How to Budget For Halloween During Hard Times

Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday next to Christmas. It is estimated that people spend $7 billion annually for the Halloween festivities. These include costumes, decorations, and food and candies for the trick-or-treaters. Though Halloween usually provides so much fun and entertainment for everyone, it can also burn a hole in your pocket as expenses tend to skyrocket during this holiday. Unfortunately, expenses are inevitable in events such as this. The key is to start building your Halloween money as early as possible, not just in October. Budgeting for Halloween can be a difficult assignment because there are only two months separating it from Christmas, another extremely expensive holiday. However, just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do. It’s very doable, if you follow these three little steps.

Open a Halloween savings account or start a pumpkin bank

You’ve probably heard of the Christmas Club Accounts, why not try opening a Halloween account? It doesn’t have to be like a club account; just a regular savings account would do wonders. Starting from January of the same year, try getting a small chunk of your monthly paycheck and make a deposit into the new account. Even if it’s a small amount, say twenty dollars, you’ll still end up with a sizeable amount that will come in handy come October. Apart from this, you can also create a pumpkin bank. Just as a piggy bank stores spare change, a pumpkin bank can keep small amounts of money of the whole family. Since all members of the family will benefit from this venture by the time Halloween comes, you can advise your children and other family members to put spare change in the pumpkin bank as well. You’d be surprised that this collective effort can provide you with enough money to spend when the holiday comes.

Have a garage sale

All of us have items we do not need from time to time. Instead of letting them rot away in your backyard or basement, try holding a garage or yard sale months before the Halloween holidays. It’s both a great way to earn more money for the Halloween festivities, and it clears out space in your storage area for new Halloween stuff. If you haven’t used something for a year now, consider selling it. Also, think about all the not-so-hard-earned money you can get and all the wonderful new things you could purchase for your upcoming Halloween haunt. So go ahead and start having a garage sale. Some quick sellers include old computer and video games, old music CDs and vinyl records, DVDs, and unwanted clothing.

Recycle

Apart from the two above mentioned options, you can also recycle aluminum cans, plastic containers, glass bottles and other recyclables throughout the year so by the time Halloween comes, you can just take all of it to a recycling center and trade them in for cash. Of course the more recyclables you trade in, the more dollars you’ll get. Thus, you can acquire more items if you sought help from your relatives, friends and neighbors. Most people do not recycle anyway so it might be a good idea to recycle for them and earn some extra cash as you’re reward. After all, it’s easy; all you need is persuasive powers and an empty room for storage. GP

Benedict Smythe is an article writer for Costume Finder. Costume Finder is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of Fancy Dress Costumes [http://www.costumefinder.co.uk/] such as Vampire and Skeleton Costumes [http://www.costumefinder.co.uk/ShopList.asp?cat=1731&MainCat=1725]

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