Candy and Costumes and Pumpkins, oh my! Halloween is upon us! It’s that time of year that is replete with so many wonderful traditions. However, I must admit, it can be full of stress too. It is so fun to participate in all of these great holiday activities but you can definitely break the bank if you’re not careful. I’m all about living and loving life on a budget and so, Halloween, I accept your challenge yet again! I use my frugal wisdom that I have gained over the years to make Halloween fun and simultaneously not burdensome. Here are my tips to make your Halloween Holiday fun and on a budget.
1. Use Costumes you Have on Hand or Borrow
This is most likely a no-brainer but I have to mention it. Often times I will get my kiddos costumes for their birthday and also my friends have given me their old dress-up clothing. Thus, there is no shortage on costumes here at our house. Why not just use what you have on hand? It makes life easy and it is so cost effective. Some of my favorite costumes over the years were things we put together super last minute and were created out of things we had lying around the house.
Another option, is asking some close friends if you can borrow a costume. Due to the large size of my family, sometimes being able to borrow a costume helps me keep my sanity. Thank you my friends! You know who you are!
2. Get Creative with your Costumes: Dollar Tree and Goodwill are your Friends!
So, usually I decide to make a costume because it’s cheaper than going out and buying it. Let’s say, my kiddo wants to be Chinese Dragon. I don’t just go on Amazon and purchase one without thinking twice (Although, I really wish I could do that sometimes but alas we are paying off debt). I rummage through my pieces of fabric or old linens (sheets, table cloths), old dress ups, and try to come up with things that are zero dollars first.
For instance, my boys wanted to be those inflatable tube sign guys that you see at car dealerships. Talk about random! Anyway, I looked on Pinterest and found some ideas on how to make my boy’s dream a reality. I used some old mesh collapsable laundry baskets that had some holes in them already and bought 2 new laundry collapsable from Hollar.com (super cheap online store that is now owned by another company, I believe) for $2.00 each. Steal of a Deal, right? Then, I visited Dollar tree and bought some hot glue, googly eyes, and plastic table cloths. It was a labor love and I’m glad I did it! By the way, hot gluing the plastic table cloths together was a grueling process (I had to wear some old gloves to protect my hands!) but it built character… I guess.
Find the inflatable Tube man tutorial here!
After we were done using the costumes, I deconstructed it and my boys use the new laundry baskets. That’s how we do it! If I’m going to buy something for a one time thing, I always try to think of way to reuse or repurpose.
75 Kids’ Halloween Costume Ideas for Easy, Creative, and Unique Trick-or-Treating
Good Will: where someones Trash becomes your Treasure!
Whenever, I need to make a costume for a school production or for Halloween, I typically check out Goodwill. Thrift stores are a great place to find costumes that are very affordable. Last year my 12 year old daughter wanted to be a lion tamer. So, we went to Goodwill and found a cheap suit jacket. Of course, the next step was to bedazzle said jacket with ribbon I got on clearance from Walmart! I made her cute hat with all things we had lying around the house, a cup, fabric, ribbon, an old headband and cardboard from a cereal box.
So, what do I look for when I go to Good Will? You can look for halloween costumes that are good to go, or clothing that fits the bill with some minor adjustments. Last by not least, I look at old sheets, curtains, or table cloths and buy them at a super cheap price. Subsequently, I use those items as fabric to then create and sew a costume.
3. Forgo a “Family Theme”
Guys, I love a good theme and honestly it’s adorable to see a family dress up together. Despite it being totally awesome, sometimes we as humans can take a theme too far and it suddenly becomes your life’s purpose to create this themed family costume. It becomes all-consuming like an adorable …drug. As a result, you begin justifying your purchases in the name of your awesome theme. I’m being very dramatic here. But in all seriousness though, if doing a family theme is important, go, be free, and rock those family costumes. Even so, I will offer a word of caution, to do a themed costume for a large family, it’s going to be a lot of work if you’re doing it on a tight budget, so just prepare for that mentally.
Compromise when it comes to a Family Costume
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-theme. There are so many cute ideas on the “inter-webs” (can we all take a moment of silence and thank Pinterest for showing us way too many adorable and elaborate costume ideas). I’m just saying that with my family of 8, it’s easier and typically cheaper to be flexible with costumes. Sometimes, I’ll just have some of my family participate in the theme and then the others do not. Most of the time my husband and I will match our costumes in some way. Furthermore, if I’m carrying a baby around the whole night, I try to coordinate my “get-up” with my little one’s costume.
If you like these tips, check out my tips on Birthdays on a Budget!
4. Search Amazon for Super Cheap Costumes
Every Now and again I find costumes on Amazon that are so cheap that it’s so worth buying them. Although, I do enjoy the creative aspect of making something out of nothing, I also really like convenience. Thus, sometimes we buy costumes. Typically, we start putting money in our “Holiday Fund” in September, that money is mostly for Christmas but I do allocate some of it for Halloween. If I find a great deal on a costume, then I go for it because I already have money ready to be used for the Holidays!
5. 50% of Halloween Candy
For the past few years, I have noticed a trend, that King Soopers (Kroger) usually has a Halloween sale come mid October on Halloween candy. And I’m talking a good sale, it’s 50% off all Halloween candy! I shared that sale on one of my Grocery Hauls on Instagram and my Facebook Page. So, I know you can’t take advantage this year but keep your eyes peeled for next year!
6. Plan with Purpose
One year, my kids all wanted onesie pajamas and they all really needed some warmer pajamas. I was also pregnant at that time and was not wanting to expend more energy than necessary (growing a human is a lot of work!). Consequently, I found a great deal on onesie pajamas and made sure the kids knew that their new P.J.’s were also Halloween costumes! I try to think of duality when purchasing things that aren’t necessities. Can something serve two different purposes? Meaning, if it’s not a “one and done” deal, I’m on board!
7. Forget about the Jones’s and have Fun!
My least tactical but probably most effective tip is, “just enjoy Halloween and forget what everyone else around you is doing!” If you want to do dress up as a family and stick with an awesome theme, do it! If you want to have completely random homemade costumes, go right ahead! Holidays make it so easy to establish long lasting traditions with family and friends and so I say take advantage of this time! There are some people that have homes that look like halloween threw up all over it and if that’s important to you, budget for that. But ultimately, just prioritize what is important to you, make a money plan, and do not justify spending more because it’s a holiday. Halloween is always on October 31st and so you have time to save up for the things you want to do.
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