Saving Money on Halloween
Halloween can be a scary time when you're trying to stick to your budget. It's easy to get caught up in the holiday and not even know how much you're spending. Between purchasing a costume for each member of the family (sometimes even pets!), stocking up on candy, and decking out your home for the spookiest of evenings, your Halloween could end up costing you a pretty penny. Planning ahead for how you will spend your money, and thinking outside the box can end up saving you a lot in the long run.
Don't Wait Until the Last Minute
If you wait too long to prepare for your Halloween festivities, chances are that most of the costumes, decorations, and candy will have been picked clean by the time you get there. That means you'll have to go to more than one store and possibly spend more money in order to get the items you want. Wasting time, gas, AND money on your Halloween evening? Not ideal. Try shopping for your Halloween essentials right when the decorations go up in stores. Prices are typically at their lowest price further away from the holidays so become an early bird and take advantage of those sales!
Make Your Costumes to Save Money
The best way to save money while still looking like you put a lot of effort into a costume? Make it yourself, of course! There are hundreds of costumes you can create at home that will leave you and your children looking like you spent way more than you actually did. Look for things you have around the house that could be easily turned into a costume! You may already have everything you need to complete your costume sitting in your closet waiting to be discovered. If your kids are into sports, have them wear their sports uniform and add an inexpensive gold medal to make an instant Superstar Athlete. Not a sports family? A little minion can appear before your eyes with a pair of blue pants, a yellow t-shirt, and some creativity with t-shirt paint to create the trademark minion eyeball.
Decorate on a Dime
We know it's tempting to try and outshine your Halloween-obsessed neighbors and make your house the spookiest on the whole block. While we're not saying you shouldn't try to outdo them, we are saying that you shouldn't go broke doing it. However, just because you're on a budget, doesn't mean you need to have a boring looking home. Cut eye-holes in empty toilet paper rolls, insert a glow stick, and place in your front bushes to get instant scary monster eyes! If you want to make your front door part of the fun, cut out some scary facial features from construction paper to give it a ghoulish expression!
Host an Inexpensive Halloween Party
If you're known as the party house on the block, you don't have to cancel your party on account of a tight budget this year! You and your friends can have just as good of a time without needing to spend too much money. First things first, try to organize your party so that it falls on Halloween. This will help with making sure everyone already has their costumes ready (which will act as decorations themselves) and provide plenty of snacks for the kids by way of trick-or-treating! If you feel your home needs a bit of a spooky decor on the inside, go with the traditional orange and black balloon and streamer method. No one ever has a bad time at a party because the hosts didn't spend hundreds of dollars on decorations.
Search Online!
If you're still looking for ways to buy decorations, candy, and even costumes for cheap, we suggest taking to the internet. There are tons of spooky deals online at party supply websites, and most of their merchandise is in bulk which makes it cheaper! Another advantage of online buying? If you buy your decorations in bulk, you'll have plenty for years to come! Oriental Trading (www.orientaltrading.com) is a great "Carnival Party Supplies Store" that has everything you could ever need for Halloween (and most other holidays!). With costumes as low as $10 for adults and $13 for kids, it's worth missing the retail rush of last minute costume shoppers!