# How's the economy affecting your haunt?



## AnthonyZ (Nov 26, 2008)

Just curious, is anyone considering a scaling back of initial plans? Fewer props? Maybe putting off associated electronics? Etc.? What's scarier, your haunt or your economic outlook?

As for me, yeah, I'm trying to be a bit more conservative (fiscally, not politically) for the moment but, I'm hoping that the next few months will bring more activity. In other words, I'm a careful optimist.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Money is always a factor with our income. Ironically perhaps, provided I get the full time job I want, I'll have a little more moola this year to spend on Hallows Eve props and Christmas.


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## HauntCast (Jul 25, 2008)

The ecomony is affecting my Christmas, but I'm not sure yet how it will affect my haunt. I make most of the stuff from scratch. The kit for the 3 Axis skull will probably end up on the credit card.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Sickie Ickie said:


> Money is always a factor with our income.


Ummmmm.....


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Oh man, something ironic and I don't get it.


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## Don Givens (Dec 2, 2008)

I'm going to dress up my props to look like Bankers and politicians instead of zombies.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Someone e-mailed me and explained it. I get it now. Yay!


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Sickie Ickie said:


> Someone e-mailed me and explained it. I get it now. Yay!


Is this about my post?


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

LOL, Sickie!

Ton of bricks!









Sickie

Money is always a huge obstacle for me. Thank goodness, gas has come down, we got a cheaper internet/phone/cable service, and maybe the utility costs will go down some. I just do like everybody else...shop the sales after halloween, use coupons and look for off-season deals.
The economy hasn't been devastating for me but we are watching pennies a bit more these days.


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## ShellHawk (Dec 14, 2008)

Generally, our money is o.k. This year, though, I got laid off, and I'll have to be super-creative to get good effects for less. That's o.k. Shopping at Goodwill and using my imagination is fun!


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Dr Morbius said:


> Is this about my post?


Yepper. LOL Sometimes I have my blond moments. :googly:


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## HalloweenRick (Nov 25, 2005)

The economy must really be affecting my area. I haven't had ANYONE come trick or treating since Halloween...


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

Our plans to go pro in '09 are kind of in limbo now, depending on how other aspects of our business pan out. If I don't do a pro haunt, my home haunt will probably be bigger than '08.


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## tonguesandwich (Oct 13, 2006)

Economy doesn't hurt my type of business. The thing that concerns me is the weakening of the dollar and vendors who increase prices to maintain profit margin.You might expect prices to decrease or level with the vendors lowering their profit margin, to be competitive with the weakening buyer. We'll see who survives. The good thing is that good customer service should come back since competition should increase.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Sickie Ickie said:


> Yepper. LOL Sometimes I have my blond moments. :googly:


You and me both, my friend, you and me both. Sometimes I'm so thick it affects my self esteem. I have issues.:zombie:


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

tonguesandwich said:


> The good thing is that good customer service should come back since competition should increase.


That's a nice thought, but I'll believe it when I see it. The trend in this country seems ever farther away from "What can I add to make my product more attractive" and more toward "What can I trim to cut my own costs". We'll see.

On my own front, I'm in a hell of a bind but it's not related to the economy... Gotta be extra thrifty for a few more months. I was planning on getting a digital portable recorder to do field interviews with for the Hauntcast, but I got sick and missed some work and now no moneez to get one. *sigh*


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## HauntCast (Jul 25, 2008)

Rev, 
I'm getting one for Christmas, so I can mail it to you for the shows like Transworld. By the spring business begins to pick back up for me, so I might be able to buy you your own, so don't sweat it.


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## tonguesandwich (Oct 13, 2006)

Rev, I have a Digital Olympus DS-2 I can donate to the cause.


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

My potential home addition is going to hurt my budget this year.. but its something that if we can do it will be soooo much better


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

I usually don't buy much anyway, so it shouldn't impact my haunt much. Besides, if worst comes to worst, I can always just do last year's display again (but I won't-- I'm too excited about my new ideas for that).


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

Most of my props this year are wood and we have plenty that was donated to us for the fire ..yeah right they are mine ..muahhhh
the other bigger props will be made of sheets I have plenty of those (flags for medievil..should be interesting)
my biggest cost is food and booze so I will be picking that booze up along the way this yr.
I will need to get some paint and then a few cans of floor adhesive: it makes for a great canvas on those sheets.


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## chisox100 (Nov 12, 2008)

*Is the economy going to effect your haunt in 2009 and beyond?*

Fortunately it wont effect my haunt for at least 2009. That's the way it looks for now. I might be less willing to buy something big over making something big.

How about you?


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## ghost37 (Jul 30, 2008)

It shouldn't affect my haunt too much. I bought most of my stuff for 2009 when halloween stuff was on sale last year. The rest is just building things with stuff I have in the garage.

I do still have a wish list of items I want to buy, but that might not happen!


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## Don Givens (Dec 2, 2008)

I expect to have a better haunt, every year, regardless of the economy. 

A poor economy will actually help me improve mine even faster but of course I'd rather see the economy improve because then there will be more people putting up decorations.


