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Hacks For a Low Cost Halloween

October 20, 2022

Halloween comes second only to Christmas in how much we spend on it. Did you know that in the UK, we spend around £300 million celebrating it? That’s a scary thought in a cost of living crisis. But on the other hand, it can be a fun event you can celebrate with the kids that raises your spirits. It is possible to do Halloween on a budget. Here are our hacks for a low cost Halloween.

Cheap Halloween Costume Ideas

Dressing up as a spooky character is a huge part of celebrating Halloween and you can do it on a budget! You could try:

• Borrowing a costume from friends or family. How many people have random old Halloween costumes packed away in a box in the loft?
• Making your own costume. Even if you don’t think you’re creative, you’d be amazed at how easy it is to create a Halloween costume from things you’ve already got at home. Here are some of our favourite ideas.

Zombie princess

Have the kids got a princess dress stashed away somewhere? Backcomb their hair, add face paint, and turn them into a zombie princess.

Mummy

Wrap them up in bandages or white fabric. Many of you will want to use toilet roll, but it’s a nightmare getting it to stay on. Add some white face paint and they’re good to go.

Skeleton

There are so many ways to create a skeleton outfit. Put on skeleton pyjamas or a skull hoodie and add face paint. Or if you want to get creative, make your own. Watch out on our Facebook page for our lovely Ali’s guide to making a DIY skeleton costume. Definitely one of our favourite hacks for a low cost Halloween.

Zombie

Dig out some old clothes and rip them. Add face paint, perfect your zombie walk, and that’s it!

Many of these ideas require face paints. Wilko have some great budget sets, starting at £1.20.

Low Cost Halloween Decoration Ideas

Yes, you could just go to the pound shop. However, adding lots of £1 plastic items to your basket soon adds up. Not to mention that the waste is terrible for the environment!

Here are some low cost Halloween decoration ideas.

• Make a spooky tablecloth from an old white sheet and some red paint. Get the kids involved and create some ‘bloody handprints.’
• Make some paper chains out of any old craft paper you’ve got lying around.
• Get crafty and get the kids to make some Halloween decorations. This is a great half-term activity for the kids. Give these ideas a try:

Toilet paper roll bats

What you need:

Toilet paper roll

Black craft paper

Googly eyes- there are some craft googly eyes and lots more in this fab Halloween craft pack from The Works. What’s even better is it’s only £2!

How to make it:

Wrap an empty toilet roll tube in black paper to form the bat’s body. Draw some wing shapes on black paper and stick them onto the sides of the body. Add googly eyes and you’ve got a cute Halloween bat decoration.

Devil plate

What you need:

Paper plates

Red paint

Googly eyes

How to make it:

Paint some papers plate red. Use one to make the devil’s face. Draw horns and a tail on another painted plate, cut them out and glue them to the face plate. Add googly eyes and a scary mouth to complete your devil decoration.

Cheap Halloween Food Ideas

Image: Tesco Real Food

We couldn’t talk about hacks for a low cost Halloween without mentioning food. The rising cost of food is definitely scary. It’s easy to feel pressured into buying snacks and treats galore for Halloween, but you really don’t have to. We love this spooky healthy and cheap Halloween haunted pizza recipe from Tesco.

Low Cost Halloween Activities

Watch a scary movie

Get cosy, add homemade popcorn, and watch a Halloween movie that the whole family can enjoy.

Plan some budget activities

• Look online for some Halloween colouring pages for younger kids. These can double up as decorations.
• You can also set up a treasure hunt around your home and garden with some cheap treats as prizes to collect along the way. This is not only fun, but it will get the kids to burn off some energy.
• Carve pumpkins. This is a Halloween staple activity. Tesco has pumpkins from 79p and if after you’ve carved them, you use up the leftovers, you get even more value. Try Ali’s low cost pumpkin curry recipe.

What you’ll need:

Tin of chickpeas

Curry paste

Tin of coconut milk

Leftover pumpkin

Tin of chopped tomatoes

Rice of choice (we love either instant rice (2 minutes in the microwave) or boil in the bag (10 minutes on the hob)

How to make it:

Cook the chickpeas for a few minutes in some oil. Add two tablespoons of curry paste and cook for a few more minutes. Add the pumpkin, chickpeas, tomatoes, and coconut milk, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes until the pumpkin is tender. Add extra veg if you want to. Cook your rice as directed.

What’s on this Half-Term

Our Monster Mash Halloween Disco is all sold out, but there are still spaces on our other half-term activities.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our hacks for a low cost Halloween. We’d love to you to share your Halloween money-saving tips with us!