Halloween is one of the most stressful holidays. Sure, there is free candy and you get to dress up, but picking out the right costume can be quite time consuming.

You don't want to have the same costume as everyone else, and you want people to actually understand what you are dressing as. Besides having a memorable costume, there are many other things besides an outfit for one night you would rather spend your money on. Halloween allows you to show off your creativity and individualism, and all it takes for a great costume is a little imagination.

Instead of shopping at an actual Halloween store or even in the aisles at Wal-Mart or Target, you could try the local thrift stores. Places like The Look, Goodwill and Feather's Vintage Clothing, all located on E. Fifth St. in the Oregon District, are loaded with anything from polyester suits to cowboy hats and boots to gaudy jewelry.

The best part about shopping at thrift stores is that you can go in without a clue for what you want to be, but spot something in the store that gets your imagination going and end up leaving with an awesome costume.

The important thing to remember when shopping for Halloween costumes is to be creative. This may require thinking way back into the past for ideas. Dressing as characters from TV shows, like the TGIF line-up, or movies, like anything with Will Ferrell, could lead to some amazing costumes. You can also draw on many costumes from games, like 'Supermarket Sweep,' or cartoons, like 'He-man' and 'Sheera.'

Remember that it just takes a little imagination to make a memorable Halloween costume.