5 Savvy Things You Need To Know Before Buying Halloween Candy

This article contains 5 easy ways you can save money on Halloween candy, because buying these little treats for kids can really add up fast!

According to the National Retail Foundation, in 2016, the average American spent $82.93 on Halloween.  Now to be fair, that includes decorations, costumes, and candy, but still that’s the average amount.  That means although some people probably spent way less, there were some that spent WAY more!  And that $82.93 also includes all Americans, like those not old enough to buy candy for their self.  To give you some perspective, that would mean a family of 4 spent over $330 last year, on just Halloween!

To help you out, I decided to write a post to help you save a little money on candy alone, because it can REALLY add up fast!

1.  You need to know what’s a good price!  I did a little research, scoping out candy prices at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Amazon, and Walgreen’s.  The best prices I found have the candy priced around 5 cents per piece, but prices can easily go up as high as 0.20-0.30 per piece!  Let me put this into perspective for you, I typically hand out two pieces of candy to each kid.  If you are a smart shopper, you are basically handing each child a dime; however it can cost you 5 times more if you just impulsively buy it without looking at prices.  Multiply this by your total number of trick-or-treaters and it can really add up.  One hundred trick-or-treaters will cost you $10.00 if you spend $0.05 per piece, versus $50.00 if you spent $0.25 per piece (assuming you hand out 2 pieces of candy!)
2. Buy in bulk!  In general the best prices I found were at Sam’s Club, but Walmart and Target are close.  If you want to shop at Walmart or Target, try to buy the larger bags (greater than 200 pieces), because those are the ones that are priced competitively with Sam’s Club.  If you don’t think you need that much candy, see if a friend or neighbor wants to split a big bag with you!
3. There isn’t a significant difference between chocolate and non-chocolate candy prices.  Take your pick!  I love Starbursts….and all kinds of chocolate!
4. Buy your candy as close to Halloween as possible.  This will help eliminate the temptation and save you from buying more!  It is quite rare that a store runs out of Halloween candy and if they do, just grab a bag of non-Halloween candy!
5. Don’t leave an unattended bowl of candy out on your porch while you take your kids trick-or-treating. Chances are, even if you put up a note saying take 2, that your bowl will be empty by the time you get home and most likely, kids didn’t take just 2 pieces!

Wishing you a very Happy Halloween!

Stay savvy,