An extremely resourceful homemade bat costume. Credit: L Marie/Flickr
Vote on which Halloween costume Bargain Babe should dress up as on Oct. 31, 2010. I narrowed the dozens of amazing reader Halloween costume suggestions down to five of my favorite ideas. (It was very hard to choose!) Whichever costume gets the most vote is what I dress up as. I’ll even post pictures of myself in costume!
Voting below. The five costume contenders are…
1. A vending machine, as suggested by Lindsay. Using double sided tape, she stuck candy, Advil, and chips to her top. She dressed in all black and attacked to her upper arm a small canister with a coin slot. Through the night, people bought things from her. A costume you can profit from!
2. The economy, as suggested by Chrystal. “I’m going to dress up as the economy this year. I figure cutting a piece of Styrofoam into the shape of a headstone, painting it gray, writing RIP Economy on it and pasting it to a sheet that I throw over my body ought to do the trick.” I imagine plenty of folks will dress up in a related costume, an unemployed person.
3. A bag of leaves, as suggested by Donna. “Last year for Halloween, I was a bag of leaves. I cut armholes out of a paper recycling leaf bag and attached fake autumn leaves purchased from a dollar store. I rimmed the top of the bag with leaves as if they were coming out the top and I taped individual leaves onto my arms, legs, shoes, etc. I also made a leaf crown for my head. All in all the costume cost just a few dollars and it was easy and fun. ”
4. Leftovers, as suggested by Elizabeth. “Wrap yourself creatively in aluminum foil” and carry around tupperwear and utensils.
5. A black eyed pea, as suggested by Jessica, who wrote about her son’s costume. “I had him [wear] a large white “P” printed on a black t-shirt ($6) and got some black face paint ($1) to go around one of his eyes. Everyone had a fit when I took him trick or treating. It was a huge hit! I wouldn’t see why it wouldn’t work for an adult as well.”
You can vote once a day until the contest ends on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. EST.
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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. 
Ya, I already have my unemployed costume on now, Im sure many others do as well. That “costume” isnt very nice and I dont think others will think its amusing due to the fact that everyone knows someone who’s been layed off.
Here’s one that cracked me up:
Put on a beret and an artist’s smock if you can find one; if not, just the beret will do. Carry a palette and a paintbrush.
Dip a few tampons into blue paint and pin them to your smock/shirt.
Voila! You are…Picasso’s blue period.
I like the real creativity of the black-eyed pea, plus the fact that it’s simple to make, and has humor in it. Halloween is supposed to be fun for all. I know the economy is bad, but we shouldn’t put a downer on a night of fun, especially when kids (both big and small) are involved.
A great way to find bargain halloween costumes is to go to consignment stores and get creative!
@Page Great suggestion!
vending machines are great pieces of technology that we enjoy today, they are made for the purpose of giving us convenience .