How to Keep Things Spooky This Halloween on a Budget

Kids obviously love Halloween, but there are also quite a few adults who enjoy dressing up for Halloween and going to a costume party. After all, it’s not that often that a grown man or woman can dress up crazy and buy mounds of chocolate and candy without others worrying about their mental state.

Of course, if you have a tight budget for the holiday season, celebrating Halloween this year might be somewhat difficult. Difficult but not impossible. Here are some affordable ways to celebrate Halloween on the cheap:

DIY Festive Decorations

With free tools like Pinterest and YouTube, there are almost too many great ideas you can implement into your Halloween festivities. Here are a few fun and affordable decorations that you can easily make at home:

• Use spray paint to decorate empty bottles and containers.
• Garnish wreaths with Halloween themed decorations.
• Use mason jars, cobwebs, and plastic spiders to set a spooky ambiance.
• Use construction paper to create words like “Boo” and “Happy Halloween” then decorate them with markers and other decorative items.

How to Host a Low-Budget Halloween Party

You’d be surprised how easy it is to put together a great Halloween party on a very small budget. Here are a few simple ways to throw a party everyone will remember:

• Use (or borrow) old Halloween decoration.
• Have fun group games handy, like Cards Against Humanity, for your guests to play.
• Put out inexpensive candies for the party, but ask your guests to bring drinks or snacks to share.

Sometimes, all it takes to make a party memorable is a few extra touches, like these:

• Put on some old-school, black and white scary movies on the TV in the background. (Try using YouTube for a low-budget alternative to renting movies.)
• Use Pandora or Spotify to play scary music in the background.
• Buy decorations, like cobwebs or candles, from Wal-Mart or a dollar store, and spread them around the party area.
• Offer an inexpensive but fun prize for the best costume that everyone votes on.
• Put dry ice in a plastic cauldron to create a spooky, mysterious atmosphere.

These affordable tips will make your party stand out and have your guests wanting to come back to your place for Halloween year after year.

Celebrate Halloween All Month

There are so many fun ways to enjoy the entire month of October, from carving pumpkins with family to enjoying the cooler weather. Here are some other ways to enjoy the month leading up to Halloween:

• Sample every kind of pumpkins spice there is.
• Make hot cider.
• Do a scary movie marathon or watch some Halloween-themed documentaries.
• Read Stephen King short stories.
• Stock up on Halloween candy.
• Make s’mores around a campfire with friends and family and tell ghost stories.
• Go to free Halloween events in your community.
• Visit local haunted houses.
• Go to a corn maze.

Budgeting Doesn’t Have to Be Scary

Ghost stories might be scary, but feeling overwhelmed by your money situation can be terrifying. That’s why it’s important to create a budget that you live with every day. In order to be most effective, your paycheck needs a plan, which is what a budget provides. Here are a few ways that living on a budget can help you:

• Pay debts off much faster.
• You’re less prone to spend money casually on things you don’t really need.
• Helps you focus more purposefully on your financial goals.
• You have a well-formed plan for how to save up for things you really want or need.
• If you create an emergency fund, you’ll be better prepared for unexpected emergencies.

Are You Facing an Emergency?

Budgeting is an incredibly important financial tool, but there may be times when you need some extra help dealing with a financial emergency. That’s when a payday loan could help. Payday loans provide access to cash amounts up to $255 in as little as 30 minutes, and all you need is a vehicle you own. Even if you have bad credit, you could still get the emergency cash you need.

When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween!

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.