Saving Money on Halloween

I recently read that Halloween was the holiday that people spend the second most amount of money on, with Christmas coming in first. Between the candy, treats, parties, costumes and decorations it’s easy to get carried away with money. It’s still possible to have fun with Halloween while not breaking the bank though.

Make Your Own Costume

I feel like this is a way of the past. In the past few years, kids who come to my door are all wearing pre-made, store-bought costumes. Where is the imagination!? I used to love planning my costume out months in advance and having my mom pick up supplies as our ideas came together. With dollar stores and thrift stores it’s quite easy to put together a great costume for cheap if you’re willing to put in the effort and imagination.

Websites like Pinterest and Google are great sites to gain ideas and direct you to helpful resources. The kid with the homemade costume, no matter how bad, always gets extra treats at my house!

Save the Decorations

Last year after my friend hosted her daughters Halloween party I helped clean up. She got out large black garbage bags and threw everything in it. Other than some streamers that had been ripped, there is no reason why 90% of the stuff needed to be thrown out. She said she only paid ”like $20” for then at the local dollar store and Halloween shop,  so wasn’t worth keeping and storing. My mom also used to buy what she called ”disposable” decorations. Ones she would use once,not take care of and throw away. Take care of decorations you do buy, and stretch your dollar!

Shop Around…and Wait

My sister-in-law, a self-confessed Halloween addict, knows how to shop for the holiday. Recently she found a gruesome garland of bloody scissors and knives at a Halloween specialty shop that she had to have, but at $10 for a three-foot length of glorified paper cut-outs, she couldn’t justify it. It wasn’t two weeks later that a local discount store had the exact same garland for $2.99. Especially with holidays like Halloween and Christmas, where stores put the merchandise out super early, it can pay off to wait and shop around.

Buy in Bulk

Depending on where you live, you may have a bulk purchasing store. The chain around here sells spices, dry goods, and candy. They bring in seasonal candy as well so buying in bulk from one of these stores can often be a much cheaper option than buying from a retail store.

Shop the Sales

This sort of goes without saying but if you have the option of buying something on sale, do so! So many people I know walk into the closest or first store they see and buy everything I need when, with a little planning, could save substantial money going to a different, or a few different, stores. Recently two competing retail stores around here were advertising Halloween stuff on sale. One store had a pretty ad that was intriguing and actually made me want to go into their store to see what they had but in all honesty they weren’t advertising a ”sale” just that they had Halloween merchandise in the store. The other flyer was much less pretty to look at but actually advertised a 40% off sale over a two-day weekend. Read the fine print and don’t get sucked in by a fancy ad alone!

Halloween is meant to draw out fun and creativity, make your own costumes and have fun with it! Shop the sales and don’t get sucked in by too many ”must have’s”.

Do you have a costume picked out? Will you be making it to save money on Halloween?

Catherine

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.