Why Waste Money On a Halloween Costume?

October 22nd, 2008

The following is a guest post written by my wife, The Cavewife. She regularly writes here about what’s on her heart as a frugal stay-at-home mom.

My daughter celebrated Halloween for the first time last year. She did not really understand the whole concept, but we still dressed her up any way. My husband and I bought her costume since we wanted her first Halloween to be special. We ended up spending about $24 for a Piglet costume that she wore just four times.

This year we decided that we would make her a costume. With a second baby on the way, basement renovations, and other bills, there was no way we would even think about purchasing another store-bought costume that would get used just once.

Let me set up the scenario… About a month ago, we hosted a Murder Mystery night. I ran into a dilemma: was six months pregnant and had a difficult time finding a costume to fit my part. I was a 50’s girl and needed a poodle skirt. I browsed online to see how much a skirt would cost; one would cost about $20-$40 just for my skirt. Ouch! I wasn’t going to pay that much and decided that I would try my hand at making my own poodle skirt. It wasn’t really easy, since I am fairly new to the wonderful world of using a sewing machine. With the help of my mother-in-law, I was able to put together a maternity poodle skirt for less than what it would have cost to purchase one.

After making my own poodle skirt, I was left with some leftover material. My husband and I decided that the material could be used for a costume for my daughter. I wanted to make her a little 50’s girl (my “Mini Me”) this year for Halloween. Over the past couple of days, I have been working on her poodle skirt. When all the costs were totaled up, I was able to complete a skirt for her for under $10. I still have to make a trip to our local Goodwill store to find her a little top to wear, but it will be fairly inexpensive. I figure she will wear the costume at least three times in the next two weeks, so it won’t be a major loss.

With the increase of costs of groceries and gas this year, are you finding yourself in the same boat with your kids for Halloween this year? Be creative and make your own costume or head up to a local Goodwill or Salvation Army store to find costumes. Your child is going to wear the costume at most two times, so why waste the money?

Have you made any costumes on your own or built a great one with “found” clothing and props? If so, please share with us in the comments so we can gather some great ideas!