Ways To Save on Seasonal Purchases: Time To Shop For Halloween!

Time to get ready and shop for halloween! Here’s how to save on seasonal purchases.

I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about the approaching holiday season. Before long, we’ll be faced with little ghosts and goblins at our doorstep for Halloween. Then we’ll have our families over (or we show up at their doorstep) for Thanksgiving followed by the whirlwind of activities we have on Christmas. In my household, we make it a tradition to prepare for these special occasions, where we have as much fun getting ready for these events as experiencing the events themselves.

So we’re off to make sure we’ve got all the seasonal materials we need.

How To Save Money on Seasonal Supplies and Decor

The best time of the year to pick up seasonal supplies is always that period of time right after the season is over. Then, you’ll get at least 50% off and sometimes up to 90% off the materials, supplies, decorations or costumes you’ll need to dress up your family and home for next year’s holidays.

Another great idea to save yourself a bundle is to shop used. I’ve picked up several fantastic items off of my local Craigslist site, again for extremely attractive prices — that is, for at least half price. You’re also bound to get some lovely wares from eBay or your neighborhood garage and estate sales.

Now if you’re big on crafts, such as my sister and other family members are, then one other way to be frugal on holidays is to make your own costumes and decorations. My sister tried it last year and had fun embarking on her Halloween DIY project; unfortunately, she says she’s not planning to try this again as it was very time-consuming (there are 6 kids in her household at this time). Although she absolutely enjoys crafts, it still took her many days and nights at the sewing machine to get everyone’s outfits together.

If you’re short on time or would rather wait till the end of summer to start prepping for the holidays, or if you’re looking for something specific you can’t find on discount, then you may want to hit the online sites to do some comparison shopping or avail of some product research.

Where To Get Your Halloween Costumes and Wares

#1 eBay: Search for “halloween” and you’ll get a ton of choices.

#2 Craigslist: Sign up for alerts on your local Craigslist for your desired seasonal items. This time of year, a lot of “halloween” goods are up for sale for heavily discounted prices.

#3 Amazon: Go for some fun holiday decor such as this UglyDoll.

Amazon has a few areas dedicated to Halloween garb and gore. 😉

#4 Spirit Halloween is more of your standard specialty Halloween web site. Here are some of their current offers:

• Free Shipping on orders over $75 at Spirit Halloween. Good through 10/08/08.
• 20% off any one item at Spirit Halloween Use code SPAF20P; offer is valid through 10/31/08.
• 10% off entire order at Spirit Halloween Use code SPAF10P; it’s valid through 10/28/08.

#5 ShinDigZ is a party supply store, and they’ve got thousands of Halloween costumes and supplies that are on sale for 11% off right now. To get the 11% off their Halloween wares, click here and use code SZCJEL at checkout. This offer expires on October 25, 2008.

#6 Costume Kingdom is an online site where you can pick up all sorts of costumes. You’ll get free shipping for minimum orders of $60 plus 10% off on any kids’ costume purchases. Click here to use coupon code “kids10” at checkout for the 10% discount. Offer expires on September 30, 2008.

Suffice it to say, it appears that retail Halloween garb and decor are on discount right now for at least 10% in most online sites (well, they could be on discount most of the year too and sell for regular prices the closer you are to Halloween….).

There are lots of ways here to make your Halloween fun and special. But I believe that the most special aspects of Halloween and other seasons are those times when we pick up those trademark holiday items — such as pumpkins for Halloween and pine trees for Christmas. Those are my favorite purchases of all, since the process of buying them are events and traditions in and of themselves. I’d never buy those special things online even if I could. 🙂