. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

48 minutes ago, Lysistrata Szapira said:

You should also visit Kustom9 this month. They have gifts there too. 

Omg. I forgot that one. Thank you!

 

[Ceka Cianci]

2 hours ago, Ezbeharra said:

A nice thing about having a body that hardly anyone makes things for anymore is that you're rarely tempted to spend money on clothes. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

I have some that I just need to start shopping for system clothes for.. hehehe

Edited October 19, 2022 by Ceka Cianci

[Sissi Slacker]

It's pretty easy to create a high quality female avatar on a budget these days. Male ones, on the other hand... let's just say it's more challenging and definitely more expensive. Thanks to weekend discounts, store credit gifts, giveaways and holiday sales you can save quite a lot, and there is no need to buy everything full price unless you really want it. I have a couple strictly freebie avatars, and I dare to say they still look pretty good.