If you head over to Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, or wherever you went to get your child’s Halloween costume this year, go right back to that place today.  Whatever they have in stock is going to be heavily discounted, and you can go get your child’s Halloween costume for next year at a much cheaper price.

Here’s the thing with the costumes: they don’t change from year to year.  The superhero costumes you saw on the street yesterday are going to be the same ones you will see next year.  It goes the same way with respect to every popular line whether it is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thomas and Friends, or Star Wars:

That Yoda costume my son wore last year was sold again this year.  Yes, with Episode VII, there were more Star Wars costumes this year, but guess what, those costumes will be available again next year.  They will be available with the Yoda and Darth Vader costumes they have everyone year.  Finn, Kylo Ren, and Rey are now just part of the group that will always be available.  If your kid loves Star Wars get the next costume today.

If you don’t know what your child likes out of the group, or what your child will like next year you have a few options.  The first, especially if your child is young enough, is to get a costume for something you have interest (like Star Wars) or that you think is cute like Toy Story.

At this point last year, my wife and I purchased a Woody costume for my son even though he had never seen Toy Story, and we didn’t know if he would like it.  Over the past month or so, I would show my son funnier clips from Toy Story (notably the bloopers at the end of Toy Story 2).  He thought they were funny, and he began to like Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex, and all the characters.  He was excited when he got to watch the Halloween special Toy Story of Terror.  With the time and effort put in, he actually wanted to be Woody (or Buzz Lightyear) for Halloween.  That made our lives much easier:

Now, if you are not sure what your child likes, you could just get multiple costumes.  If the costumes are more than 50% off, and they will be in some places, it is still the cheaper route.  Once you have an idea of what your child likes either try to return the other one for store credit or just sell it on ebay.  You take a hit on the one costume, but you save more money in the long run.

Admittedly, this is not going to work for some older kids.  They are going to be more influenced by what their friends like, and they are going to want to go and pick out their costumes.  They are also likely going to want to be whatever the new thing is that year (movie, TV show, etc.).  If that is the case, you are out of luck.  However, if your child is still young enough, you still have a chance to take advantage of an opportunity to save some money.

If that is the case, you should get to the store today and get your child’s Halloween costume for next year.