What should I be for Halloween? I don’t have much money and I don’t want my costume to be exactly something everyone else is wearing.

Here are some creative, inexpensive costume ideas, listed in order of edginess:

Sushi/nigiri

Wear a white shirt and use a long dark green or black piece of fabric to secure a pillow to your front. A yellow pillowcase can stand in for the egg, a salmon-pink-colored one for (duh) salmon, a deep mauve for tuna, etc. Or create your own culinary masterpiece!

“I’m blue”

Dress entirely in blue. When someone asks about your costume, make a sad face and say “I’m blue.” If you feel up to it, get blue face paint and use it on your face and hands. 

Tornado

Wear a grey top and bottom, then tape or glue barnyard animals to yourself. Put some gel in your hair and mold it to replicate how it might behave on a very windy day.

Blackmail

Wear all black and stick stamps or (or stickers made to look like stamps) on your shoulder. Bam! You are black and mail, hence you are blackmail.

News anchor

Put on your smartest interview outfit and decorate a toy microphone so that it bears the logo of your favorite (or least favorite) news channel. Proceed to take many, many photos and videos of yourself wherever you go.

Capitalism

Wear your fanciest outfit, tape logos all over yourself, and cover your hands in fake blood (corn syrup and red food coloring is pretty effective). Make sure to be friendly to everyone.

No costume
Get a t-shirt you don’t mind ruining and write on it, “No costume due to government shutdown.”