Is Your Halloween Budget Scarier Than a Haunted House?
The pandemic and supply-chain issues are sure to haunt your Halloween this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have a good time, even if you have to cut back a bit this year.
Here are a few tips to help you make cuts to your costs that even Freddy Krueger would envy.
Is There a Monster in Your Closet?
Maybe, if you have some old clothes in there that you can repurpose into a costume. You may be able to put together a killer costume with just a few alterations. If not, you may be able to find the missing pieces at Goodwill.
Best of all, you’ve just freed up some space in your closet.
Trick or Treat?
Is it worth buying candy in bulk this year? Do you expect to have many Trick-or-Treaters? At the time of this writing, health officials were encouraging parents to make the rounds with their little ghouls and goblins, but how many will actually do that is a tough call.
In that case, you may want to buy a big bag from Costco or Sam’s or whatever wholesale club you may have in your town.
You probably won’t find any deals on most chocolate candy, but your grocery store or chain drug store may be pushing sweets this year, offering coupons and other deals. Check the price tags in the store or look in their circulars in the Sunday papers.
If you do buy in bulk and don’t get many kids, make sure the leftovers are at least something you don’t mind eating yourself, or consider donating all the candy to a church or youth group.
Those Cobwebs You Keep Meaning to Clean? They’re Decorations Now
You’d probably be better off cleaning them if you’re going to have friends over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still decorate. You can make a swarm of bats out of black cardstock. Make one bat you can use as a template and trace it on the remaining sheets of posterboard. If you have kids, you may even be able to put them to work cutting the bats out.
You can make headstones out of Styrofoam or even old boxes. You can probably find a tutorial for just about any decoration you want to make on YouTube, so you’re not loafing on the Internet, you’re doing research.
But Michael’s or Dollar Tree probably have inexpensive decorations, and they may even offer bigger discounts as we get closer to Halloween.
What’s Halloween Without Pumpkins?
Pumpkins are a little pricier this year but they’re still fairly easy to find. Buy enough for all your guests — or have them bring their own — and host a pumpkin carving contest.
There are online stencil designs you can print off for free, so everyone will be able to bring their A-game to the contest.
Who’s for Potluck and Movies?
Let’s face it. Planning and hosting a party is a lot of work, let alone having to be responsible for the menu, so why not ask each guest to bring a Halloween-themed dish to dinner? Afterwards, you can all retire to the dungeon for some good old-fashioned monster movies. There are plenty available on streaming.
What About Next Year?
You can find some pretty good deals the day after Halloween, so you can load up on next year’s decorations and knick-knacks.
Set a budget and stick to it.
But for now, get out there and be the scariest you that you know how to be!
Kevin brings over 15 years of experience in marketing, with a specialized expertise in growing online businesses. As the Director of Marketing at a leading FINtech company, he employs innovative strategies to enhance brand visibility and customer engagement. Kevin’s passion lies at the intersection of technology and finance, where he pioneers solutions that not only meet but exceed consumer expectations. His commitment to leveraging his expertise ensures impactful results and the building of lasting relationships in the digital landscape.
