Affordable Family Halloween Costumes
Everything about fall draws me in. The cool, crisp autumn air as the nights start to get dark earlier. The colors of the changing leaves. The smell of pumpkin spice EVERYTHING! I could go on and on. What excites me most about fall though is Halloween! I love an excuse to get dressed up in a costume, and the fact there’s an entire holiday devoted to just that is amazing. So, I am rounding up the best cheap family halloween costumes ideas that are affordable and inexpensive for kids, moms, and dads!
Affordable Family Halloween Costumes
2015 - Zombie High
We begin here with our very first year of affordable family halloween costumes! Zombie High was a pretty quick decision, but one that turned out to be so cool. We all love anything and everything scary, so high school zombies were the perfect choice for our first Halloween endeavor as a family. Our costumes were so easy to find, too. It was literally one trip to the Halloween store and we were set! Ryan was born a few months earlier so she wasn’t ready to participate just yet, but I had a feeling (even back then) that this would become our thing and she’d eventually be dressing up with us.
SHOP BELOW
2016 - The Simpsons
SHOP BELOW
Fast forward a year later to The Simpsons. This one was Paul's choice (of course)! This was not my favorite idea in the beginning, but the Simpson family dynamic happened to be just the right fit for us: mom, dad, older brother, younger sister, and baby sister. Once I was able to get past the idea of all of us being painted yellow, I was ready to create our looks. These were also very affordable family halloween costumes since most of the pieces were items we already had. I wasn't able to find a costume for Ryan at a Halloween store, or online, so this one required a little more digging, which led me to Etsy.
2017 - Heroes and Villains
Ok, this might have been my favorite year of affordable family halloween costumes ever! This one was ALL Lila. She was obsessed with Harley Quinn so doing DC Comics Heroes and Villains seemed like the natural thing to do. These outfits were all bought at local Halloween stores, except for Lila's, which again, I turned to Etsy for. I think my favorite part about this whole thing was how into it the kids got. It was almost like we were all playing a role. It was such a fun year!
SHOP BELOW
2018 - The Classics
By this time, we were ALL IN on creating our affordable family halloween costumes. I remember talking about doing a Friday the 13th theme, or Nightmare on Elm Street theme, but there just weren’t enough characters within each theme to make it work for all five of us. That’s when we decided to each be a classic horror movie character. This time we were able to use a few things we already had for our costumes.What made it even better, was that Ryan was the perfect size to be Chucky. And she played her part to a tee. This time we were able to use a few things we already had at home for our costumes, which made it even more inexpensive.
SHOP BELOW
2019 - Street Fighter II
Ok, but seriously I think this was my favorite year. Never would I have imagined that dressing up as video game characters would have been my favorite year of costumes, but it really was epic. It seemed a little strange when Gage first posed the idea, but after thinking about it, I realized it might be cool since I had never seen Street Fighter II done before. At least not to the extent we wanted to create it. I think the uniqueness is what drew me in.
SHOP BELOW
2020 - Year of the Circus
After almost a year of 2020, I knew we needed a fitting theme to play off all of the craziness the world had been through. What more fitting than a circus show theme for the circus show we had all experienced last year. I think I may have loved my Instagram caption for this year even more than the actual costumes.
SHOP BELOW
2021 - 90’s Pop Stars
Our first year of video was a total success and so much fun. This year we really nailed it with affordable family halloween costumes. The only costume that we didn’t have laying around was mine for Madonna. Everything else was so easy to put together!
SHOP BELOW
2022 - Dallas Cowboys
It was only fitting that we dressed as Dallas Cowboys for our first Halloween living in North Dallas. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect location for our photo. We were able to shoot it at The Star in Frisco, where the Dallas Cowboys practice. I ordered me and Lila’s costumes on Amazon, and found Paul and Ryan’s at a local sports store.
SHOP BELOW
2023 -
Ha! You thought I'd tell? No way!!!
My hope in writing this, is that you will be inspired to get into the Halloween spirit and find your own affordable family halloween costumes. I would love to hear about your ideas and know if you were inspired to try a family costume this year!
With the holidays right around the corner, don’t forget to read my blog post Top 10 Ideas for Thanksgiving Leftovers.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Shop my LTK it here.