It’s Ghost and Goblin Time

It’s Ghost and Goblin Time

By Keith Bunn Jr.
October 2, 2011

I just love Halloween!! I would even go as far as saying that it is one of my favorite holidays! Well, it is my birthday after all… I mean, ever since I was a kid, I looked forward to dressing up, and running around the neighborhood and getting candy. In the year 2001, I even worked at a Halloween store for part time work to help pay for Christmas. Unfortunately, I did a lot of spending in that store as well. I bought a scary Grim Reaper costume that I could wear around the store to scare all the kids with. I was like a kid in a candy store! It was great!

But the Halloween buying when I was a kid, was nothing like today. Today, decorations for outside as well as for the inside, not to mention the tons of candy.... You name it, and I’m sure someone has it. In fact, the U.S. spent about $5.8 billion dollars last year. That puts Halloween second only to Christmas for retail spending. THAT’S A LOT!! So what can we do to reduce the cost of Halloween?

1) You can make your own decorations. One year, we took scrap wood from a job I had and made tomb stones with it. It just took a little time plus some spray paint and they looked great. On top of that, it was a fun project for the whole family.

2) Make your own costumes or reuse costumes. There are all kinds of books and magazines out this time of year to give you ideas of what you can do.

3) Grow your own pumpkins. All it takes is a dollar pack of seeds, patience, and a green thumb and you can have a great year round project for the kids and an endless supply of seeds to grow pumpkins every year.

4) Give out cheaper candy. You don’t have to give out the name brand stuff to the neighborhood. I mean who are you trying to impress, the 5 year old you won’t see again until next Halloween?

If you do 2 or more of these suggestions, you’ll save a lot of money for what is the start of a very expensive holiday season.

The reason I do this, is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make people think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.

If you have any questions for me about my posts or if you need help learning how to live on less than you make and creating a budget, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. I’d be happy to help! 

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