My all-time favourite Halloween movie; Hocus Pocus. Close 2nd : Ernest Scared Stupid.
As a child, Halloween was always my favourite holiday. I was very into the spookiness that came along with Halloween, I loved getting dressed up as my favourite character, and I loved candy. I shouldn’t say “loved” candy, because I still love candy, but that is neither here nor there.
This is the first year that I’m living in a house that’s in town, not out in the country, where kids might actually trick or treat and I won’t be going out to a party or bar on Halloween. I started thinking that kids would likely come to our house trick-or-treating, and that buying candy might be something we should do.
The thing is, I, a lover of Halloween and new found quasi-minimalist, am having a tough time thinking about Halloween this year.
- Excess of Candy. Although I loved getting as much candy as my bag could fit as a child, now it seems so unreasonable for a child to have 200 pieces of candy to eat. Mine would last a few weeks at best, so it basically meant major overconsumption of treats, which weren’t necessary at all in my diet.
- Candy Wrapper Waste. You can’t give out any homemade goodies (for understandable reasons), so there really isn’t another option from buying pre-packaged candies, chocolate, and chips. Each candy is individually wrapped. That is a LOT of garbage going into landfills . I did hear this year about an elementary school collecting the wrappers and making bags out of them, but this is only for certain packages and it’s the first school I’ve heard of following this.
- Costumes. People purchase costumes that they wear once, maybe a few times if they go to a few different parties or Halloween events. Many costumes can be $100 or more! And almost every single expensive costume is made of cheap material and likely made using cheap labour. I refuse to buy clothing unless I know I am going to wear it a lot and get my money’s worth, so I have a hard time thinking about ever buying a Halloween costume again. Making costumes is an option, and swapping costumes is an even cheaper and more minimalist option!
- Decorations. I love the decorations for Halloween. My favourite houses to visit always had graveyards set up in the front yard, with corn stalks, hay bales, etc. The problem is a lot of this stuff needs to be purchased every year. Again, more waste.
Halloween is definitely not a minimalist holiday. Now that I think of it, most holidays are pretty much the opposite of minimalist. This does not mean that Halloween is ruined for me, I just plan on celebrating it a bit differently. I won’t be buying a costume, and I think I have to work on Halloween night so it takes the issue of buying candy out of my mind for this year at least.
Do you think buying Halloween candy is a good idea, or bad idea? What do you plan to spend on this Halloween?
We usually spend around $100 on costumes. We usually don’t buy candy as we are usually not home.
That’s not bad ! Especially since it’s for more than one of you.
I have mixed feelings about Halloween. As a kid my Dad took me out every year. My costumes were not expensive. The one that I remember as my favorite was Little Red Riding Hood. Since I have been on my own I have not handed out Halloween candy. We usually go out for dinner or hide out in the house and watch a movie. I’m just not into it anymore at this point in my life.
Aww that costume sounds cute ! I don’t think we spent a ton as a child; growing up with 3 siblings and not much money meant we didn’t get some expensive store-bought ones, but made our own. I feel the same way, I don’t mind missing out on Halloween parties anymore; BUT I think once I have kids I am going to enjoy watching them get excited for it!
A good option for costumes is to go to a thrift store. This forces you to be creative too, which is my favorite part!
I am still undecided about dressing up this year. I have a party to go to that’s costume optional, but I might wear black and orange and call it a night.
Thrift stores are great! I’ve made a few costumes from found pieces there. I think you’re good either way, but if you have an old one kicking around somewhere maybe you could use that? And get some more use out of the costume.
Last year I went as Nyan Cat. I made my costume from a couple of towels (brown, around me as a pop-tart, and pink on the belly as frosting), packing peanuts (sprinkles), some rainbow fabric, and cat ears I already had. Ta da! It was super ghetto but I had a lot of fun making it. And then I had towels!
That sounds extremely adorable ! I love homemade costumes. All of the good costumes need to be homemade because stores don’t carry very creative options.
I plan on subjecting my children to homemade costumes. They will be AWESOME. Even if they are just towels. Or we’ll all stay in and watch a movie instead, passing out organic raisins and making all the neighborhood kids hate us.
Interesting thoughts. There is definitely a lot of waste associated with Halloween! I never dressed up in college, but the lab I’m in does a Halloween thing every year. I try to spend/use as little as possible for my costume, though. I don’t really do the whole decorations thing, either.
Oh, and I was the kid that made my Halloween candy last until Easter :-P (Not that there was any less waste, of course)
haha! I was always so jealous of those kids that could restrain themselves. I have issues with eating any junk food in front of me these days too, but at least I have a bit more self-retraint. That sounds fun with what your lab does; what are you going to be this year?
We’re doing Wizard of OZ which is my FAVORITE movie of ALL TIME. I’m being Dorothy :)
Oh wow, that’s one of my favourites too !! I used to rent it EVERY weekend from the library as a little girl. Well it alternated between Cinderella and Wizard of Oz. Nice to meet someone around my age that also appreciates an amazing movie from way before our time. Most girls my age look at me like I have two heads when I say I love that movie. Great costume!
Also, totally considering using this song at my wedding !!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DKWlrA24k
I know, a lot of my labmates that are closer to our age were not excited about doing Wizard of Oz :( I lent some of them my DVD though, and they agreed that it was good :)
You should definitely use Somewhere Over the Rainbow at some point in your wedding! hehe
As a kid, my mom made our halloween costumes, and then they always hung around as our dress-up clothes. And we re-wore costumes and passed them around in our family.
I don’t dress up for Halloween anymore, but we do give out candy. Because of where we live that costs us about $10.
Dress-up clothes is a GREAT idea! I never thought to do that. That’s great that they were able to be passed around as well. $10 isn’t too bad at all ! I wish there weren’t sick people out there so that you could actually give out homemade goodies !! I’d love to make something fun.
You make a lot of great points! I generally think buying Halloween candy is a bad idea, mostly because I eat 87% of it on the car ride home from the grocery store…
Ugh. My parents in the country always bought candy “just in case” kids came, and we never had any. So many of those chocolates ended up in my belly. haha
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I live in the country, so as long as I keep the porch light off, no kids will show up expecting candy. As for the costume thing, I wish there was a website or something where one could buy lightly used costumes. I always want to buy cool ones, but I truly can’t justify spending money on something I’m literally going to wear once.
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I currently live in an apartment so the rental office actually has candy available, rather than the kids going up and down the floors trick or treating. I once bought a wonder woman costume for $40 and I only wore it once and then sold it to someone.
One house I went to trick or treating as a kid gave cans of pop, which I thought was cool. It made my bag heavier though. But least it was recyclable!
That’s really nice that the rental office keeps it there, so you don’t have to worry about it! And selling it to someone else is a great idea. I want to be wonder woman !! I do remember a few cans of pop, which I was excited about because my parents didn’t buy much pop!
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One year I made Halloween costume out of a bridesmaid dress for my daughter (I guess you can wear it again)