7 Ways to Save Money on Kids Halloween Costumes
Halloween costumes sure have changed since I was a kid! I remember each year having a 1 piece plastic costume that went over my regular clothes and it always came with a mask that made me feel like I couldn’t breathe and also made my face sweat. Yuck! The only good thing I can say about them are that they were very inexpensive. These days, costumes are soooo much nicer. Everything is made with real fabric instead of plastic and the quality is a big improvement. But, along with these upgrades comes an increase in price. Halloween costumes can cost a pretty penny, but there are some frugal ways that you can save. Check out these 7 ways to save money on kid’s Halloween costumes.
- Go through your kid’s closet and find things that can be paired with accessories for a great costume. A black leotard and tights are the base of a black cat costume. Buy or make the tail and ears and use makeup to draw whiskers on your little kitty. A red hooded sweatsuit is the start of a devil costume. Buy or make devil horns and a pointed tail and paint your little devils face red.
- If your kids don’t have their heart set on a specific costume, wait until the last minute to buy. Some stores will start marking down prices on costumes the day before Halloween. By then, the majority of parents have already purchased their kid’s costumes and the stores need to get rid of what’s left.
- Check out thrift shops and consignment stores. You can usually find a good variety of Halloween costumes that have only been worn once for a fraction of the retail price.
- DIY. Search online and you will find more homemade costume ideas than you could imagine! They are easy to do and inexpensive. Many of them use items that you probably already have.
- For a free, last minute costume use uniforms that your kids already have. One year we were invited to a Halloween party at the very last minute. My son wore his last year’s baseball uniform and equipment and we had a full costume for free. For girls, a leotard, tights and tutu from ballet class make a full ballerina costume.
- Go with classic costumes instead of current trends. You can save a witch costume as a hand me down for next year, but a costume that’s trendy now, like a character from the newest kid’s movie may not be so popular next Halloween after another kid’s movie is released. Classics never go out of style and are often more inexpensive than trends.
- Zombies are all the rage and make such a frugal costume. Add some rips and shreds to old jeans and an old shirt. Use Halloween makeup from the dollar store for your zombie’s face and you’re all done; instant zombie!
Halloween is a fun day with great costumes, parties, and trick or treating. It doesn’t have to cost a bundle to get your kids the perfect costume. Use some of our 7 ways to save money on kid’s Halloween costumes for a fabulously frugal Halloween.
Make sure to check out my other great halloween posts.
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7 Ways to Save Money on Kids Halloween Costumes
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These are some great tips! With 6 kids, these tips will definitely come in handy this Halloween!
I wish I had read this before I just dropped almost $100 on costumes for my boys. I had no idea they were so expensive.
Since we recently started saving money for a down payment to buy a home we are cutting corners and trying to save money where we can. The kids’ costumes is definitely a place where some money can be saved, so thanks for sharing. Great tips.
All great tips! Zombies and babies always seem to be my go-to. A few freckles with eyeliner, PJ’s and I’m all set!
My son and I are going to a Halloween party at a local children’s theatre this year and I’m thinking about talking him into going as a zombie… and I will to. Mother-Son zombies. 🙂
These are all great ideas! I love seeing kids wear homemade costumes that they came up with themselves. I’m sure we’ll see lots of zombies this year and that makes a really easy and inexpensive costume.
These are awesome tips. Trendy costumes are always the MOST expensive ones.
Great tips! My youngest is going to be a minion this year. I bought him sweater that is a minion that will be used to keep warm during the winter and as a costume.. so adding some jeans and he’s done. My oldest wants to be his favorite football player and he already had the jersey. I also keep costumes after each year for hand me downs.
We love DIY costumes. You can save a lot of money and get pretty creative too!
These are great tips for saving money on costumes. They can get SO expensive can’t they!? We love going DIY with our costumes because then you won’t see someone else with the exact same costume as your own!
These are great tips. Costumes get crazy expensive, and some of the best ones I’ve seen were home made.
These are really great tips. Halloween can be a expensive time. I love making it yourself.
Those are great tips! It seems like our costumes get more and more expensive each year, so I’ll definitely try these.
Great ideas to save money! My boys haven’t decided what they want to be yet.
these are great ideas! My kids are too old for costumes now. Or at least they are in that phase where they try not to do anything resembling childishness
what a great list of tips. to bad our girls are still young and what the latest trend.
My son wants to be Blues Clues. Since they are not currently being made, I have been checking the consignment stores. I hope I can find one at an affordable price.
These are such great ideas. I rely upon hand me downs and diy.
Great tips! Halloween costumes can get so expensive.
We actually did use my best friends old dance leotards one year as costumes. We got so many compliments on them too! Best of all, they were free for us to use!
I buy next year’s costumes when they go on clearance after Halloween. I can always scrounge a fab deal!
Those are great tips! I can’t believe how expensive the costumes can get!
All good tips. My mom used to make me a hobo every single year, lol!! I never minded then, it makes me laugh to think about it now.
Grat tips! I have 6 kids and every year I dread Halloween for all the costumes! They all choose things that are super expensive too!
These are great ideas. I try to make my children’s halloween costumes each year. It all depends on how much time I have and what the theme is for the year. Thanks for the tips.
My mom was always so creative with my Halloween costumes. Majority of mine were homemade or thrift store finds.
Great tips! Zombies are the rage. I wish my son still wanted to dress up.
These are really great ways to save money on your kids costumes. It can be very expensive to buy a new costume for each child. Especially for big family’s.
These are awesome tips! With 6 kids – 5 who want to dress up this year, I need to save as much as I can!
These are great ideas. I also like to scour the dollar tree and see what I can find to make something homemade!
Great tips! I am all about the DIY whenever possible – I typically wait until the last minute every year, though not intentionally!
All about passing them down to the younger ones over here for sure!
Those are great tips! We try t make cute stuff rather than buying hem as much as possible
Great ideas! I make my kids costumes but I always spend too much! Yikes!
These are some great tips to be able to afford a Halloween costume. It’s crazy how expensive they can be!
I think the DIY route is even more fun than store bought costumes. You can really be creative!
costume prices are crazy! I just spent nearly $40 getting a frozen costume for my daughter. Ugh!