It's officially Autumn. Don’t Let Halloween Costs Scare You!

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, so it’s not too early for me to start talking about Halloween costumes.  I’m sure you have already seen costumes and candy in the stores—or had your children point these out to you.    These costumes – and the Halloween celebrations – can get expensive.  In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, in 2008, the average person planned to spend more than $66 on the holiday!  

 

Here are some tips to save money while keeping your little goblins happy:

1 – Have a costume exchange with friends.  We all have dress up gear at home.  How about organizing a swap? Invite friends and classmates over, bring your costumes and other items from your dress-up box and have at it.   Some local PTA’s organize costume swaps; check locally and see if there is a swap at your school.  I plan on organizing a swap with families from our preschool – just the moms or dads.  I plan to get ideas of what my children want to be for Halloween, then invite interested parents, and organize a swap meet between parents of new or gently worn dress up items and costumes.  If you are more adventurous, you could invite the kids to the swap and ask them to put together an outfit.  Keep it fun, and let their creativity take over.  My sister suggested that you could make a game of this by having children draw names out of a hat, have each child choose one item, and go round and round until all items are chosen.  Set ground rules to keep it fair.  It’s ok to have an exchange where you are just lending items – be sure to ask friends to put their names in the backs of the costumes and return them after Halloween.

 

2 – Use craigslist, local consignment stores and freecycle.org to find a costume and costume components. I love freecycle.org, especially for items like costumes and craft materials, which you may also need for Halloween.  You could post a “Wanted” email on the Freecycle.com listserv for the items you need for your child’s’ costumes, as well as offer any items you no longer need.  Craigslist and consignment stores are also low-cost options. (Updated 10/20 -- Goodwill rocks too! Thanks to a commenter for this tip!)

 

3 – Make your own costumes.  My children’s old preschool asked children to wear homemade costumes.  I admit that my first reaction as a mom of twins was “no way! Too much work”…!  But when we starting making the costumes, it turned into a great family event.  We all worked together, and the kids were so proud of what they made!  We did this two years in a row, and the memories were worth it!   Last year, my son was Percy the Tank Engine. We just painted a box dark green and pasted on the number; my son hung the box around him and wore overalls and a train conductor hat!  It was great.  My daughter was a gypsy – we layered on clothing, beads, a headscarf and clip on earrings.  She looked great!  We had everything we needed for the costumes in the house – cha-ching! I saved the money I would have spent and used it to buy extra candy (for me!).

 

If you are going to make your own costumes, there are some great websites with fun ideas:

1 - http://www.ehow.com/topic_1765_diy-costumes-kids.html             

2 - http://www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com/

 

I look forward to reading your tips for saving money at Halloween, too.  Thanks, and have a great Halloween!

 

Comments

[barefoot shoes]

******ilttle girls in my class who are six years old and already concerned about "getting fat" and talk about dieting. It really is a worry when they are size concious at such a young age.******

[Cleo]

I agree that buying something that you can use and reuse -- not just at the holiday -- is a money saver and money savvy. A couple of fun ideas:
- rainbow connection costume: all clothing with "rainbow" stripes! Colorful and fun. You may already have this stuff, you just don't let your kid wear it all at the same time. It's fun for the holiday. Add a magic wand and your child can be a rainbow fairy.
- snowball fight costume: solid color clothing (black or blue for the sky) and pin on a bunch of cotton balls. How fun is that?
- raining cats and dogs: raincoat and an umbrella with felt cut-out cats and dogs hanging off the umbrella. If you have lots of play cats or dogs (stuffed or little pet shop or other knick knack cats or dogs) you can hang these too.

When I saw these in a magazine, I laughed out loud. Halloween is fun -- or at least it should be fun, not stressful or expensive.

Thanks for the great comments!

[Jeannine Fay]

I picked up a couple costumes at Goodwill this year. All costumes are $5. I've "made" costumes in the past and often find it to be about as expensive as buying one. Of course it depends on what you make. One way I justified it was by buying things that, when taken out of the costume, could be used a regular clothing as well.

[Christine]

My daughter's school had a character dress up day and kids used their own wardrobes to dress up like a favorite book character. My 2nd grader wore a dark velvet dress, pulled her hair in a dark ribbon and wore a grim expression and, voila, she was Violet Baudelaire from the Series of Unfortunate Events books. She had fun with it. My son had a black cape that my mother made that he wore four years in a row, first as a vampire, then as a bat, then as Harry Potter, finally as a Death Eater from the Potter books--cheap variations on the same theme, just different accessories and make-up. Ailis is right, shop for the best deals and also guide children to be creative without having to spend money.

[Ailis]

I so wish I had time to make a costume but as a full-time working mom, I'd rather spend quality time with my 7-month old on the weekend. But I have seen some super-cute costumes on sale (or under $20) on some sites like Diapers.com and at the usual baby stores like Buy Buy Baby and Babies R-Us. It's all about shopping around for the best deal. I guess it's easier when they're little and don't have an opinion yet on what they wear so I'll be picking something I like that's cute ... and reasonably priced. Another alternative for handmade made by others who do have the time is www.etsy.com.