Thrifty Halloween tip of the day...

Each day we will be posting A Thrifty Halloween Tip, from our readers. At the end of the month, one of you will win a $25.00 Visa Gift Card. For all the details click here. Keep those thrifty tips coming!!!

Thanks to Cassidy at Coupon Agent for sharing todays Thrifty tip,

Want your child a cute Halloween costume that you can afford or that will be used more than once? The costume I saw at Target most of their costume start at $19.99 up to $39.99 now if you have 3 kids you are going to spend between $60 and $120 on Halloween costumes alone and you haven’t even bought candy for all the neighborhood kids yet or the treats for the fall parties at school. Yikes!

Here are some great ideas or tips I always use. You dont have to be creative or even know how to sew for most of these.

1. Focus on clothing that can be used again once Halloween is over so you don’t mind spending a little money on it. I would much rather spend $20 on items that can be worn all year as opposed to a costume worn once. Example: overalls could be used for a scarecrow, farmer, etc You can do a lot of different things with a solid colored Hanes sweatsuit from Walmart. (now I can’t stand when a kid looks like he just picked something out of the closet that barely looks like a costume at all so you gotta add a little to it please)
Here is a picture of my kids basic costumes from last Halloween.

The Mario & Luigi Costumes priced online are anywhere from $24-$40 each

Here was my breakdown:

Hats (bought at Walgreens summer clearance 90% off) .67 each

Shirts (Target Circo Brand) $3.00 each

Overalls one pair we already owned bought one on ebay for $8.00 shipped

Gloves (Walmart) $1.00 for 2 pair

Logos on the hats are construction paper and marker I safety pinned on from the inside

Grand Total for both costumes: $16.34 and all parts can be worn again

2. Use boxes! You know all those cardboard boxes you get in the mail from your online deals…Use them! A little paint and some creativity you can make a lot out of a box. Think of all the things your child loves that are shaped like a square or rectangle. (Jack in the box, Legos, Sponge Bob, Transformer, Candy bars) I was once a juice box for Halloween. Painted the box to look like one and made a straw coming out of the top out of empty paper towel tubes. ?Here is an article I just found when googling cardboard box halloween costume

3. Shop Clearance, Garage Sales or Borrow from a neighbor. I know it seems hard to pick out a costume at the end of this year for your child next year, but if you want to score a great deal they are usually 75%-90% off not long after Halloween to make room for Christmas stuff. Stick to things that are classic and not just that yearrs fad….who knows if Handy Manny will still be popular next year, but costumes that aren’t as character specific are great pick ups. I purchased a few costumes last year 90% off at Target just for the kids to have as dress up clothes. If your 3 year old has been obsessed with princesses, chances she will still like them next year. And the next year when shes 4 and you pull that Cinderella costume out of your closet she will have no idea you didn’t just pick it out for her that year. You will probably save yourself atleast $30 since you got it 75% the year prior on clearance.

4. Start thinking about it early. I know no one wants to think about Halloween early, but if you have a better chance of finding an item you can use on clearance or sale early. If you wait until the last minute you are going to wind up paying more, because you don’t have time to look around or wait for a sale. Or if you want to ask that creative aunt or grandma to help you with a costume, the week before is a little late to ask.

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