How do you save money on Halloween?

[jeffrey]

Do you have any tried and true methods for saving money on Halloween? How much do you usually spend on this holiday?

[bjl584]

I spend $0. I don't have kids and I don't get trick or treaters where I live. I'm too far in the country.

[00000]

I don't buy candy until 2 days before Halloween. I know this is when it can be most expensive, but it means I don't buy 2 or 3x the amount of candy I would if I bought it early and we'd all eat it.

[hamchan]

I spend little to nothing. Secure building, no kids living here besides my daughter who is at her dad's for Halloween. Very few kids in the neighborhood. I usually buy a bag of candy to take to work and share. I also mail my daughter a card and 5-10$ worth of candy she likes. I usually have to work that day and have not dressed up or gone out for years.

When I was a kid my mom sometimes made us costumes, or we reused costumes from school plays, but once I got past 12 there were years I didn't dress up at all. People don't really trick or treat in Alaska much unless they live in a neighborhood with houses close together and it is on the warmer side that year.

[HappySaver]

$10 on four bags of candy (already bought it while it's on sale).
It's more than we need, but we get a fair amount of trick-or-treaters so I'd rather not risk running out, and I just take the leftovers to work.

[disneysteve]

We spend probably $10 for a couple of bags of candy. Then we donate any extra to our synagogue.

[bjl584]

I can tell you that from working in retail over the years, that the best time to buy your costume is the day after Halloween. Everything goes to 75% off or more. It's great for the adults that go to parties. It's probably not the best time to buy for kids though since trends and fads change so much for them.

[annibe11e]

When my son was with me for halloween, we would buy a costume for around $20. I would buy a couple bags of candy, although we never lived anywhere that got a lot of trick or treaters. This year, I'm working part time in the shipping department of a halloween costume company. I get 50% off costumes, but I'm not really saving any money doing that because I'll be buying one for myself and one for my son in Arkansas, whereas ordinarily, I wouldn't have purchased any this year. This job is kind of like window shopping for 5 hours a day. I just can't resist the Alf costume for myself and a Minecraft one for my son.

I don't usually spend much on holidays because I grew up not being allowed to celebrate them. This may sound crazy, but I don't really know how to celebrate and it usually feels weird. Indoctrination is a hell of a thing. I went trick or treating for the first time when I was 16. I dressed up as a bee!

I don't expect trick or treaters this year, but I'm buying candy. For myself. I'm going to eat the whole bag. Total, I'll be spending about $75 this year. Ouch!

[bigdaddybus]

I have zero methods for saving money on halloween.

We buy cheap costumes
We spend alot on candy - 8 bags or so (2-3 items per kid)
We will have 6 jack-o-lanterns (one for each family member)
We dont decorate the house like alot of our neighbors (so I guess thats a savings)

I love getting visited from all the kids while my wife enjoys taking the kids around so it works out well. I will have a big fire going in the fireplace and a pot of chili on the stove.

Ummm, makes me look forward to Halloween.

[maryadavies]

Us, we save money on halloween by having a little cookie-decorating party for the nieces. Those are the only trick or treaters we get anyway.

We make pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, ice them orange and give them faces with M&Ms and candy corn. (Won't give you our sugar cookie recipe, or I'd have to kill you). The kids have a blast putting the candy on the cookies ^^. And they get to eat them.

[dojo]

We don't celebrate it in my country, so it's gonna be just a regular day for us. When our daughter will grow up, we'll probably have to get her dresses for the kindergarten parties, but that's years from now.

[TheKayla]

I dont have to worry about really buying candy, but I do get a costume and go out still for at least one party. I never buy the cheap, often times cheesy looking costumes though. I think the funnest part is coming up with a fun costume idea and making it yourself. I don't go as far as sewing up something fancy either, just with the right mix of accessories/cloths, and maybe a little craftiness I can usually come up with a theme.

[MonkeyMama]

Michaels and Target ($1 bins) have some pretty inexpensive decorations. I've spent a few dollars here and there as to not be a complete fuddy duddy. (Without kids, I'd have spent $0 on decorations).

On the costumes, we are like Kayla. Just try to be creative and use what we already have. Last year we made a minecraft costume for our eldest and the younger one just wore an old costume? The year before that they had used some old vampire capes with their Mario/Luigi costumes. Those costumes were a favorite - they'd maybe be willing to recycle again if those still fit. I don't mind buying new costumes once every few years, but it has been a while. I am not crafty in the least, and no sewing skills, but we can be creative all the same.

[wjcalderon]

I turn off the porch light!
When a few trick-or-treaters ring the doorbell anyway, I just ignore it.
Eventually they go away.

[TBH]

We live on a busy road where the houses are close together, and we get a million trick-or-treaters. It's a good way to get to know our neighbors, so it's worth it to me to buy a lot of candy. Sometimes I also buy plastic spiders or glowy bracelets or something, and each kid gets one piece of candy and a little toy.

We buy or make a costume every year for DS, but he is hugely into dress-up so he reuses all his costumes for months afterwards. It's worth it. Sometimes he uses a costume he already has, and we just buy an accessory to go with it or pick something up at a thrift store.

I have a few decorations, but I don't buy new ones each year. I have some halloween lights, and we usually do a jack-o-lantern or two. Also I have some of those little window decals, and DS likes to put them on the front windows. I think they're supposed to be single-use but I've been reusing them for years.