Halloween is so much fun for children and there are so many wonderful activities you can do together at this time of year. We enjoy hosting a Halloween party at our home or with another family every year. With so many kids involved though, keeping the costs down is the most important feature of having our annual Halloween parties. If we could not do the party in a frugal way, we just would not be able to continue to have them.
One of the most expensive aspects of hosting a party of any kind, is the food. Face it, food is expensive, and it is also a necessity at parties. So how can you host a great Halloween party and keep the food costs down? It is easy and fun too.
Decorate Cupcakes
Cake mix is an extremely inexpensive item. You can purchase boxes if you like, but it makes much more sense to make them from scratch. That is the frugal way to do it. Purchase different colors and flavors of icing as well as some food coloring to create your own colors. Provide thin licorice ropes, gum drops, candy corns, cookies and much more to decorate with. Not only is the end result edible, it is loads of fun for the kids to create and can take up almost a half hour of a party!
Finger Foods
Anything small and easy to eat is usually an inexpensive solution to snacks or food served. Instead of purchasing a bag of baby carrots, purchase full size carrots and cut them yourself. Do not purchase fruit that has already been sliced and cut for you, but purchase a whole fruit and cut it yourself. Brand name foods are not necessary for parties either, since usually you place the food on a tray, so purchase inexpensive pre-packaged meats and roll them, blocks of cheese and cut them, and purchase non-name brand crackers.
Candy
Since Halloween is a time for candy, having it at a Halloween party is only natural. Provide bowls of candy that you purchased in bags. Individually wrapped candy costs more and larger bags are a more frugal alternative to many smaller bags. Also consider purchasing Mixed bags of candy to get more varied types.
Main Dish
If you are going to cook something as a meal, purchase hot dogs from a bulk warehouse and/or purchase hamburger meat in large family size packages and then make them yourself. Purchasing frozen hamburgers can seem like a quick alternative, but the cost will be considerably higher.
Do you have any fun and frugal tips for Halloween Party food?
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog, for the Frugal Blog, and for the Photography Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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Hosting a Frugal Halloween Party