Ideas continue to pour in for the the frugal costume contest. Thank you! Here are some of the best ideas you have shared lately.
John’s costume is plain and simple:
One time my wife cut a hole for the head and two for her arms in a large industrial black trash bag, tied a rope around her waist and went as a Bag Lady. Everyone loved it.
Elizabeth’s idea is classy:
Two years ago, I wore a dead-on Jacqueline Onassis-style ‘do and oversize dark sunglasses, borrowed some pearls and, beneath a tailored suit jacket, wore a giant pumpkin face that I’d cut from one of those cheap plastic lawn bags. My Jackie O. Lantern was a hit everywhere it went that year and cost me a grand total of $8 for the drugstore sunglasses and pumpkin bag!
Anyone could do Kathy’s idea:
My hairdresser gave me this one. No cost, clever and my personal favorite: comfortable. Using some safety pins, pin one or two socks, a pair of undies and any other small cloth items you can think of, to various places on your clothing. You are now “Static Cling”!
Liz has four winning ideas – I especially like the second:
In my college/post college days when money was always tight, I thought of some great costumes using my warped sense of humor. (1) Similar to Kathy’s static cling, I dressed, head to toe, in black and stuck string, crumpled tissues and other light weight items on me and went at “dryer lint”. (2) Again, I dressed in black. Then I cut the cereal names from their boxes and pinned them to my body. My only other prop was a cleaver with fake blood on it. I was a ‘cereal’ killer. (3) I bought a cheap, yellow sweatsuit from Kmart, laid it on my driveway and then sprayed black spray paint on a section of my car’s spare tire. I then rolled the tire over the front of the sweatshirt top and then on the pants. Voila! Speed bump. (4) I borrowed a white lab coat from my friends mom and made dental tools from aluminum foil. I placed the tools in the breast pocket along with a few packs of Dentine gum. I was the 5th dentist – the one that didn’t recommend Trident. When people asked what I was, I handed out a piece of Dentine as I explained the costume. It was a big hit.
Karen’s idea is clever and low-budget!
I had a very sarcastic friend in college, many years ago, and she dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans. On the left side near her heart in black marker she wrote the letters NV. When asked what her costume was she replied: I’m green with envy.
Missed the contest rules? You describe a low-budget Halloween costume in a comment. On Halloween I dress up as the cheapest, most bizarre costume you’ve suggested. With pictures of the winning costume, of course!
So what frugal costume should I dress up as?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
one year i tied a potato around my waist…. told everyone i was a dictator.. 😉
Ha, that reminds me of a party I went to where a guy walked in with a bunch of underwear pinned to the front of his sweatshirt and said he was a CHEST OF DRAWERS! I love the fact that people are turning back to ‘things’ and concepts rather than imitating a person or fictional character. Shows much more imagination and guessing what each person is supposed to be is part of the fun! Can’t wait to see what you end up wearing, Julia.
(Different Lisa)
I love Liz’ ideas – very creative.
One year many, many moons ago, I went to a party and a guy just had lines drawn horizontally across his face. I asked what he was and he deadpanned “venetian blinds”. I loved it and did it myself the following year!
I’m voting for the “Jacking O’Lantern” just b/c, when I read it, I laughed out loud… and I might copy it, too!
I bought a yellow tee shirt and some black iron on letters. On the back of the tee shirt I put “This IS my costume”. When anyone asked me where is your costume, all I did was turn around and let them read it.