Now that Halloween is over, it’s time to start planning for next year.

Instead of waiting until the last minute, start saving for Halloween now. Here are four easy ways to save money on costumes and decorations:

1. Shop After Halloween

Halloween decorations and costumes tend to go on sale right after the holiday. If you’re able to wait a day or two, you can save a lot of money this way.

2. Make Your Own Decorations

Making your own decorations is a fun activity in addition to saving a lot of money. You can make your own spooky ghosts or witches out of old sheets and even make your own haunted house if you have enough time.

3. Shop at Thrift Stores

Stores like Goodwill and other thrift stores usually have plenty of old costumes that you can reuse for next year’s Halloween party. If you’re looking for something very specific, try checking out eBay or craigslist as well!

4. Host Your Own Party

Instead of going out, host your own party at home with some games and homemade snacks! You can make popcorn balls or candy apples (or both!) at home without spending too much money.

As you know, Halloween is just around the corner and I will be sharing helpful tips and tricks to make your Halloween an amazing experience. One trick that many people overlook is starting to save for the holiday FUN-ding right now! We’re already in October which means Walmart is already selling Christmas decorations and Amazon has already released their Black Friday deals flyer.

Halloween is an expensive holiday, but it doesn’t have to be! Your first step in avoiding the Halloween money pit is to start saving now. Open a Halloween Fund Savings Account (HFSA) now at your local bank that you will not touch until Halloween day. Save a little bit each paycheck and by the time Halloween rolls around you’ll have plenty of cash for candy, costumes and decorations!

Once you have money saved up for your Halloween Fund Savings Account, it’s time to start planning everything out. How many people do you expect to come knocking on your door? How much candy will you need? What kind of decorations should you buy? These are all important questions that need to be answered before heading out to the store.

After everything has been planned out and saved up for, it’s finally time to go shopping! Be sure not to oversp

Let’s face it, we all love the idea of celebrating Halloween, but after the costume and candy come the decorations, parties, decorations and more candy. And then there’s Thanksgiving and Christmas that follow. It’s no wonder so many people are broke by the end of the year.

But what if you could save money on Halloween this year? What if instead of going into debt buying a bunch of cheap costumes at Walgreen’s you had some cash stashed back to buy a real Marty McFly costume?

My friend, it is never too early to start saving for Halloween!

Step 1: Make a budget

The first step in saving money is knowing how much you have to spend. So take out your checkbook or credit card statement and look at what you spent last year on Halloween. Now make a commitment not to spend more than that amount this year.

Step 2: Put money aside each month

Now that you have a budget set up, it is time to start putting money aside every month to fund your holiday fun! You might be thinking “but I don’t have any extra money to put aside!” Well then take one of these steps:

1) Cut back on your spending. A lot of people pay for cable TV without realizing how

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

And that was what happened to my plan to save money for Halloween this year. I’ve been working on a blog post about holiday planning and saving money, which is perfect for the Halloween costume I mentioned in my previous post. Because I’ve been so busy since my last update, it took me a lot longer than I anticipated (I’m still not finished).

In the meantime, I had a family emergency that required me to fly home for a couple of days. Tickets were expensive at short notice, so I didn’t have much extra cash to work with when I got back from my trip. This meant that the original plan had to be changed drastically: instead of saving up for one big purchase, I would have to find cheap deals here and there and make do with what I had.

After thinking about it for a while, I came up with an idea that seemed like it would fit the bill: Marty McFly from Back To The Future! He’s one of my favorite movie characters, and his outfit is really easy to put together (it just needs some sneakers and jeans). So why not make this happen?

I went ahead and ordered the shoes from Amazon (they were on sale),

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the costumes, the candy, the parties and seeing my friends with their children. Unfortunately, it can also be very expensive if you are not careful. Below are some tips on how to save money and have a great time.

Costumes

You have so many options when it comes to costumes: buy them, make them or use what you already have at home. If you are buying a costume, check out consignment shops first before you go to the store. They will often have costumes that are new in package as well as gently used ones. Some of these costumes may be more expensive than what you could get in a store but they are still a better value than buying new ones. If you are making your costume, start saving materials now and check out Pinterest for ideas! There are so many creative things that people come up with and most don’t require too much sewing experience. My personal favorite way to save money on Halloween is by using what I already have! This year I am planning on being a hippie since I already have some bell-bottom jeans, hip-hugging pants and some tie dye shirts from college. A little bit of makeup and I’ll look just like it’s 1969!

Candy

As we all know, Halloween is quickly approaching! If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been thinking about what costume to wear for a while now. I’m going to go out on a limb and say your search is over because this year you’re going to transform into Marty McFly from the movie Back to the Future!

I went as Marty McFly my freshman year of college (way back in ’07). It was a blast. Everyone loved it and thought I put a lot more effort than I really did. All in all, I spent about $30. This costume can easily be made under budget with items you may already have lying around the house. To help get you started, here are some essentials you’ll need:

A Denim or Jean Jacket – The most important part of Marty’s outfit is his jean jacket that he wears over his red vest. This will definitely be the hardest part to find. You can buy a cheap denim jacket from Walmart or Goodwill for around $10-$15. If you don’t want to spend any money on this item, just borrow one from a friend who owns one – chances are they aren’t going to wear it in October anyway!

A Red Vest – This piece is also essential. You

When you’re on a tight budget, the last thing you want to do is spend money on something that can be DIYed. You should especially avoid spending much for costumes for kids. They grow out of it, and it’s just not worth the money. Here are some ideas for cheap (and even free) costumes.

Marty McFly from Back to the Future:

The iconic Marty McFly outfit can be easily made from pieces you already own. All you need is a red puffer vest (which everyone had in the 80s), a plaid shirt, jeans, sneakers, and an old skateboard or piece of plywood to carry around. If your kid has long hair, they can wear a wig or hat with it slicked back; if not, they can slick their hair back with gel or pomade (they probably have some at school). This costume looks best if your child is wearing glasses and carrying a small camera around their neck with a guitar hanging off their back.