Are you too broke to go trick-or-treating this year? Good! More candy for the rest of us! But even though Halloween brings out the competitive sweet-tooth in us, we want to share Kiplinger’s tips on how to have a cheaper Halloween.

Two of them—”get creative on costumes” and “follow a budget”—are things every reader should already know. After all, there’s absolutely no point in buying your kid a Venom costume when you can just pull a box down from the attic and dress him up as Grandpa the Barfly. But a few of the other tips are worth checking out.

Hide kids’ costumes on a high shelf until October 31. “The big secret of the industry is that a lot of times children buy costumes twice,” says Bianchi. “Their parents make the mistake of letting them try them on and play in them. Then they want a new one for Halloween.”

Buy candy in bulk and split the bag with a friend, neighbor or family member.

Shop online for deals on decorations and party gear.

Shop for decorations on November 1. You can snag clearance-priced items — typically 50% to 75% off — the day after Halloween.

On a personal note, we ordered a severed leg from an online Halloween supplier once (yeah? so what?) and it took about 12 weeks to arrive—so you may want to save the “shop online” tip for next year and be sure to order anything you need online early enough to have room to adjust if it doesn’t arrive.

“Halloween on a Budget” [Kiplinger’s]
(Photo: Yogi)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.