There’s just over a week to go until Halloween and things have started to get spooky! Decorations are going up, treats are being brought, baked and prepared for the ‘trick or treaters’, and pumpkins are being carved.

Have you made your plans for the 31st yet? No? Well, don’t panic!

Everyone wants to have fun on Halloween and enjoy the holiday, but this can mean spending money – and sometimes, a lot of it. However, getting involved in Halloween doesn’t mean having to spend a fortune on costumes, decorations or food – there are ways to have fun but stick to your budget at the same time. To help, we’ve thought of some things you could do that’ll keep you and the kids entertained, without having to spend a load of cash…

Create your own treats – if you’re staying in for the evening, instead of doing the norm and buying candy to give out to the trick or treaters, why not make your own treats to give to the kids? Pumpkin cookies, Halloween themed chocolates and scarily decorated cupcakes are just a few things you could make and the ingredients won’t cost much at all. There’s some great Halloween themed recipes online.

Carve pumpkins – carving pumpkins to make jack-o’-lanterns is a really fun activity that all the family can get involved with. They aren’t expensive, especially if you buy them last minute, so you could get one for each family member and have a competition to see who can carve the scariest face out of their pumpkin! Remember, you can use all of the pumpkin that you’ve scraped out in soups and pies so nothing will go to waste.

Have a Halloween get together – although this sounds like it could be expensive (as it’s basically throwing a party!), it doesn’t have to be. Keep the cost down by asking everyone to bring some food and drink along with them – that way, no one will have to spend too much. You can get cheap decorations to make your home look scary for the evening and ask everyone to come in a costume to make it even more fun.

Watch scary movies – if you aren’t one for throwing parties, why not have just a few friends over and have a night of watching scary horror films. Grab a few bags of popcorn from your local store, make mugs of home-made hot chocolate and you’ll be all set for the evening. Loads of old scary movies are shown on, and around, Halloween so you’ll be spoilt for choice and won’t have to spend a scary amount at the theatre.

Make your own costumes – if you have children that are young enough to go trick or treating, why not make home-made Halloween costumes for them instead of buying them? You’ll save a fortune as fancy dress costumes can often be expensive, but the bits and bobs you’ll need to make your own costume won’t cost much at all. The kids will love getting involved as well!

There’s so many things you could do to enjoy Halloween, we’ve only named a few – so make sure you have fun and get in the spirit of Halloween on October 31^st (without splashing the cash!).