Cutesy title aside, let’s face it: Halloween is one of those holidays that can unexpectedly drain your wallet. Between costumes for you and your kids, parties to attend or throw and mounds of candy to buy for hungry trick-or-treaters, you could be looking at far more money than you can afford to part with.

Here are some tricks for saving money for post-October treats without cutting out the fun.

Make Your Costumes

My mother (not an arts-and-craft person, by the way) refused to buy Halloween costumes for my sisters and me. Instead, she insisted we make them. True, there are some pictures of us in bizarre-looking getups, but we always had fun and saved plenty of money. Even the least crafty person can throw together a costume:

• Hit thrift stores. Clothing you’d never wear, spare fabric, accessories and props abound at second-hand stores.
• Reuse recyclables: One year, I used an old microwave box and some yellow paint to make an enormous wedge of cheese costume. It was silly, but I had fun doing it.
• Think outside the costume box: Remind your kids they don’t have to be a Disney character or someone from TV. Encourage them to be more imaginative – or abandon a specific thing altogether and just go for “wacky” or “scary.”

Decorate Inexpensively

Homemade decorations tend to be the most cost-effective.

• Pumpkins: These are cheap, fun to carve and quintessentially Halloween-y. If you like baking, you can even save the innards for a pie or roasted seeds.
• Construction paper: You and your kids can have fun cutting out bats, pumpkins and ghosts and hang them on walls, windows or from the ceiling with string.
• Old sheets: It may sound cheesy, but never underestimate the spook factor of draping furniture with a sheet. Just be careful you don’t drape lamps – they could catch on fire.

Activities that Won’t Break the Bank

If carving pumpkins and making costumes and decorations don’t quite give you your Halloween fix, consider these low-cost activities to add a thrill or two:

• Haunted houses: Costs here vary, but many are inexpensive or accept canned food donations.
• Visiting the sick or elderly: Call a local retirement center or hospital to see if they’d be interested in holiday visitors. Then make some cards with your kids and spend an afternoon handing them out and visiting with residents (in costume).
• A walk at night: Before the main event of trick-or-treating, you can take your kids on a moonlit walk to check out neighbor’s spooky decorations and get in the Halloween spirit – and it won’t cost a cent.

Any other ideas for saving money on Halloween festivities that won’t make you bankrupt? Feel free to post in comments!

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