Cheap Halloween Party Hacks You Don't Want To Miss

Every year in October, kids and adults alike throw on their favorite costumes and head out into the public. On any other day of the year, you’d look at people walking around the neighborhood in costumes weird and probably lock the doors. On this day, however, it’s perfectly normal…

You know what day I’m talking about, it’s one of the most fun holidays of the year, HALLOWEEN!!

In my opinion, it’s never too early to start planning to throw the best Halloween party ever! Let’s not get carried away though, we don’t want to break the bank trying to throw a killer Halloween party.

There’s a lot that goes into party planning. You have to come up with themes, decorations, food, and games. Don’t stress, you’re in the right place!

You’re going to get everything you need to take all the stress out of planning your Halloween party this year but we’re also going to help you keep it in the budget. Whether it’s a kids Halloween party or one for adults, we’ve got plenty of ideas for both here and you’re going to save money making it happen.

Halloween Party Themes

Planning a Halloween party can be stressful because there are so many things that go into it. The first place you should start is by picking a theme for the party.

There are a couple of different ways you can go with this. You could plan the theme around a place like a haunted house or spooky graveyard. You could also plan the theme around an era like ancient Egypt with mummies or you could go for the Caribbean around the 1700s when Pirates ruled the seas.

Whatever you choose, you’re going to have a much easier time decorating and planning for your party if you have a theme. One way that I like to save money when choosing a party theme is by recycling costumes.

I’m not against wearing an old costume to save money versus buying a new one. See what costumes you have lying around and that might help you choose a theme. Just in case you need more help, here are 10 Halloween party themes for you.

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Halloween Party Theme Ideas

1. Pirates: Pirates are generally a fan favorite from young kids to adults. If you create an entire party theme around pirates you’re sure to have some fun. You can include things like skulls and crossbones, pirate booty (fake gold coins, get your mind out of the gutter), and maybe even a peg leg.

2. Mummies: This could be a fun one, or it could leave you with a house full of toilet paper. I’m sure you can find some good mummy artifact prop ideas on Pinterest.

3. Graveyard: Decorate your house like a graveyard and party the night away like zombies!! Make sure you hit up the Dollar Tree for cheap tombstone props.

4. Haunted House: Having a haunted house themed party could be really easy, anything goes in a haunted house so use whatever decorations you can find. Guests can wear any costume they want.

5. The Wild West: Two things come to mind when I think of this theme, that terrible movie, Wild Wild West, from 1999 and just plain old cowboys and outlaws. You choose which theme you want to go after with this one.

6. Roman Empire: Yea, you guessed it, it’s Toga Party time!! Bust out the sheets and gold leaf headpieces, it’s time to party like it’s 50 BC!! Make sure you only invite friends you trust so you don’t end up like Caesar.

7. Vampires Vs. Werewolves: Time to see which side your friends align within the age-old feud between vampires and werewolves! This makes for fun teams in party games. If you can score a Dracula Coffin, you get bonus points!

8. Alien Invasion: Do your best to make the neighbors think there is an alien abduction happening in the house next door. Get some strobe lights, and a fog machine, and have your friends show up dressed as aliens.

9. Ghost Busters: Get your team together and catch the ghouls. You could have silly string ready for anyone dressed as a ghostbuster to capture the people that show up as ghosts.

10. Jail Break: It’s time to bust out of prison. Whether it’s Shawshank Redemption style or Orange is the New Black, either way, you’re going to have a good time with this party theme. Build a jail cell out of cardboard and lock up anyone that commits a party foul!

There you have it, some of the best Halloween party theme ideas to help you get started with planning. Hopefully, you found something there you can work with. Remember, the goal is to keep the costs to a minimum when you’re planning, so our next step is finding cheap decorations.

Halloween Party Decoration Ideas

Now that you’ve got your theme picked out, it’s time to start decorating. Before we get into that, I want to remind you that just because you have this awesome idea for a party, don’t forget you have a monthly budget that you’re trying not to break.

I know it might seem easy to just run to the closest Spirit Halloween store but let’s be honest, that store is expensive. With a little bit of creativity and dash of being frugal, you can come up with some great decorations.

Ways To Save Money On Halloween Decorations

1. Shop The Dollar Tree: You might not know this, but the Dollar Tree has some great Halloween decorations. Honestly, they have nice decorations for any holiday, but the best part is the price. You can get everything for a dollar or less.

