If your kid doesn’t have their mind set on one specific hard to find costume, or even if they are, you can save a great deal of money if you can find that costume at a costume exchange.
A costume exchange works by someone setting up a exchange event or location and anyone who comes in can drop off an old costume (in good condition) and get another free of charge (or inexpensively).
If you can’t find a costume exchange in your area, you can throw one by sending out invitations to everyone you know and setting up clothing racks in your garage or other area. You will want to shop around and solicit some free donation costumes to get you started so that there will be more than enough costume choices for each person that comes by. Set a specific block of time for people to come and trade their old costumes for a “new” one.
If setting up your own costume exchange seems too daunting, you can check your local schools they have an exchange planned. You may even be able to call your local thrift store and see if they will take your old costume in exchange for another costume in their inventory.
I didn’t come up with the idea on my own, I found a defunct online costume exchange site that is no longer functioning. This may also be something that you can set up on your own but it will be difficult unless you are dealing mostly with people you know. Use a free bulletin board or blog and have everyone post costumes they want to get rid of, and their contact information, and people can make one-one-one trades.
Andrea Hermitt writes for parenting (specifically teens), the home blog, and also the frugal blog, and homeschooling at families.com.
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