What Bargain Mom & Readers Spent on Halloween Costumes This Year

Screen shot 2011-10-25 at 10.44.07 AM.png

I spent ZERO dollars this year on Halloween and the kids still have costumes.

My original plan for the boys costumes --

Did you know kid sized versions of that are impossible to find?  Then I thought I would make them.  That was a no go, ran out of time.

Still clueless as to what I could make them this year I decided to wait for a real bargain at a store.

Things changed Sunday.

My daughter wanted to be a ranger

-- since she's a junior ranger with the National

, she had a vest, my parents bought for her as a gift during the summer.

She wears a tan shirt and brown pants with it and a hat from her dad's closet.

ZERO out of pocket  -- the shirt and pants were bought last year.

Sunday I decided to participate in the CVS costume party.  I mentioned it but hadn't planned on attending.  We had time to go since our plans changed, so I went through the boys closet.


For my youngest son --

I pulled out some train conductor overalls and a matching hat for my youngest son.

I couldn't find a red kerchief so I got a red cloth napkin and tied it around his neck.

Overalls were bought at Trussville Consignment sale last year for $3.  Hat was a gift. Napkin was a wedding gift.

Zero out of pocket.

Now for my middle son -

-

He put on a shirt and dress slacks and a pilot flight jacket my parents gave him last year for his birthday.

I put some

.

I gelled his hair and he bothered my husband's sunglasses.

He's a pilot.  Which works out because he loves planes.


Now check out how other bargain shoppers fared this year:

Check out this frugal itsy bitsy spider costume Melanie Cade made for her baby last year using a black body suit and sewing black dress socks all over the back.

Screen shot 2011-10-25 at 11.08.19 AM.png

How much did you spend on Halloween costumes this year? Were you frugal or extravagant?

Here are the responses:


Lisa Harlan Belcher

Extremely frugal.


Jamee Pardue

I spent way to much on a costume last year for my little boys first Halloween. Definitely didn't make that mistake again. We kept it below $20 this year.


Kimbroughery Taylor

I spent $4.50 on a costume


Kimberly Penny

Zero $. My daughter got chef hat & apron for christmas so she is using that...


Melanie Taylor Cade

My family and I are going as "The Incredibles" this year...to order the costumes online would have been about $200.00 for the 5 of us....The day that I was going to order them, I realized that I was able to get things from thrift stores and craft stores and make the costumes myself for about $50.00! FRUGAL!!!


Christine Reid Baggette

I made 3 kids costumes for $21.00...Wilma, Pebbles, and Bamm Bamm.

Melissa Irvin

I bought my son a batman costume after last year's Halloween for 75% off...paid $7.50 instead of $30!

Michelle Jenkins

Well so far I have purchased 2 of 3 costumes. And I was FRUGAL! Yay me. I got two costumes for $4.90 each for my 8 and 6 year old boys who want to be ninjas. I've still got to purchase the costume for my 21 month old. Of course the spider costume I love for him is $35, so I am tempted to be extravagant on his! LOL!


Rachel Howell Morris

‎1 costume, $7.50 (sweatshirt plus felt to make a puppy dog!)


Dana Marie Hilgendorf

‎$1. It was from a garage sale!!


Lisa Bowman

Uh oh.... I'm behind.... 'But I'll be frugal (I know THAT in advance)!


Sonya Merchant Davis

this is my little girls 4th Halloween and i have spent a total of $10 for all 4 of them! this year i spent $5! (so i doubled Halloween costs just this year)

Melanie Taylor Cade

Last year, my son was 3 months old at Halloween. I made him a spider costume with black socks(Stuffed with pillow stuffing) sewn to his black footie pjs...The best "Itsy Bitsy Spider" ever! :-)

Kelli Griffin Nixon

I spend $40, BUT I had to have my daughters Minnie mouse costume made. The one at Walmart was made very cheap, and Disney was sold out of her size


Denise Kamerer

You can see my costume on my profile pic. The mask was $5.95 at Walmart, the renaissance gown was $6 at a thrift store, already had the wig. I got pirate costumes last year for 75% at Walmart for my husband and daughter.

Crystal Gentry Cleere

‎$2 cow costume at thrift store!

