Halloween On A Budget

Happy Halloween

Hello Readers Hope everyone in blogland is keeping well. Yesterday I said I was going to share with you how we do Halloween on a budget. Love it or hate it Halloween comes round at the same time every year. My personal opinion is that since I was a kid it has become way to commercialized. When I was a kid you made your own costume using stuff you had at home already. You used a plain old carrier bag to collect treats from your neighbors and that was about it. Nowadays you can spend a fortune on an outfit ready made and purchased from a store and it doesn't end there. You have to have a fancy Halloween bag or container for collecting your treats. Then there's the Halloween parties, decorating the house, and even schools have jumped on the bandwagon. Lots of schools now have Halloween themed fancy dress competitions. This often leaves cash strapped mums in a panic as they don't want their little one being the odd one out.

Now I know this all sounds like I am a bit of a scrooge but this couldn't be further from the truth. I have 3 sons who love Halloween, they love the fun, the activities, and of course the treats. I love children and seeing them enjoying themselves. This said there are ways of doing Halloween on the cheap even if you are on a tight budget and the best bit is the little ones wont have a clue that you spent substantially less than their best mates mum did. First I am going to share with you what we have done this Halloween and then I am going to give you my tips for doing Halloween on the cheap next year.

We have had great fun this Halloween and it has cost me very little. Eldest son is now 18 so to old for trick or treating, middle son (nearly 13) said he wasn't bothered by it and just wanted to stay at home, youngest son said he wanted to celebrate and have fun but not go trick or treating. So this afternoon youngest son and I carved a pumpkin which was lots of messy fun lol. This evening we both dressed up and handed out goodies to the trick or treaters. In between handing out treats we sat and watched a family Halloween film together and munched on some popcorn. For tea we had spooky severed finger hot dogs. It has been a lovely evening and we have had lots of fun but the best bit is it has cost me very little.

Costings for our Halloween are as follows.....

Pumpkin 50p (They were 2 for £1 in Morrisons or 75p each. My friend only needed 5 so I gave her 50p and she bought 6)

Carving set 0p (I still have the same one we have used the last few years. I simply wash it up after we have finished and store it with all the other Halloween items. I bought it just after Halloween a few years ago reduced to 25p)

Tealight 0p (I have lots in the house where I burn lavender oil to help with the boys autism and ADHD).

My Costume 0p (Black leggings and black hoodie and believe it or not the black and white tutu I already have at home. The tutu was bought for £4 a few years ago for a friends fancy dress birthday party. The mask I got from Poundworld for free using a voucher from the sun newspaper. The sun newspaper was also free from when we went to the kids club at the cinema on Friday).

Youngest Sons Costume 0p (This came out of his dress up box. I bought it from one of the Facebook selling pages second hand for £3 last year some time).

Sweets for the Trick or Treaters £3 (9 packs of Frozen biscuit bars. There were 8 in each pack so for £3 I got 72 treats).

Hocus Pocus 0p (We already have this in our collection it was bought from cash generator for 50p ages ago).

Popcorn 0p (I buy a big bag of popping corn once a month for £1 and we usually get about 6 big bowls out of a bag).

Spooky Severed Finger Hot dogs  70p (2 packs of yellow stickered finger rolls 10p, tin of 8 hot dogs 50p, tomato ketchup for blood 10p. This was enough for my family of 4 to have 2 hot dogs each with 4 fingers rolls left over for lunch tomorrow).

Total cost of our Halloween £4.20


Tips and Tricks for saving money on Halloween

1= Buy a medium sized pumpkin instead of a large one. There is not a lot of difference in size but a medium one will cost you half the price of a large one.

2= Buy your carving kit just after Halloween at a reduced price. Wash it up after using it and put it away for next year. If cleaned and stored properly it will last you a good few years.

3= Where costumes are concerned see what you already have at home, raid the kids dress up box and see what they already have that can be used before hitting the shops. Buy outfits from discount stores such as Poundland and Poundworld just after Halloween when they are selling them off half price and put them away for next year. This also goes for Halloween decorations, treat bags, and treat containers.

4= Keep your eyes open in charity shops and online selling pages for family Halloween DVD's going cheap or borrow them for free from your local library. Pop some corn at home and have a family Halloween movie marathon.

5= With regards to Halloween parties you could just say no as I did this year and explain that you have already made plans. However if your little's like the idea of a Halloween party don't host one but attend one instead. Bake some spooky fairy cakes on the cheap as your contribution and your good to go.

6= If you are really strapped for cash and cant afford to spend much on treats for the trick or treaters buy cheapy sweets. Many years I have just bought several bags of smartprice toffees or bags of midget gems. Throw a few in each trick or treaters bag and they are happy. You can get a bag of toffees for 50p or a bag of midget gems for 25p.

7= Finally if for whatever reason you are not interested in Halloween in the slightest and think it's just another form of money making commercialism you can download a poster to put on your front door. This kindly informs people not to knock at your door trick or treating and you can just go about your everyday business and pretend Halloween isn't even happening.

Hope you have all had a spooktacular day lol

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx