The leaves are starting to change color, the jack-o-lanterns are making their debut, and now you’re surfing Pinterest for all of those great costume ideas with your besties. It can be a little overwhelming with so many great ideas and trying to maintain that college student budget. No worries, though! I’ve got some great tips to help you slay your Halloween costumes and not carve into that budget of yours.
Ask yourself, “What do I already have to work with?”
Before you start looking at all of those extravagant costumes on Pinterest, find items in your closet you know you could just add some accessories to in order to make it into something fun. Bell-bottom pants, striped shirts, or even oversized tees all have potential to be anything that you can think of. For example, striped shirts can be made into jail birds, oversized tees can be anything from dalmatians to purge participants, and bell bottom pants can take you back to the 70s or the wild wild west all depending on how you accessorize. The best part is, you can look cute and buy cheap things that you can use again for next Halloween.
Switch Costumes With Your Friends!
This is one of my favorite budget-saving tricks. Dressing up for Halloweekend is – just like it says – a weekend endeavor. Borrowing and wearing a costume that your best friend wore last night is a great way to change it up when you go out and avoid having to pay for multiple outfits. Why wear one costume when you can wear multiple? Maybe you could even add your own little twist!
Squad Costumes!
My final tip for slaying your Halloween costume on a budget is going with a group. This may sound contradictory to the “staying on a budget” thing, but the more people who participate in your group costume, the more put together it will seem even if it is not. This weekend, I am going out with my friends to a costume party and we are planning to be Cruella De Vil and the Dalmatians. The dalmatians are just wearing black skirts or pants and a t-shirt that we will paint dots on. Cruella is wearing black boots, a black skirt, a bodysuit, red gloves, and a coat of some sort. All of the elements of this group costume are cheap and easy to find. We just have to throw on some cute makeup, colored hairspray, shop for some accessories, and we will be ready to hit the town. Personally, I think squad costumes are where the fun is at, but it is also nice to stick with your individual alien, witch, or angel costume too!
I hope these tips will send you in the right direction as you start to make your costume choices! Your budget will be glad you did. However, just because you are on a budget does not mean you have to do the same outfit other college students will do. I challenge you to think of something original that will stand out from all the rest. Scrounge up some Halloween potential items! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!