Allison Drezner Geis

Too much, but my kids wear their costumes all year, they have already had them on a ton so it was worth it :)

Teresa Fendley Musso

Frugal! I bought my teen daughter's costume at a yard sale for $5. My son's DragonBall Z costume I had to piece together. Blue shirt and orange sleeveless shirt were $.49 each at a thrift store and I found orange material to make the pants at another thrift store for $2.49.



Hillary Michele Miranda

‎$0 my friend gave him a costume. :). Or I was going to make his.


Kaitlin Marie Hay

well i bought her a princess dress at a consignment sale for 5$. but its HUGE on her. so i hake to figure out something else. but she has tutus. crowns. wands. and wings. in her dress up. so I'm thinking princess fairy!

Lara Turner Gowder

I got my oldest son's at a consignment sale for $2! It was exactly what he wanted, too! My youngest wasn't too bad, $13 from Walmart!

Serena Williams My son is Indiana Jones which was handed down from a friend for free. My daughter is a motocross racer, which is the sport she already participates in, and we already had everything! So $0!!

Vincenza Cardinale Sciarabba

‎$20 each for my two boys. About what I normally spend.


Kayla Culwell

We only spent a little over $6 on each- they found a Scooby Doo ski mask at Dollar general that they are going to wear with their brown jackets. I'm just going to get some felt and make a collar tag to attach to it. I though it was weird that it didn't have that..

And my mom got out cheap too- the older of my younger sister (9) is going to wear her cheerleading uniform and be a zombie cheerleader. My youngest sister (8) is going to be a masked princess- I found a really pretty mask at CVS for $2 and I had an old glittery dress that matched it perfectly, so we are going to take that in. I'm going to wear my witches costume which I've had since highschool (junior prom dress) and a witches hat! :) We got out very cheap.

Julie Bonham Howard

No more than $5 each and they all got to be exactly what they wanted to be. Used some CVS ECB's, a rare Star Wars sale at Toys 'r Us topped with a great 25% off total purchase coupon, and the little tykes .99 pirate deal.

Amy Reinhardt

we spent $45 on belle dress from Disney store =/....but she loves playing dress up and has worn it already everyday. im going to spray paint her silver flats gold because i think the dress up shoes will be to uncomfortable for her to walk in .

Gianna Zellner

Nothing! I posted pics of the ones I've made out of old costumes in the past when you asked this question earlier in the month. This year we are taking an Egyptian Queen costume we inherited and making her face up as a cat, adding ears and a tail to make her Bast the cat Goddess from the Red Pyramid series by Rick Riordan. (Yo

)


Julia Burgess Cantley

The cheapest I found for my oldest was on amazon. Captain America cost me $28.

Tiffanie Bennett

Reed ‎50 bucks if you include shipping. Sack of potatoes costume from Etsy. Help lol I want to be a bargain mom. Just started with my couponing. Next year I promise to do better :)


Ginger Sutter Skinner

Extravagant! Spent 95 on 2 costumes plus accessories! But, next year my 4 year old will be the same thing and my baby will wear a hand me down cow of his brothers so next year will be free!

Katie Hopper

we don't celebrate Halloween...so no spending!

Jaime Hardin Estell

Spent $50 for the whole family me and my two girls are bees and the hubby is the bee keeper. Mine was the most expensive at $35 the girls shirts I got from Gymboree at $2 a piece and I made black and yellow tutus from tulle I already had. The hubby's is a white jumpsuit free from a friend and I found a hat at the thrift store for $1 and used tulle again I already had. Pretty good for a family of 4 and the girls will play in theirs after Halloween.

Ima Beeme

Spent $2 on makeup and a head band. Nothing on costumes! Yeah! My daughter has so much dress up stuff...


Kerri Johns Williamson

‎$12.50 for two pirate costumes (made with items found at consignment sale and Dollar Tree) and they will use some of the accessories as toys after Halloween

Lori Burford Campbell

Making my boys this year. Including scraps of fabric, shirts, and sewing accessories will be under 10 total. They are going as Owls!


Rhonda Horton Foster Jarratt

we don't celebrate Halloween! (nothing)


Sarah Cook

‎4 dollars for 2 costumes - thank you

Stores across the south)

SO HOW DID YOU DO THIS YEAR?  SHARE YOUR STORY HERE OR ON THE BARGAIN MOM WALL.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.