As the calendar changes from September to October, one cannot deny that Halloween is growing ever so closer. Beloved for its parties, adored for its spooky atmosphere, and celebrated with candy sweets, it's easy to see why this holiday is so greatly anticipated. Even though the parties, the candy, and the spooky atmosphere are all iconic elements of this beloved holiday, they are only a part of what make it so fun for people of all ages. No matter if you are three or fifty three, there is no denying that it can be so much fun to pick out your own Halloween costume.

The Halloween costume is just another iconic cornerstone of this spooky holiday. Though we get older, the fun of dressing up doesn't fade as much over time. For some, it's about the thrill of turning yourself into something absolutely terrifying for one night. For others, it's about becoming someone else for a change. Others enjoy the type of creative expression that comes from picking out and designing a costume. No matter your tastes, the art of the costume appeals to Halloween fans young and old and often requires two things: money and time.

Time is a given when it comes to a costume. Often, it's time consuming trying to put together individual pieces for a costume; you have to find just the right part for the entire look to work. It may even take a long time to just put the costume on itself; I know it must take the patience of a saint to sit there and put on layers and layers of make up. Time is precious and it is so wonderful when people funnel that time into projects or costumes that bring themselves a great measure of joy.

Time is one thing, but money is another beast. For many, time is much easier to give out than dollar bills and coins; this is especially true for those college students working on paying tuition. So for many, spending a lot of money on a costume isn't a feasible option as Halloween draws closer. However, there are definite ways to go all out this year with your Halloween costumes without draining the life out of your wallet and bank account.

In order to get this done, you need to be flexible and creative with your costume. See what character, concept, or creature you want to go as and break apart the costume in your mind. If you break it down to da essentials (for example, brown pants, white dress shirt, red bow tie, etc) it will make the overall costume construction process run smoothly. Now you don't have a costume as a whole to look for, but individual parts; a concept turns into a scavenger hunt! Once this is done, you get to my personal favorite part of the costume creation process: the shopping stage.

If I were to suggest anything when it comes to shopping I would definitely say to check out all your local thrift stores. Personally, I love going to stores like these because you never know what you are going to find. Thrift stores are the land of opportunity and give any shopper a lot to work with when it comes to costumes. Also, they are just so much fun to check out and explore. I found a lot of fun things at thrift stores including the majority of my costume for this Halloween. My boyfriend and I did our shopping at one this year and ended up only paying $10 collectively for our costumes. It is definitely possible to come out of a shop with a cool costume at a great bargain.

You may not have to do any shopping at all. You would be surprised how quickly you can create an entire costume or, at the very least, find things buried away to add to your costumes. Often, we have little bits and bobbles hidden away in our dressers and closets that we have completely forgotten about. The best price to pay for a rocking costume is $0 so dig around at home to see what you can put together.

However, sometimes we have to pay a little price for the things we love. If not thrift stores or at home, I recommend searching for things in typically unusual places. You would be surprised how many things from a dollar you can flip into cool accents for a costume. A little tender loving and care can turn even the strangest product into a costume worthy for a movie production. It all depends on your creativity or vision, but always keep your eyes open for something that might catch your creative attention.

Overall, I am just as excited for Halloween as everyone else. I am also excited to turn something fairly pricey into a money saving, item-hunting adventure.