All Hallow’s Eve is next week and for many the festivals and parties will be this coming weekend. If you haven’t found your Halloween costume yet, don’t panic and don’t run to the nearest party store.
Since they’re only around a few weeks out of the year many of these pop-up Halloween stores don’t have sales and will likely make you pay full price for a costume you might wear more than once. Each year people flock to get the latest and greatest costume, it’s believed that the average person will spend about $70 on the entire get-up. However, there are some simple ways to save money on Halloween costumes.
- Have a costume swap. Whether you’re looking for a costume for your children, or yourself, it’s likely you know a few people who celebrated last year. Try hosting a swap with friends and family and help yourself and others find a good costume at no cost. In the case that your friend has a costume you like consider buying it from them at a low price to save money.
- Get witty. Not all costumes have to be obvious. One costume might be a cheerleader shirt that says “GO CEILING” paired with pompoms; what are you? A ceiling fan.Here’s another cheap costume idea for women, wear a slip and pin Freudianisms to it; what are you? A Freudian slip.
- DIY. There are hundreds of do-it-yourself costume ideas online whether you’re looking for something easy or something you’ll need to spend a few days on. DIY costumes are often much less than the average $40-$60 costumes out there. We’ve pinned several cheap costume ideas on our Pinterest page.
- Be a pop culture icon. A pop culture icon could be a popular movie character, a hot internet trend, or your favorite TV character. Popular 2012 costumes so far include Honey BooBoo, the presidential candidates, Katniss Everdeen, and Psy (knowing the dance is a must). If you keep up with the trends you’re bound to find something that is easy, inexpensive, and funny.
- Focus on make-up. There are many make-up tutorials available on YouTube. Zombies are a fairly easy and inexpensive Halloween costume and there are great online tutorials for make-up. Other somewhat inexpensive costumes could require make-up so look online for instructional videos to help you look the part.
Once upon a time Halloween was about how scary you could be, not how expensive your costume was. Halloween has become the 2nd biggest holiday right behind Christmas, and with $70 costumes that is no surprise. Use your money wisely and try our ways to save money on your Halloween costume this year.
