News - Thrifty Living

POSTED: Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

Five ways to be creepy for Halloween on the cheap-y

Maybe you've been invited to a last-minute Halloween party. Or just remembered you promised to take your child trick or treating. Now you need a quick costume - but there aren't many bones in your bank account. What to do?

Fortunately, with a few shopping tricks and some creativity, you can be creep-y this year on the cheap-y.

The fastest way to save is to skip buying or renting a full-blown, pre-assembled costume. Go with a single, cool accessory and use stuff around home to adorn it. I found a fun fake butcher's knife that plays a screeching sound for just $2. Just add a ripped up hoodie with ketchup stains and you instantly become a respectable psycho killer.

Shop around: In the past couple of weeks, I've been to K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target and specialty stores like Party City and Spirit Halloween stores, and have found no single store offers the lowest prices for a Halloween costumes and accessories. So it's a good idea to shop at two or more stores to snag the best prices. For instance, I found 6-inch skulls were $10 a piece at one store, and $5 at another. Also, a toy sickle – the preferred weapon of choice by four out of five grim reapers - was $4 at the cheaper store and $2 at the store where the skull was higher-priced.

Check all shelves: I found an awesome sound-effects shotgun for $10 at a store that sold smaller guns with less features for twice or three times the price. But this shotgun was tucked away on a top shelf in an aisle away from the high-priced guns that were all together. So it pays to check out the entire store before buying.

Check clearance items. There are always clearance items available and you can often save 50 to 75 percent off each item. I found the screeching knife, a favorite with my son, for $2. It originally sold for $5. A lot of times these are items that are leftover from last year's inventory and are still perfectly fine.

Don't shy from hot-selling costumes because you think they'll be the most expensive. Just be smart about which one you choose. For instance, some of most popular characters this year are from the Transformer movies, like Bumble Bee (the one who protected Megan Fox and what's his name) and Bumble Bee's boss Optimus Prime. For children, most retailers sell the costume for $40. You get a mask, a pair of tights and a little bit of body armor. But if you look around, you can get the same costume minus the body armor for $15.

Buy the basics. And spice them up yourself. I found a one-size-fits-all vampire cape for $10 on sale at K-mart. Add $2 vampire teeth and a dress shirt or silk blouse you already own and you're suddenly one of the vampires from the popular Twilight movie series. Classic, yet modern. Nice.