Ah, Halloween: a day filled with trick-or-treaters, spooky tv specials and overly expensive costumes…

Every year it’s the same story. You want to transform into something that’ll wow an audience, but because you’re so focused on school, work, or other personal duties in the days leading up to the 31^st, you end up buying a quick costume the day before.

Retailers love people like you, because even if they mark-up the price they know you are going to end up getting the costume anyway. After all, it’s much easier to buy a pricey costume than it is to pour hours into creating one.

But what if you could skip the price while skipping the lengthiness as well? With these costume ideas, you can do just that.

Here are 5 insanely easy and cheap costumes you should try out this year:

Pigs In a Blanket

Cost: $5-$10

Time needed: 3 minutes

Depending on what you own, this costume can easily be contained in the amount of money that you spend for lunch every day. Assuming most people have a pink shirt (or have a Damien in their life) and a comfy throw blanket lying around the house somewhere, the only real expense is a pink snout, or perhaps some little triangle piggy ears.

’50 Shades of Grey’

Cost: $0

Time needed: 20 minutes

This completely PG costume is as cheap as it is hilarious. Literally, all you would need to do is go to the nearest home supply store, grab all of the paint samples you need, and mosey on out of there. Since paint swatches costs, well, nothing, you get the entire costume free of charge. The only thing that may take some time is taping (or gluing!) all of the samples onto your clothes.

Stranger Things cast

Cost: $0 – $50

Time needed: 5-30 minutes

In honor of the new season set to premiere mere days before Halloween, dressing up as someone from the Stranger Things cast is as topical as ever! Depending on what you have in your wardrobe and who you’re trying to be, this costume idea can range from absolutely nothing to $50. If you’ve already got a pair of chucks hiding in the back of your closet, some trousers, and a rugby polo, you’re good to go. If not, take some inspiration from Teen Vogue.

Grapes

Cost: $5

Time needed: 30 minutes – 1 hour

With this costume, all you’ve got to be wary of is that one person who thought to dress like a porcupine! This costume is incredibly simplistic, and all of the materials needed can be easily found at a dollar store or a party supply store. The hardest part about it is deciding whether you want to be green or purple grapes.

Identity Theft

Cost: $3-$5

Time needed: 10 minutes

‘Hello, my name is…” everyone who has lost their wallet’s biggest nightmare! This incredibly simplistic costume needs merely one thing: name tags, and LOTS of them! To have some extra fun with this costume, fill it with names from people at the party, or allow them to sign it themselves. That way, when the night’s over, you’re left with a heartwarming memento of this year’s Halloween.

There you have it: 5 extremely simple costumes that anyone can do. If Halloween seems to be sneaking up to you like it did this time last year, don’t bite the bullet with an expensive last-minute costume. Instead, opt to make something that’ll take no time whatsoever, and cost you next to nothing.

What makes these simple costumes even greater is – they’re always a hit!

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