12 Money Savings Tips for Halloween

                                                           

Many venues, family and friends have planned Halloween parties or plan to attend events to celebrate Halloween.  Every year kids and adults celebrate Halloween either by trick or treating or attending Halloween parties or both. Companies advertise sales to lure customers into stores to purchase candy, costumes or other items for Halloween. Don’t get carried away with the sales and spend more money than you have or need to.

There are several ways to celebrate Halloween by decorating pumpkins, making pumpkin pie, buying candy for trick-or-treaters, jack-o-lanterns, decorations, bobbing for apples, and more. Due to Hurricane Sandy some may not be able to celebrate this year.  If you are lucky enough to attend an event or assist with trick-or-treating here are some 12 money savings tips for Halloween.

1. Buy decorations during store sales. You can save anywhere from 20-70% off the original price.
2. Make your own decorations, costumes, drinks or candy.
3. Visit local vendors and haggle to good a good deal.
4. Visit the dollar store to buy decorations.
5. Shop online to find coupons, compare prices and find discounts such as Amazon.
6. Use a shopping list and stick to it.
7. Use coupons to save money on food, decorations and costumes.
8. Open candy bags one-at-a-time.  If you have any unopened bags of candy left after a week return it to the store to get a refund.
9. Save decorations and costumes in good condition for next year.
10. Swap costumes with family members or friends or use hand-me-down costumes from family members and friends.
11. Shop at discounts stores instead or larger stores to get discounts on costumes and decorations such as Walgreens, Wal-Mart or Target.
12. If you are having a party ask guests to bring a dish and use paper products.

 

Halloween Mania and Money

Halloween is celebrated by many Americans in the United States. Is Halloween really a holiday? We don't get a day off work to celebrate it but it is treated as a holiday and it seems as though some people get more excited about Halloween than Christmas. I wonder if the people who dress up at Halloween also dress up as Santa or Mrs. Claus at Christmas or dress up at Thanksgiving.

Companies make millions of dollars in sales during Halloween. Disney theme parks had a 40% increase in attendance at Disneyland in LA. In 2009, companies made approximately 6 billion dollars in Halloween sales.

If Americans took the money they plan on spending this year for Halloween and put it towards paying down their debt or put it in an emergency fund they would be in a better financial position next year. If you are going to celebrate Halloween this year here are 5 ways to save money.

1. Costumes. Buy costumes from the dollar store or make you own. Dress up like a cartoon character or a TV show character.
2. Candy. Buy candy from the dollar store or at discount or wholesale stores like Costco, BJ's or Price Club. You can also use coupons at store that double the coupon value.
3. Family Outings. Carpool, buy bulk tickets or ask about discounts for families or large parties to save money on admission fees for haunted houses or other activities.
4. Host a party. Host your own Halloween party and ask guests to bring a dish. This way you save money by not going out and get the luxury of staying at home.
5. Skip Halloween. Skip Halloween and do something that is low cost or free like attending church, visiting family or plan a family night and watch TV. This will save you a lot of money and will bring your family closer together.