Halloween 2026 falls on Saturday, the 31st of October and is right around the corner! Halloween is one of the best times to let your creativity shine and to unashamedly enjoy sweet treats.
However, the Halloween fun can easily become expensive with the cost of decorations and treats piling up before you know it. Thankfully, this can be avoided with some budgeting and creative DIY-ing. Here are some of the simple and affordable ways you can enjoy your Halloween in the UK:
- Making your own Halloween decorations
- Finding pumpkin deals
- Taking advantage of Halloween and half-term event offers
- Buying no-brand treats and treats in bulk
DIY-ing Halloween Decorations
Decorating your space is one of the fun parts of Halloween, and the best part is that you don’t have to buy new decorations or go out of your way to splurge on fancy ones every year. If you already have Halloween decorations from previous years, you can simply re-use them. If you want to try out something new or have children who love getting into the Halloween spirit, crafting is the way to go.
Making your own decorations is inexpensive and fun to do, so here are some DIY decoration ideas:
Draw and print out decorations
There are many free printables available online that you can use for your Halloween decorations, and having a printer readily available at home or work is best for this option. You can print out illustrations that may be too complicated for children and have them colour them in. Once they are done, you can either cut them out as they are or before that, stick them on cardboard you have around the house to make them sturdier.
You can easily print out spiders, pumpkins, ghosts, spider webs and everything spooky to hang around the house or to use as parts in bigger decorations.
Upcycle household items
You have probably heard that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but what if you could turn your trash into your treasure? “All you need to do is have a look around your house and get creative with what you find,” says Love Discount Vouchers’ money-saving expert, Marylyn Ncube. Some ideas include:
- using empty cereal or delivery boxes for cut outs
- turning old jars into lanterns with some paint, markers and string
- turning old sheets and pillowcases into ghosts by drawing on or cutting out eyes, and draping them over furniture
- using orange juice jugs, filling old juice jugs with orange tissue paper or painting old jugs orange and drawing Jack-o'-lantern faces on them if you cannot get pumpkins
- using yarn or cotton wool to make spiderwebs
- turning empty tissue rolls into bats or ghosts with some paint and cutouts
If you don’t have any paint, tissue paper, extra glue or paper around the house, don’t fret. You can buy these with Stationery discount codes, as well as comparing prices before making purchases to keep your Halloween spending low.
Budget Halloween Pumpkins
What is Halloween without pumpkins? It is hard to separate the festivities from the orange vegetable and carving it out to make a jack-o'-lantern. However, buying multiple pumpkins for Halloween can rack up a hefty bill, and if you are on a tight budget or are aiming to save money, this isn’t ideal.
Luckily, you can still include pumpkins in your Halloween celebrations while still saving money and staying within your budget. If you want to buy fresh pumpkins that you and your family can carve, you can save money in the long run by making the most of your pumpkins. You can use every bit of a pumpkin after carving it, with the insides being great for making soup, pie or curry and the seeds being delicious, healthy snacks.
If your budget is tight, you can still get fresh pumpkins at reasonable prices from your local supermarkets. Some deals you can find (prices checked in October 2026 and are subject to availability) for the 2026 Halloween season include:
- 67p per munchkin pumpkin (6-12cm), 59p per regular pumpkin (14-19cm) and £1.75 per large pumpkin (20-25cm) at Morrisons Grocery
- 39p per munchkin pumpkin and £1.72 per large pumpkin at Asda groceries
- 95p per medium pumpkin, £2.00 per carving pumpkin and £3.00 per monster or large pumpkin at Sainsburys
To save more, you can use Supermarket promo codes to bring down the total price of your purchases, and you can ditch any fancy carving kits and use your kitchen utensils
Budget and Bulk Halloween Treats
If you have children or will be at home and expecting trick-or-treaters, having Halloween treats ready is a must. Like everything else, the cost of treats can be high, but it is possible to get enough sweet treats within a reasonable price range.
The first thing to do is to set a budget. Having a set amount that you can comfortably spend on treats before starting to shop will make the process easier. Once you have your budget, start looking for different kinds of treats and specifically consider shopping for unbranded or store-brand treats (they won’t be as expensive as branded ones) and shopping for bulk packs.
For Halloween specifically, Aldi has their Halloween Aaahmazing range of sweets. In this range, you will find:
- 150g Halloween Marshmallow Bag for 99p
- 600g Halloween Sweet Tub for £3.69
- 125 g Halloween Scary Monsters for 99p
- 175g Munch Mix for £2.29
- 100g Chocolate Bats for £1.99
- 150g Chocolate Lollies for £2.69
SoSweet offers bulk bags of sweets starting from 1kg to 3kg, which can be a better deal than buying individual sweets. In addition to bulk bags, they have a clearance section filled with discounted sweets and SoSweet voucher codes for extra savings.
Halloween and October Half-Term Activities
There are plenty of Halloween-themed activities to keep children and the whole family entertained throughout October into November, especially during the October half-term (2026) holiday, which for many schools falls during the week of the 26th to the 30th of October.
If you specifically need free or cheap Halloween activities and events tailored towards children, the best places to look are at your local libraries, zoos, museums and the like. There are also many other Halloween events across the country that you can consider attending with the family. Booking prices can differ; however, there are affordable options such as Days Out discount codes and Student discounts to help cut costs where needed.
Some cheap Halloween and half-term events recommended by The Independent include events hosted by English Heritage at their following sites:
- 1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield, East Sussex
- Audley End House and Gardens, Essex
- Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, Northumberland
- Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire
- Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, South Yorkshire
- Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight
- Dover Castle, Kent
- Eltham Palace and Gardens, London
- Framlingham Castle, Suffolk
- Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden, Warwickshire
- Pendennis Castle, Cornwall
- Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire
- Stonehenge, Wiltshire
- Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire
- Wrest Park, Bedfordshire
You can get deals on their annual membership and event tickets for Halloween with English Heritage Shop voucher codes.
The Independent also recommends visiting a SEA LIFE centre closest to you. Throughout October and for Halloween until the 1st of November (specific dates may differ across regions), the whole family can enjoy spooky activities by simply booking in advance. Using SEA LIFE voucher codes is the best way to ensure you get discounts on tickets for the whole family.
Celebrate Halloween in the UK With Halloween Voucher Codes
Creating a fun and memorable Halloween in the UK doesn’t have to be expensive. Spending time with friends and family while crafting decorations and costumes will make amazing memories; and so will the mess of carving pumpkins!
If you plan on hosting a Halloween party or Halloween movie-night or simply need more supplies, you can stay on budget by making sure you are getting the best deal before shopping and using Halloween voucher codes on your purchases.
