How to avoid getting haunted by debt this Halloween

It’s October. It’s time for tricks or treats because Halloween is coming! This year is slightly different from the other years due to Covid-19. But people are still enthusiastic about Halloween as they are tired of restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Kids are frustrated. They cannot go out or play with friends like before. So they are eagerly waiting for Halloween. They want pumpkin lights, goblins, candies, scarecrows, animated characters, costumes, and so on. But where does that leave your bank balance? Today I have a great guest post looking at how to stay debt free this Halloween.

This post was written by Stacy from Kiss Your Money – a blog all about helping you save and grow your money.

Parents are in trouble. Your heart may be all for Halloween celebration but your mind is worried about expenses and debts. Covid-19 has made people finally understand the value of money, and they are not in a mood to get into severe debt problems. The government and credit card companies are offering help in debt repayment. But it would be wrong to increase debt unnecessarily.

How to avoid debt monsters this Halloween

While Halloween can be expensive, there are ways to have budget-friendly celebrations and avoid debt this year. Here’s how you can do so.

1. Create a budget for Halloween

 Create a budget plan for Halloween and determine the amount you want to spend on food, sweets, costumes, and decorations. Set a small budget this year to save money for Christmas. Make sure you don’t stretch your budget on the persistence of your kids. Instead of buying pumpkin muffins and pies, you can make them in your home.

2. Watch out for the discount offers

Online and retail stores often come up with attractive discount offers before Halloween. Watch out for those sale offers. Check if the offers are good enough to fit your budget. If you find attractive discounts on sweets and decorations, then you can place orders immediately.

Kids have a sweet tooth. They love sweets, which contain a lot of sugar. So, you have to be careful. Avoid buying expensive candies. Buy generic brands instead of the premium ones. Buy candies in bulk to get heavy discounts.

3. Make Halloween costumes at home

Create spooky costumes at home to save money. There are countless blogs on Halloween costumes. You can get ideas from there. Otherwise, you can watch videos on DIY Halloween costumes on Youtube. Create Spongebob, Spiderman or Cinderella costumes at home. Involve the kids in this. They will love the experience of making spooky costumes together with everyone in the family. It will be a new kind of experience. Make kids understand that this is a new kind of adventure for them.

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4. Opt for DIY Halloween decorations

Halloween decorations are quite expensive. It is the second biggest decorating event of the year. But this year, it would be wrong to spend a large amount of money on Halloween decorations. Ask your kids to watch videos on DIY Halloween home decoration ideas. They can watch those videos to know how to carve pumpkins and make beautiful lanterns and many other things. Encourage them to be creative. Ask them to make artificial pumpkins with orange construction paper and spider webs with cotton balls.

Stay with kids when they are carving pumpkins as one accident and a trip to an emergency room isn’t ideal! Supervise them so that they do not cut their fingers and hurt any part of their body.

5. Watch spooky movies at home

 Spooky movies can make the upcoming Halloween truly special and scary. There are lots of horror movies for kids. You can watch those movies on Netflix with your family after dinner. Kids won’t be bored. Rather, they would love the experience of watching horror movies with you. You have enough time in your hands so you can shortlist the movies that your kids can watch and enjoy.

6. Take care of your credit card debts

While credit card companies are cooperating with cash-strapped customers this year, you should try your best to not increase your debt load this Halloween. Look at your credit card statements and see how much you owe in total. If possible, make additional payments on your credit card bills to reduce your debt burden. The money you save in Halloween celebrations can help in debt repayment.

 7. Enjoy frugal fun Halloween activities

Halloween is on Saturday this year. Still, many haunted houses are closed keeping health precautions in mind. Many towns have already cancelled Halloween events. Halloween themed festivals are also less likely to happen this year. So, you have to organize fun Halloween activities at home. Organise frugal fun games for your kids in the backyard of your home so that they can participate wholeheartedly without any fear of getting infected.

The year 2020 is all about maintaining social distancing. So, even if your kids love Halloween parties, you should not throw a party this year. Rather, you can celebrate as a family this year. Bake creepy-crawly desserts and prepare a spooky savoury appetizer for your quarantine Halloween party this year. You can make pumpkin ice cream floats and homemade butterfingers for desert. If you are good at baking, then you can even make a Halloween layer cake. Play spooky music so that it creates a Halloween environment in the house.

Kids should not have any reason to not enjoy this year. Rather they should always remember this Halloween even after growing up. So make it a fun and memorable Halloween for the kids but a practical and financially stable one for yourself.

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