Halloween. A time for frights, chills, and sugar-induced energy bursts.
It is also a time when the debt season officially begins: Buy the candy, get the Halloween parties together, spend a little-less-than-sane amount of money on horror-movie rentals, and let’s not forget the most frightening expense of all- the Halloween stores: Piles of fake-wigs, mounds of terrible costume jewelry, and the overpriced polyester. So much overpriced polyester.
If you are like me, and you like dressing up as something new for Halloween every year, one cannot simply buy a costume every year without burning a hole in their pocket. But fear not fellow Bucks students! There are ways you can get that awesome costume without breaking the bank. All of the costume ideas listed don’t go very far over $15 and only take a little bit of time to pull together.
A zombie/wounded person- (Estimated Budget: $5-$15) The classic horror costume. Not only that, but a surprisingly simple one to pull off. No, you don’t have to run off to the store to get ridiculous amounts of fake-blood and plastic limbs. All you will need is a few household items and internet access. There are multiple videos on Youtube about how to create fake wounds and to create a truly “undead” look with just a little bit of make-up.
A “smartie” pants: (Estimated Budget: $5-$10) This is for those who like their Halloween evening with a little humor. It also gives you an opportunity to get some good Halloween candy for when the 31st rolls around. Grab an old pair of jeans and go to your local candy store and to some bags of Smarties. Use a hot glue gun to paste the Smarties onto your jeans and your costume is finished.
A dice cube: (Estimated Budget: $5-$10) I remember this one being around for a while. You take a large box and spray paint it white. Next you take a sharpie and color in some dots. Cut a hole for your head and voila! Simple yet effective costume.
An Eskimo (Estimated Budget: $0-$5): This one is probably the easiest and can be done in short notice. Just dig through your winter clothes to acquire the perfect fluffy hat to bundle up in for the Halloween season. The best part: You don’t need to worry about obscuring your costume with a jacket- Your costume is the jacket!
Toga (Estimated Budget: $0): When all other costume ideas fail, it may just be time to embrace your ‘inner frat-boy’ and try for a toga. They are pretty easy to make: You grab a bed sheet and secure it to yourself with safety pins to create the traditional toga look. It’s fun, quick and most certainly within the budget of any college student. Just be responsible about where you decide to start bellowing “Toga! Toga!”
A Tourist (Estimated Budget: $0-$5): There are multiple costumes in the Halloween stores that display a rather expensive “tacky tourist”, but it’s really not that complicated to perfect the look without breaking the budget. Find your gaudiest shirt, a plastic lei and a disposable camera and you got yourself a decent tourist costume for the Halloween season. Don’t forget the socks and sandals!
A ‘Little White Lie’ (Estimated budget: $0-$5): All you need for this one is some masking tape, a sharpie, and a lot of things people lie about (“My hair is naturally this color” or “I never lie!” for example). Write down these ‘white lies’ on the masking tape and tape them to yourself. See how many people get the joke (or at least pretend they get the joke).
Internally Bleeding (Estimated Budget: $0): This one is more of a personal favorite. Instead of just dressing normally and going as yourself, you can dress normally and be the reminder that not all wounds are on the outside. That and it’s a rather clever reply to “What are you supposed to be for Halloween?”