Dressing up for Halloween can be super fun but can also get a bit pricey. No matter how much holiday enthusiasm you have, sometimes it’s not worth dropping $100 on Amazon accessories for a night at a frat and some Instagram pictures. So, here are some budget-friendly costumes to help you celebrate without breaking the bank: 

Illustrated by Annie Tran

Groups 

Groups can be tricky; not everyone is interested in dressing up, and coordinating is always tough. However, there are always costumes to accommodate the whole friend group, whether you’re in a trio or have 10 people! 

Low-effort 

These costumes can be low-effort, last-minute, and budget-friendly because many elements of these costumes are already in your closet! 

1. The elderly: This costume has almost no requirements other than frumpy, vintage, or outdated clothes and the willpower to hobble around all night. The only components that may need to be purchased for this costume are wigs or gray hair wax. 
2. Adam Sandler: If you’re going for both funny and comfy, Adam Sandler is definitely the costume for you. Just don some extra-long athletic shorts, an oversized tee, and a baseball cap. 
3. Mean Girls: Odds are, if you have a friend who wears a lot of pink or you wear the color a lot yourself, most of the elements for this costume are easy to find. Now all you need is the attitude to go with it. 
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks or the Chippettes: As long as you follow the color scheme, have a song or two prepared, and buy some animal ears, this is a super laid-back costume. 
5. Teletubbies: The only materials you’d need to buy for this costume are headbands and pipe cleaners to make the Teletubbies’ antennae. Similar to the Alvin and the Chipmunks costume, all you need is follow the color scheme and wear the headbands. 
6. Thing 1 and Thing 2: The only difficulty with this costume is that you and your partner have to be matching (or at least close to matching) to pull off the twin look. After that, just slap on some “No. 1” and “No. 2” paper circles to your chest (and if you’re feeling adventurous, dye your hair blue with hair wax). 

Medium-effort/high-effort

1. Pageant contestants: If you want to still look show-stopping, but the amount of Corner 17 you’ve purchased lately has been adding up, this is a super cute Halloween option. All you need is some fun formalwear that you have from a past event and a cheap sash to write a U.S. state on. 
2. Fairies: Similar to being a pageant contestant, you only need to buy one accessory: wings. The rest of the costume is just fun makeup and whimsical accessories. 
3. Cast of Clue: If done well, this is an S-tier group costume. This could get a bit un-budget-friendly, especially since I assume most of us don’t have a maid costume lying around…however, these characters are distinguished mainly by their trademark colors, so you don’t necessarily have to mimic the costumes from the movie as long as you capture the energy of the character. This would also be a great costume to source elements from either the SWAP or a local thrift store.
4. Scooby Doo gang: This costume can be interesting if you dress more for the character’s color scheme than an exact outfit. This makes it both more affordable (use clothes from your own closet, the SWAP, or a thrift store) and unique. 
5. Disney Princesses: It’s super cute and affordable, especially if you take the “modern princess” twist with this costume. 
6. Kiss, Marry, Kill: This costume may be recognized by those who regularly scroll on Pinterest and is a clever trio idea. It is almost entirely up to interpretation and has no costume requirements other than that people can tell which of the three you are. 

Individual 

1. Angel/devil: Probably one of the most popular Halloween costumes, being an angel or devil can be as low- or high-effort as you’d like. The only necessary accessories are angel wings and/or devil horns. The rest is up to you. 
2. Carrie: This costume is super similar to the pageant costume, except you also need to look like you’ve been doused in blood. This can be done through makeup, paint, or buying fake costume blood.
3. Barbie: This is probably going to be one of the most popular costumes you will see this year and is super easy to do. Because Barbie is such a multifaceted character, you can be any version of her you want to be; you could go the all-pink route and be classic Barbie, be a career Barbie, or take a more humorous approach and dress normally with a name tag that says “Normal Barbie.” 
4. American Psycho: This is another one for those chronically on Pinterest, who have probably seen this one since it has become super popular this year. This costume shouldn’t be too difficult for the B-school kids since most of you probably own a suit. All that’s left to do is buy a fake hatchet, a cheap clear poncho or raincoat, and fake blood/red face paint. 
5. Tooth Fairy: I imagine this costume would be exactly like the group fairy costume but all white and maybe with some teeth motifs. But if you wanted to add an extra — and incredibly horrifying — twist to this costume, please hand out fake candy teeth. 

Costumes I want to see this year 

As an avid Halloween-lover, I am a big fan of all costumes niche, funny, or high-effort. So, although these may not fit into the low-budget, low-effort category, here are some costumes I’d pay to see this year for some extra ideas. 

• Maxine from “X” 
• Pearl from “Pearl” 
• Mother Gothel 
• Wendy Williams 
• Garden Gnome(s) 
• Walter White 
• Dr. Facillier from “The Princess and the Frog” 
• U.S Presidents/Founding Fathers (bonus points if sexy) 
• Puss in Boots and the Wolf 
• Kiki’s Delivery Service 
• Characters from the Spiderverse 
• Starfire and Blackfire
• Hades and Persephone