Getting prepared for trick-or-treaters is a lot of fun! Halloween is a fun-filled time of year. Children have fun picking out their costumes, attending school parties, and seeing how much of their favorite candy they end up with. As a parent, you enjoy watching them have fun, but know how quickly the expenses can rack up! To help you save, we’ve been working on a Halloween Savings series for you. This week, we’re tackling the lovely candy expense with 10 tips to save on Halloween Candy!
10 Ways to Save On Halloween Candy
Know what you need. Think back to last year. How much candy did you purchase? How much did have left over or were you short?
Use coupons & sales. Your local Sunday paper will have candy coupons during the weeks leading up to Halloween! You can go to the website of your favorite stores and check their weekly ad to see what candy they have on sale each week. If you match the coupon up with the store sale, you will get the most bang for your buck! Plus, candy doesn’t go bad very quickly so if you plan ahead you’ll save even more.
Buy small. Of course if you’re trying to save money, you’ll want to buy fun-size candy bars instead of full size ones. Buying a larger quantity of smaller packages with a coupons may be more economical than buying a larger bag at the grocery store. Consider the price per piece instead of price per package to see which is the better deal. To calculate, divide the price by the number of pieces in the package.
Buy big. Do you have a membership to Costco or Sam’s Club? Sometimes you can score a great deal there, but you’ll need willpower to avoid buying things that aren’t on your list.
Check the dollar stores. Do you have a Dollar Tree near you? What about a 99cent store? Any discount store you can find, search to see if they have bags of candy! Sometimes they don’t take coupons, or if they do, they don’t have anything name-brand anyway. So be sure to check their policies (and inventory) before getting too excited! 🙂
Be cheap. Candies like lollipops, bubble gum, hard candies, tootsie rolls, and smarties are typically cheaper than chocolate. Either stick to them or buy a combination of candy to hand out.
Skip Halloween themed candies. They are typically more expensive than their generic counterpart.
Don’t hand out candy. Instead of handing out candy, order tiny toys in bulk. Think glow in the dark bouncy balls, glow bracelets, etc. You could also hand out both a toy & a piece of candy to each child.
Hand out coupons. It sounds a bit silly, but handing out coupons can be a better value for you and for the trick-or-treaters! McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and sometimes even other restaurants, will sell coupon books for $1. This option might not go over well with the kids though.
Check the weather. Before buying a dozen bags of candy, check the weather report! If it’s going to rain, you won’t have nearly as many trick-or-treaters. Keep in mind other events that your city might host, too. If you run out of candy, you can always turn your lights off and go to bed early – but buying too much candy will cost you extra money (and leave you with way too much to munch on afterwards).
Looking for more ways to save this Halloween? Check out Halloween Headquarters where we share our favorite Halloween recipes, crafts, money saving tips, and more!
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