That’s my kind of price!

Check out the Dollar Tree for your party decorations. My favorite decorations are the fake spider webs and foam pumpkins! There’s no place to find them at a better price than at the Dollar Tree.

2. Look For Sales: Try shopping the deep discount sales after Halloween for the following year. I know that sounds crazy but just about everything goes for over 50% off the day after Halloween. Stores just want to clear out that inventory.

If you’re not one to plan that far out. Keep your eyes open for discounts and coupons that pop up. The closer you get to Halloween, the more sales start to happen as stores try to get rid of the last of their inventory.

3. Get Crafty With Pinterest: We all know that Pinterest has the answer for anything crafty or DIY. If you’re looking for a cheap way to make your own fall decorations for a Halloween party, do a quick search on Pinterest for what you want and you’ll get about 1,000 results.

You’ll be surprised by all the decorations you can make out of paper towel rolls.

4. Create Ghostly Cutouts With Paper: If you’ve got construction paper lying around, bust out the scissors and get to work. You can easily create ghostly silhouettes to hang around the house or even create the appearance of prison bars on windows with paper.

5. Buy Cheap Pumpkins: Pumpkins are the quintessential Halloween decoration. Almost every house has a carved pumpkin on their front step by Halloween

6. Look for Online Deals: The best place to look for discount Halloween decorations is online. Search through Facebook Market Place and Craigslist to find cool Halloween party decorations at a discount. Try to be creative when you’re looking!

Halloween Party Foods

What would a party be without some good food and drinks?? This is an important part of the Halloween party planning process but can easily become one of the most expensive parts of the party if you’re not careful.

I think a lot of people take food for granted at parties. Not only does it keep people from getting hangry, but it can create a great conversation piece.

We all love to share recipes, why not have some great party food that people can talk about! Depending on your party theme, you can focus on specific foods or you can open it up to any Halloween type food.

We all know how expensive normal grocery shopping can be, don’t let your budget go down the drain when you’re planning food for your party.

Our absolute favorite way to save money on food when throwing a party is to have the guests bring something to share. When guests bring something to share, you only have to worry about a fraction of the food needed for the party. This can really help keep the costs down.

Another great way to keep costs down is to shop at discount grocery stores like Aldi. We have an Aldi by our house and we love shopping there to save extra money.

Don’t forget to use the Ibotta App when you’re shopping. There’s a good chance that when you shop for your party food you’ll be able to score some cash back through Ibotta.

To get your inner chef going, here are a couple of awesome Halloween recipes for you to try out!

4 Tasty Halloween Recipes To Try

– Dracula Dentures: Get yourself some chocolate chip cookies, red frosting, and mini-marshmallows. Break a cookie in half, frost both sides with the frosting and line the middle with the mini-marshmallows to look like teeth. Check out the original recipe at Delish.

– Spiderweb Brownies: This super simple idea requires brownies and some vanilla icing. Simply bake some brownies and then drizzle icing across the top to look like a spider web.

– Jello Shots: It wouldn’t be a Halloween party without the Jell-O shots. Check out these cool Jell-O shots and get the recipe here.

– Mummy Jalapeno Poppers: I love spicy food and I really love Jalapeno Poppers. These simple snacks make great party food. Get the recipe for spooky Mummy Jalapeno Poppers here.

I don’t know if this qualifies as a recipe but it’s too cool to pass up. If you’re throwing a Halloween party for adults and you’re going to have a keg of beer you’re going to love this idea.

First, buy yourself a big pumpkin and carve out the inside. With the pumpkin, all cleaned out, drill a hole in the back to run the keg hose through. You’ll then want to drill a hole in the front where you can mount the tap.

Next, set the pumpkin on a table and put the keg under the table. Hide the keg with a tablecloth and everyone will think they are drinking straight from the pumpkin. You can add dry ice to the inside of the pumpkin and poke small holes near the top to let the fog roll out. It’s a cool little party hack that will have everyone talking!

Well, there you have it, everything you’ll need to throw a killer Halloween party this year without breaking the bank. Don’t forget to get yourself a great Halloween costume, or better yet, make it yourself!

With all of these ideas at your fingertips, you’re going to be the talk of the town this year with your awesome party decorations and Halloween recipes.