With just one week to go until Halloween, have you made plans for the 31st yet? If not, don’t panic!

Things have started to get spooky! Pumpkins are being carved, decorations are going up around the neighbourhood and treats are being bought and baked in preparation for the “trick or treaters”.

We understand you want to have fun on Halloween but you also don’t want to spend a fortune on costumes, food or decorations. So, we’ve thought of some fun things you could do that’ll keep you and the kids entertained, without having to spend a load of cash…

Throw a party – although this sounds like it could be expensive, 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 spooky for the evening and ask everyone to come in a costume to make it even more fun.

Make jack-o’-lanterns – carving pumpkins 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.

Create costumes for the kids – 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!

Have a movie night – 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 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 – have a look online for some great Halloween themed recipes.

There’s so many things you could do to have fun on Halloween, we’ve only named a few! We’d really love to know what your Halloween plans are, or what you’ve done to celebrate Halloween in previous years, so leave us a comment below.