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## Scary Godmother (Oct 13, 2007)

It will only affect my haunt in that I probably won't be able to afford to make anything new that I don't already have the parts for. I will have everything from last year, and I have most of the parts needed to build a couple of new things, but was hoping to do more for this year. I'm sure it will still be appreciated!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I don't expect it will be a problem for us. Ours is more yard decorating than haunt, and we add only a few new things every year. Spooky1 is building more things from scratch, too, which takes time but not a whole lot of money.

Personally, I like the creative challenge of trying to come up with something on a limited budget - a bad economy just gives more incentive to pursue that route


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## halloween71 (Aug 9, 2007)

Most of my stuff is bought or being made.Money is tight.I bought some stuff friday from oriental trading for treat bags.Stuff that will keep that long.And I bought some stuff after halloween.
Like lilly the big $$$$ will be spent at the party.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Shhh, don't tell Roxy that the bits and pieces to make the props can end up costing almost as much as buying the props. But making them is so much more fun.


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## Spooklights (Jul 4, 2006)

I'm glad I got a few new things last year, because it looks like I won't be able to get anything new this year.


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## sharpobject (May 7, 2008)

I try and get as much things from yard sales, flea markets and second hand stores as it is and make as much myself as possible - so I don't think any plans will need to change much.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Spooky1 said:


> Shhh, don't tell Roxy that the bits and pieces to make the props can end up costing almost as much as buying the props. But making them is so much more fun.


I heard that!:googly:


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## wandererrob (Aug 8, 2007)

For the forseeable future I don't see it effecting me much right now unless I lose my job. Otherwise, I tend to spend a little here, a little there. So it's never a big impact anyway, even though it does add up over the course of the year. 

If things do go south for us financially, I've still got a bunch of half made gravestones waiting to be finished and various other odds and ends on hand to keep me busy without having to buy anything new.


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## DarkShadows (Feb 6, 2006)

How its affecting me.. I'm getting better deals on ebay!


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## Adam I (Jun 16, 2007)

Let's just say my budget is about Zero dollars.
But the bright side is I now can finish alot of half finished props


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## The_Caretaker (Mar 6, 2007)

Yeah, my budget is 0 too, time to make assemble props from the pieces and parts I have sitting around, now if I had more than 0 time to do them.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

So far it shouldn't have any affect. I'll still do my bit to help the economy by spending money (not that I've ever had a really large budget anyway). I think Darkshadows is right, and it may be a good time to find some bargains.


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## kenny-hauntedweb (Sep 3, 2008)

The economy has not affected our haunt at this time. We had a great year and have enough money to cover our budget. We are being conservative on buying props and other items just in case our 2009 is not as good as 2008.


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

I have to watch my budget, but I try to look for outstanding deals and I might go for it! I took advantage of a deal I got off of craigslist. I bought two gemmy props for $50 dollars each. I told myself I should spend it on bills, but what is one more month late on a bill when it would be a crime to pass that up! Anyway the people I bought it from is going through some hard times, so I think the economy will be a plus and a negative for many people.


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## eanderso13 (Apr 10, 2008)

I will try and spend as little as possible, that's for sure! Luckily, I got to the end of last Halloween season and realized we had a TON of stuff we hadn't even touched. So we have a lot of options for bringing things out that didn't make it last year. We've got a few bluckies that can be corpsed, some spare air cylinders to maybe turn into a small popup...Maybe get more into papier mache. And we've got a dot room my wife found for $35 last year that we never got to put up. So it should be alright.


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## Bilbo (Dec 13, 2007)

Economy doesn't affect my haunt at all... broke last year, broke this year... what's the difference?? 

I made my big constructions/purchases last year so this year it's homemade stones out of the scrap foam in the garage. I did get some rock-speakers with my birthday gift card. Thunder effects, look out!


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

It is going to be a tight budget for me this year. There are alot of things that I like to get / buy but at this time I am very lucky to have my job. So I am just making things with what I already have or can make very cheap.


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## Devils Chariot (May 23, 2007)

We just build (almost) everything from scratch, and buy little bits throughout the year. some fog juice here, some great stuff there, use the michael's 50% off coupons to by celluclay and paper clay, and luckily 1/2' pvc and spray paint are cheap. Most of this years halloween supplies were bought on clearance last year.


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## The Bloodshed Brothers (Jan 25, 2009)

we were poor last year were gunna be poor this year lol

but we find away to pull it off


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## daddywoofdawg (Oct 3, 2008)

Yes Mr.Bush you will be remebered!


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## HauntCast (Jul 25, 2008)

I started haunting when I was a kid with zero cash and made everything from scratch. I still make everything from scratch which keeps my costs down. I started building much earlier this year which spreads any expenses out over 10 months. 
As a fatter of fact Hauntcast's Top 10 this month will be "ways s to save money on your haunt this year".


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

So far, I'm in fairly good shape. No income changes that I can foresee, and I have a lot of opportunities to work some overtime. Looking back at last year, I spent very little, only because the retail offerings were so poor. I don't think this year will be much different. Other than a few wiper motors and some foam board, I'm likely not buying too much (except the 3 axis skull from Doc M.) I do plan to re-work a few things and detail some existing props. We're changing one of our main scenes but this only involves a few modifications and some building with scrap material. I will spend some money on a web caster and some led spots, but other than that it looks to be a pretty low budget year.


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