13 Spooktacular Tips For Saving Money On Halloween

Halloween has become a major holiday since I was a kid. Gone are the days of burning a cork to rub over your face, putting on your Dad's old cloths, stuffing a pillow in your pants and tying it all together with a piece of rope (ah yes, the iconic "Hobo" of my 1970's youth). These days every part of Halloween has become more elaborate and more expensive. According to the National Retail Federation, the average American adult will spend $66.28 on costumes, decorations, and candy. That's up almost $10.00 over last year with total spending expected to reach $5.8 billion. Yes, I said billion.

Get Creative, Get Thrifty
The good news is that you don't have to break the bank to celebrate Halloween this year, you just have to get creative and plan ahead. When you create a budget and a plan you should be able to enjoy the holiday and have fun without going broke. Here are some tips and strategies to help you get through relatively unscathed.

Budget: 

• Get realistic: determine how much money can you actually spend.
• Figure out how you want to spend your money: do you want to deck-out your front-yard, splurge on great costumes or throw a killer party?
• Set your priorities: write a wish list of what you really want and what you can live without.
• Don't spend money if you don't have to: go through your closets, attics and storage areas to find old decorations, costumes and other items that can be used this year. If you find any of last year's candy, throw it out! This should go without saying, but just to be clear...some things just can't be recycled.

1. Make your own costume: You might be surprised by what you can pull together from your own closet. Did anyone else really think that broom skirts were a good idea? Die it black and you've got the makings of a great witch costume.
2. Re-use, Re-cycle, Re-purpose:  Use part of last year's costume as the inspiration for this year: notice how that Bruno wig looks eerily similar to the "do" Justin Bieber' sports. Hand down older kid's previously won costumes to younger ones. Make a bunch of new friends and go to their Halloween party wearing your own costume from last year.
3. Host A Costume Swap Party:  Invite a group of your friends for a quick get-together with the goal of swapping costumes. Everyone must bring one costume for each swap. A used costume will be new to you and or your kids.
4. Shop Thrift Stores:  Your local Goodwill or Salvation Army stores are great places to find lots of items that can be used as decorations and costumes - even if they weren't intentionally intended to be (broom skirts?). Plus, think how good you'll feel by helping out any of these great charities.
5. Shop Dollar Stores:   You can find tons of paper goods. party favors and other items for a buck! 
6. Shop Online: Lots of online Halloween retailers are already offering 10-75% off on costumes. Some are also offering free or reduced priced shipping. A couple of sites to check out: buycostumes.com, costumekingdom.com and spirithalloween.com.
7. Buy costumes and decorations after Halloween: Obviously, this idea isn't going to help you now, but this is your chance to grab the rest of your wish-list items at very deep discounts (up to 80% off) giving you a leg up for future Halloweens. If you do it right, you may only have to buy candy next year!
8. Clip Coupons (and use them):  Look online or in your local paper for coupons to save on candy and watch for sales. You can save a LOT if you shop when candy is on sale at stores that accept double coupons using a buy one get one free coupon. Tip: you're most likely to find candy on sale if you shop early or late. Of course, the later you shop, the less selection of premium candy - and that's not a bad thing. Check out Mrs. A's Frugal on the Cheap blog to find useful coupons (and other budget tips).
9. Choose Generic Sugar-Based Candy:  Chocolate-based, name-brand candy is more expensive than sugary candies: lollipops, bubble-gum and generic sweet-tart types of candy are a lot less expensive. Buying generic candy has several benefits: it's cheap, kids won't want a lot of it, you won't be tempted to eat it.
10. Don't Buy Your Favorite Candy: (And don't buy it too early): In addition to saving money, buying candy closer to Halloween can also save your diet. The less temptation you have to "snack" on those mini-snickers bars the better. If you're like me, you might find that you'll have to buy more candy on Halloween eve because some how all that candy just disappeared over the weeks leading up to the big day.
11. Buy In Bulk:  This is where your membership to Costco or Sam's Club will come in handy. Candy is cheaper by the piece when purchased in large bags. You can go in on this with a few friends and split up the candy so that you each have a good assortment. Try not to buy too much, it's not a good deal for your wallet or your waist if you end up with a ton of candy that you didn't give out (and end up eating yourself).
12. Don't Buy Candy At All:  If you want to take a stand against childhood obesity give out Halloween trinkets instead of candy. Dollar stores are a great source for fun non-edible Halloween-theme items including stickers, pencils, tattoos and spider rings. Right now, Oriental Trading has a an awesome 250 piece Mega Hallowen Novelty Assortment for only $29.99. RESIST the urge to give out toothpaste or toothbrushes (I've seen it done), it's expensive and very passive aggressive. Halloween is supposed to be fun. You don't want to wake up with your house re-decorated with Charmin do you?
13. You're NOT Santa Claus:  And you're not the only house these kids will be hitting up so don't give out more than 2 pieces of candy per child and don't let kids grab their own handful. You may find that you run out too early in the evening. Be fair and have fun handing out the candy to each kid yourself.

Bonus Tip: In the weeks leading up to Halloween, DON'T let your kids wear their Halloween costumes before the big night - exceptions: parties and school functions -- or else you may find that you are forced to buy your kids a second costume due to damage or worse, the little trendsetter decides the costume is boring and they don't want to wear it again. 

Of course, you can tap your inner Scrooge and save all your money by choosing not to participate at all.You can use the following tips to Scroog-ify Halloween, but be forewarned: if you're not giving out treats, expect to be tricked.

• Don't decorate your house, turn out the lights, close the shutters, open a bottle of wine and curl up on your couch with a scary movie. Ignore the doorbell and the sad sounds of disappointed voices of small ghosts, goblins, witches, superheroes, and princesses.
• Go out for the evening: go to dinner, to the movies or to  a party. Avoid disappointed voices all together
• Hang out at a neighbors house and let the kids and their parents know that your house (across the street) is closed for business, but you are giving out candy with the neighbors. You get the benefit of giving out their candy and keeping up appearances with the neighbors.

Hopefully you can use these tips and come up with some of your own ways to save money and have fun.

If you have more ideas, please post a comment, I would love to hear your best ideas for saving money.