Halloween Candy

The weekly store ads came in the mail yesterday. I was amazed to see sale prices for Halloween candy already. It's not even October. I thought I would take a moment and give you a few frugal tips to help save your wallet & your waistline.

Waistline Tips:
1. Don't buy your favorite candy. If you do, you'll eat more than you give away.
2. Your best bet is to buy your least favorite candy. You won't eat it, if you don't like it.
3. No matter what you buy, store it in an inconvenient place until Halloween. I keep mine on the top shelf of the cupboard above the fridge. I'm short. It requires my tall step stool to get it. Cheap candy I don't really like isn't worth the effort if a candy craving sneaks up.

Budget Tips
1. Don't buy it now. You're bound to eat it and then have to buy it again. Even if you buy candy you don't really like, you're bound to eat some. Buy it the week before Halloween, or even a couple days before. The cheap stuff will be what's left.
2. Buy the cheap stuff. Kids really don't care. If they do, they're too old to trick-or-treat.
3. Lollipops and smarties are cheaper than chocolate and kids love them.

Last year we bought 2 bags of Dum Dum lollipops at Target for $5. If I remember correctly each bag had over 100 lollipops. Simple, cheap, and the kids loved that we gave them 3 or 4. It's quantity over quality for most of the kids.