Halloween can be a great opportunity for getting creative, making decorations, dressing up and spending time doing fun things together. But it can also involve buying lots of things that are only used once before being thrown away.

With a little forward planning, you can build up a collection of Halloween essentials that you bring out year after year. Not only does this save money in the long run, but it also means less waste and fewer last-minute purchases.

Here are five things worth investing in for Halloween that you can use again and again.

1. Battery-operated tea lights

A box of battery-operated tea lights is one of the most useful Halloween purchases you can make. They're perfect for lighting up carved pumpkins, but you can also use them in all sorts of homemade Halloween decorations.

For example, you could make a spooky castle from toilet rolls, with little windows cut into the sides, and pop a tea light inside to create a glowing window display.

As you'll probably only have them switched on for a few evenings each year, the batteries should last a long time. You can simply take them out of your decorations, store them away and bring them out again next Halloween.

I bought a box about eight years ago and still have plenty left!

2. A pumpkin carving kit

I initially made the mistake of thinking that a kitchen knife was all we needed for pumpkin carving. Once we invested in a (very cheap) pumpkin carving kit, however, the whole process became much easier.

The little saws and scoops are designed specifically for the job, making it easier to create different shapes and designs. They're also much more manageable for smaller hands (although children should always be supervised when carving pumpkins).

You don't need an elaborate or expensive kit – a basic one will do the job and can be brought out every October.

One other tip: resist the temptation to buy too many pumpkins! It might seem like a lovely idea to create a big display with lots of different colours and sizes, but you'll eventually have to deal with disposing of them all. Leaving lots of rotting pumpkins around isn't particularly good for local wildlife either.

3. Black fabric for homemade Halloween costumes

A length of black fabric is incredibly versatile and makes a brilliant starting point for all sorts of homemade Halloween costumes.

You can turn it into a simple cloak and this is the basis for all sorts of costumes, including a witch, vampire, bat or Grim Reaper. Depending on what you're making, you can sew on extra detail, cut it into different shapes or adapt it to suit the character.

The great thing is that you don't need to start from scratch every time. Keep the basic fabric and make small adjustments for different costumes over the years.

It's useful beyond Halloween, too. A black cloak is also a handy starting point for many Harry Potter-inspired costumes for World Book Day!

4. Keep costume accessories to reuse as Halloween decorations

Before throwing away old Halloween costumes, have a look at whether any of the pieces could be repurposed as decorations.

We've found that bits of old costumes can be just as useful for creating a spooky atmosphere as purpose-made Halloween decorations.

Here are a few things we've tried:

• A ghostly apparition: We kept the white sheet from a ghost costume, hung it up with a balloon underneath to give it shape, and positioned a light below it.

• A scary entrance: We placed a scary mask over an outdoor light to create a rather unsettling face.

• A Room on the Broom-inspired scene: We recreated the witch's legs from Room on the Broom by stuffing a pair of tights and poking them into a bush, with a witch's hat to complete the effect.

A little imagination can go a long way, and it's much more satisfying to find new uses for things you already have than to buy a whole new set of decorations.

5. Good outdoor lights

If you're putting effort into creating a spooky outdoor Halloween display, you'll want people to be able to see it! It might seem obvious, but it's easy to forget just how dark it gets when you're setting everything up.

You can get really creative with homemade outdoor decorations – making gravestones out of old cardboard boxes, creating spooky scenes with things you already have, or turning bits of the garden into a miniature graveyard. But all that effort is a bit wasted if nobody can see it in the dark!

A few decent outdoor spotlights can make all the difference, helping to illuminate your creations and bring your Halloween display to life. The added bonus is that they're not just for Halloween. You can reuse them to create a nice ambience in your garden throughout the rest of the year.

6. Halloween cookie cutters and a reliable biscuit recipe

Halloween-themed cookie cutters are another purchase that will last for years. Find yourself an easy biscuit or cookie recipe that you enjoy making (we use this one), and you have the beginnings of a lovely annual Halloween tradition.

There's plenty to keep everyone occupied: making the dough, rolling it out, cutting out different shapes, baking the biscuits and, of course, decorating them!

We use fondant icing, orange, black and white food colouring, and cake decorating pens. The good thing is that most of these supplies are things we already have in the baking cupboard from birthday cakes and other occasions.

Making Halloween more creative (and less wasteful)

You don't need to buy lots of new things every October to make Halloween special. A few useful purchases, some materials you already have at home and a little imagination can go a surprisingly long way.

The best Halloween decorations and costumes are often the ones you've made yourselves, adapted over the years and brought out again and again. They can even become part of your family's Halloween traditions.

It's a good reminder that creativity doesn't always mean buying more materials. Sometimes it's simply about looking at what you already have and finding a new way to use it.

Enjoy this post? Find more inspiration for family creativity here.