Halloween is a fun holiday for both kids and adults. As a kid, I loved dressing up, trick-or-treating and eating endless amounts of free candy. As an adult, I enjoy seeing all the kids dressed up and handing out candy. It’s funny how as a kid, everything seems free, but as an adult, you realize all those “free” things actually cost money for someone. That’s why I created this article sharing 5 ways to save money on Halloween.
Make Your Own Costume
Whether you are looking for yourself or your children, Halloween costumes can be quite expensive. For kids, Party City has costumes for as much as $100, and for adults as much as $180! The best option to save money on a costume is to make your own. The cheapest option is utilizing things you already own, such as a white sheet for a ghost costume or dress up as your significant other by borrowing his/her clothes. However, if you can’t find something out of items you own, it’s still cheaper to buy accessories or pieces of a costume than to buy the full costume itself. Making your own costume not only saves you money, though, it also ensures you have a very original and unique costume.
Buy Generic Brand Candy
I know it’s not for everyone, but generic brand candy is cheaper than the well-known brands. So, if your budget is tight and you still want to be able to hand out candy on Halloween, buy the generic brand.
Shop for Candy Early
Everyone knows candy goes on sale the day after a holiday, but I wouldn’t buy your Halloween candy a full year in advance. However, buying your candy a month before Halloween ensures that you get a better price and that the candy is definitely good to eat. As the holiday gets closer, demand pushes the price of candy up, so try to buy your candy before that happens.
Buy Candy/Costume/Decor Discounted
A great place to shop for Halloween candy is at your local warehouse club (Costco, BJ’s, Sam’s Club, etc.). They offer great prices when on bulk items and if you know you’ll have a lot of trick-or-treaters coming to your door, you want to make sure you have enough candy without going broke.
You can also try to buy candy, costumes and décor from places that you have coupons. For example, I often get 30% off at CVS (and on rare occasions even 40%), so I’ll use that to purchase Halloween candy usually since we don’t tend to get many trick-or-treaters (I don’t need bulk candy or else I just eat it all).
Think Ahead
As I mentioned previously, the day after a holiday stores tend to put the Halloween candy on sale, but you don’t want to buy candy a year in advance. What you can buy a year in advance, though, are Halloween décor and costumes. If you’re purchasing a costume for your child, rather than yourself, it may be difficult to buy a year in advance since it may not be what’s trendy for the following year. But if you know you’ll need to dress up for Halloween or you need a refresh on your Halloween décor, try to buy it just after Halloween is over.
