As a parent of 3 kids, the most spooky thing about Halloween is the cost of costumes, candy and decorations. But fear not, I will ease the scariness with some frighteningly fabulous and fantastically frugal Halloween tips.
Costumes
How much do you spend on Halloween costumes per child each year? I know some parents who spend $50 or more on kids costumes every single year. Thats scary to me.
Here are some funny and really cheap costume suggestions from readers on the Smart Shopper blog that would definitely make your Halloween costume costs less frightening.
1. Tape Smarties candy all over your pants and now you’re a smarty pants.
2. Tape a big picture of a quarter on your back and now you’re a quarter back.
3. Wrap yourself in tin foil and now you are……. leftovers.
4. Get a plastic dirty clothes basket from somewhere like the dollar store. Cut a hole in bottom so you can fit through it. Use a rope or suspenders to make straps over your shoulders to hold it up, Fill the basket with clothes and pin socks to your shirt with safety pins. You are dirty laundry!
5. Cut out a bunch of copies of the letter “P” from construction paper or black felt and pin them to your shirt. Then use makeup to give yourself a black eye. What are you? Black eye’d peas!
Additional Tips/suggestions:
Look at your local Freecycle.org group for free costumes or on craigslist or your local thrift store. You can score a cheap or free costume with ease.
Do a costume swap with friends and trade the costumes your kids wore last year for the ones their kids wore.
Buy costumes including makeup and accessories for 75% – 90% regular retail after Halloween to use next year and for playing dress-up all year long.
Candy
The best deals on candy are found when matching coupons with sales and drug store rebate deals. All the drug stores have candy deals every week until Halloween that match well with available coupons. Look for deals that offer a reward when you buy a certain dollar amount and then couple that store reward with your coupons. I usually aim for $1 – $1.50 per 9 oz. – 11 oz bag of chocolate candy after sales, coupons and rewards.
Don’t feel like you have to get enough candy for every kid to get a handful. They will get a TON of candy throughout the night. You don’t have to fill their bag.
If you don’t want to contribute to tooth decay, go with some fun non-candy giveaways like temporary tattoos, pencils, erasers, stickers, mini bubble bottles. Many stores have inexpensive Halloween items like pencils, Halloween plastic tumblers and Halloween activity books that go as low as 10 cents each.
Don’t forget the clearance candy! Hit those Halloween clearance sales for chocolate candy – it freezes well and solid chocolate bars can reappear for holiday baking in November and December.
Decorating
Stock up for next year after Halloween this year. Starting November 1, Halloween is marked down to 50% off and 1 to 2 weeks later usually goes to 75% off. This is a great time to buy some bigger items you wanted but didn’t want to pay full price for.
Buy solid color plates and napkins (in orange and black) to use all year for functions or save them until next Halloween.
How to save money 