The days of doing Oct. 31, Charlie Brown-style -- with a sheet for a costume and a paper bag to collect the candy -- are gone. These days, Halloween is yet another consumer-driven holiday and the cost of preparing for it -- the parties, decorations, costumes and even the candy -- can really add up.

The average family is expected to spend $47 this year on candy and decorations alone -- not including the cost of costumes -- which is up from $40 last year, according to a survey from VISA USA. That's a steep hike and I'm betting that with the economy tighter than it's been in decades, you'd like to save rather than spend. With a little creative thinking, it's entirely possible to do just that.

• Get crafty. You absolutely do not have to buy a prepackaged costume for your kids. Last year, we took a clear plastic garbage bag, cut out a couple of holes at the bottom for legs, filled it with colorful balloons and my daughter went as a bag of jelly beans. She looked great. The year before that, my 12-year-old son pulled off a great Will Ferrell in "Anchorman" by taking a red blazer from my closet and putting on a cheap wig.

The NRF says that the top three costumes this year are expected to be a princess, a pirate and Spider-Man -- all things you can easily put together at home, says Amanda Formaro, founder of the crafts magazine, familycorner.com. A princess dress can easily be fashioned out of a little fabric from a discount retail store if you have even basic sewing skills, or you can even use hot glue since it will only be worn for a few hours. Then just attach a piece of toile to a cone hat made out of cardboard, and make a wand out of tin foil. The pirate costume is equally easy and inexpensive if your kid has a striped shirt and a pair of black pants. Just add a bandana, an eye patch made out of black fabric and a cardboard sword. And for Spiderman, your best bet is the movie-themed pajamas, if you have them, or even a little face paint and a red long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Whenever you're making a costume out of something that's just hanging around, it sparks your kids' creative sides and really makes it a lot more fun," says Pattie Donham-Wilkinson, craft expert for the Lifetime Network.

• If you have to spend, spend wisely. Sometimes you just don't have the time -- or the patience -- for a DIY project. I know how it goes. But if you're going to buy a costume, at least head to the thrift store. "Thrift stores are an amazing place to find costumes, believe it or not, because people will buy $30 or $40 costumes and then give them to Goodwill. You can usually find them for anywhere from $1 to $4," explains Formaro. They're also a great source for costume jewelry, shoes and even fabric. You can buy a shirt or dress for a couple dollars and cut it up for the material.

• Use what you have. Your kids don't need a special container to carry their haul. A pillowcase or paper shopping bag does the job just as well as a $5 plastic pumpkin. As for decorations, you likely have a good stock of art supplies around the house. All it takes is a little construction paper, some markers or paint and a pair of scissors to mimic the decorations you'd find in a store. Kids will have fun drawing pumpkins for the windows or making cardboard into a graveyard for the front yard. And think about what's lying around the house from other holidays that you could put to work. White twinkle lights work just as well for Halloween as they do for Christmas or New Year's.

• Don't splurge on candy. You can actually save a lot of money if you buy your Halloween candy in bulk, not only from stores like Costco or Sam's Club, but online at Web sites like orientaltrading.com or theonlinecandyshop.com. And if you don't need a whole big bag for yourself, you can buy one and split it with a friend or neighbor. Before you start shopping, do what I did and search online for candy coupons. Using coupons is back with a bang because of the downturn in the economy, but these days some of the best deals are online rather than in your Sunday circulars.

Finally, I know I'm not the only parent on the planet who would be grateful if everyone gave each child just one piece of candy -- and I don't mean a jumbo one. If you can answer the door for each group of trick-or-treaters instead of just putting out a big bowl so they can freely dig in, you'll control how much they take and how much you spend. You'll also keep a lid on dental bills.

• Jean Chatzky is an editor-at-large at Money Magazine and serves as AOL's official Money Coach. With reporting by Arielle McGowen.