Halloween Decorations for Families on a Budget

Ask any American what their favorite holiday is, and chances are, they’ll say Christmas. But Halloween has its fair share of fans too. 23% of Americans say it’s at the top of their list!

You might want to go all out with decorations to get into the Halloween spirit. However, the cost can quickly add up, leaving your wallet drained.

The good news is you can get Halloween decorations on a budget. This guide will show you some budget Halloween ideas and tips so you can still celebrate in style!

Make Purchases Throughout the Year

Halloween decorations will be the most expensive to buy in the fall. To get hefty discounts, check Halloween stock all year round and buy decorations when no one else wants them.

For example, starting on November 1st, Halloween merchandise will be heavily discounted. This is because everyone’s focused on buying Christmas decorations instead, so stores need to clear old products to make way for the new. This means you won’t have to fight other people to get decor, and you’ll pay a fraction of what you would’ve just a few days ago.

Some stores carry Halloween decorations all year long. Buying off-season will already save you a few bucks, but keep an eye on them. You never know when the stores might have these on clearance.

Collect Coupons

92% of American consumers have used coupons at least once. If you haven’t, then it’s an excellent time to start.

Browse flyers, catalogs, and newspapers for your favorite shops, as well as online couponing sites. Clip out or save ones that’ll save you money on Halloween decor.

And while you’re at it, clip out/save coupons for daily necessities, such as pasta, canned tuna, baby wipes, or toothpaste. Kill two birds with one stone!

Shop at Dollar Stores

Dollar stores are the perfect place to shop for Halloween decorations. However, some may worry about the quality vs. the price.  

The truth is, you’ll only have these things up for a short time, then they come down again. So you don’t need anything that’s very durable.

For this reason, dollar stores are ideal for Halloween decorations on a budget. You’ll be able to pick up lights, plastic pumpkins, caution tape, etc., for just a few dollars.

Buy Secondhand Items

Unfortunately, some families grow out of the holiday and lose their Halloween spirit. But their loss is your gain.

Often, these families will have Halloween decorations in excellent condition, and they’re willing to part with them for a low fee. In addition, you can check out thrift shops in your local area to see what treasures they have. And of course, some people still have old-school garage sales, so these might have some gems waiting for you too.

Or, if you’d like to shop from home, there are online platforms to use, such as Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.

How to Make Low-Cost Halloween Decorations

You now have some tips on having a family Halloween on a budget by purchasing smartly. But you can also make some low-cost Halloween decorations.

Not only can you save even more with these DIY projects, but you can also bond with your loved ones while creating these unique pieces. Here are some low-cost Halloween decorations to try making.

Painted Pumpkins

Don’t want to deal with the mess of pumpkin guts when carving gourds up? Then paint your pumpkins instead.

Let your creativity run wild here. You can carefully paint a Halloween scene or faces on your pumpkins or paint solid colors and splatter contrasting-colored paint across them.

Get a pumpkin for each family member, and you’ll have a row of cutely painted pumpkins to display at your door for trick-or-treaters.

Eyes in a Jar

If you’ve got some Mason jars lying around, this is a great time to repurpose them. Fill them with some water and a few drops of red food coloring if you want to make these jars look more gruesome.

You can purchase eyeball ping pong balls to go into the jars. Or you can grab some ping pong balls to DIY the eyeballs; if you don’t already have some, they only cost a few dollars.

Just make sure you use waterproof paint to keep it from coming off in the water. Or you can put some eyeball stickers on the ping pong balls.

Either way, when you’re done, stick the balls in the Mason jars and screw on the lids tightly. Then place the jars around your house for some spooky décor.

Paper Cutouts

Do you have construction paper to do arts and crafts with your little ones? Then this can be a fun activity for the whole family!

Create spooky cutouts by drawing them out first, such as bats, witches, cauldrons, and cats. Then, cut it out and use it as a pattern to trace on the paper.

Once you’re done, you can tape these cutouts onto your home’s walls and windows.

Spider Garland

Making spider garland is another fun project that little kids will love. Plus, it’ll help with their motor skills.

You can buy a large case of plastic ones for the spiders or put them together with pipe cleaners.

When your spiders are ready, attach them to some twine with a needle. Then hang these garlands up on your walls.

Ghost Balloons

Ghost balloons can be a fun touch to your home for Halloween since they float around unpredictably.

To make these, inflate some white balloons with helium. Then take a Sharpie and draw some eyes and mouths on your balloons.

Attach some white streamers below and tie your balloons to white string so you can secure them. If you want the full scary effect, leave them untied so they can wander around your house!

Spooky Candles

Create spooky candles by performing image transfer. It’ll take a little bit of work, but the results will be stunning.

First, browse the internet for some spooky Halloween images. When you find one you like for your candle, get a piece of tissue paper and wrap it around a piece of printer paper, taping it secure along the back. Then, feed the paper into your printer to print the image on the tissue paper.

Cut out the picture and lay it on your candle. Wrap a piece of wax paper around and blow-dry the image for 30 seconds while keeping the blow-dryer two inches away. You might need to wear a glove to protect your hand from the heat.

Slowly pull the pieces of paper away, and you’ll have a candle with a fantastic image on it.

Note that if you have an image with text on it, you’ll have to reverse it before printing. Otherwise, the words will be backward on your candle.

Halloween Wreath

Let your creative side out by making a Halloween wreath. Not only are the materials cheap, but you can make something no one else has.

Get input and help from your loved ones. Stick on black leaves, eyeballs, pumpkins, coffins, a witch’s hat, etc., anything that’ll make your wreath pop!

You can then hang the wreath on your door during fall and reuse it for years to come. And if you ever get sick of any of the decorations on the wreath, you can easily pop them off and put on new ones if you wish.

Crochet/Knit Decorations

This idea is for people who already know how to crochet/knit or are willing to learn some basics before getting started. Yarn can be very cheap, especially if you shop at dollar stores. And you can make unique creations by tweaking patterns.

What’s great is there are lots of free patterns to download. Just Google something like “free crochet pattern pumpkin,” and you’ll get many results.

There are also sites like Ravelry that offer user-created patterns for free. In addition, people leave comments and pictures of their work so you can get a better idea of how to handle these patterns.

Get These Amazing Halloween Decorations on a Budget

Halloween is a spooky and fun time for the entire family. So it makes sense you’d want to decorate your home to the nines for this holiday.

Keeping these tips for getting Halloween decorations on a budget in mind will enable you to have the spookiest house on the block without breaking the bank. Plus, it can be fun to exercise your creativity!

As a result of a low-cost Halloween, you’ll be able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas without having to worry too much about your finances.

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