Halloween on a Budget

Is your budget in a crunch for Halloween this year? Ours is! Halloween can easily get expensive, but it doesn't have to be. You can save money during Halloween without sacrificing fun for your kids at all.

Here are some things we are doing this year to keep Halloween fun without sucking the life out of our bank account (pun intended).

Making our own costumes. This year, we are going the route of making our own costumes instead of buying them. Adreine can't seem to make up her mind which out of two costumes she wants to try: a punk chick vampire or Samara from The Ring. Either one would be quite easy because I will go to the local thrift shops and find any clothes that are needed for very cheap.

Then again, we may have some good things buried in my closet. My daily attire is almost creepy enough to work...

Shoestring decorations. Did you know you can make bats from cardboard and a black marker to hang from the trees? You can also make spider webs with black or white yarn. Tombstones can be made with cardboard or styrofoam. And let's not forget shopping at the thrift store for old white sheets to make ghosts!

If you put on your thinking cap, you will find that spooky decorations can be made almost solely out of odds and ends you have stashed away in the shed or garage. Just be creative.
　
Candy and food. This is a tough one, since one of the purposes for trick-or-treating is the candy. The very top of the Halloween candy pyramid is chocolate bars. But I know full well that 99% of the chocolate in kids' candy bags are stolen by the parents anyway!

But just the same, there are loads of sites that let you print out coupons for many different brands of candy.

I also like to cook a Halloween themed family dinner on Halloween night. I almost always cook TOO MUCH. I will try to scale back this year with some less elaborate recipes that can be whipped up quickly.

Barbeque wings will be cooked in the crock pot and be called BBQ Bat Wings.

Coleslaw will be tossed with dried cranberries to become Blood Clot & Cartilage Salad.

If your kid won't eat coleslaw, you can do the same thing in chicken salad sandwiches.

Dessert seems like a non issue with all the caddy around, but I will think of something.

What will you be doing this year to have a more frugal Halloween? Remember, it's not the money spent that matters to our little ones as much as the time we spend with them.

Posted in: halloween on a budget,Seasons

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