Save on Halloween candy without seeming cheap

Record-setting spending is expected this Halloween.

Shoppers estimated to shell out more than $9 billion on costumes, decorations, and candy.

Halloween is the eighth-most expensive holiday on the calendar. But it doesn't have to break your budget

Candy can be expensive and not all candy is created equally.

This year Americans will spend an estimated $2.7 billion on candy. We did a little candy math and found some ways to get the most sugar for your buck.

95 percent of those surveyed say they were more likely to buy candy than any other Halloween item.

One way to save is to control portions. Making individual bags of candy can help keep kids – and yourself – from pulling a hole handful of goodies from the treat basket.

And with your budget still in mind, make sure to buy inexpensive, clear sandwich baggies rather than splurging on the fancy, printed treat bags. The clear bags are safer for kids whose parents worry about getting a trick rather than a treat, and the baggies cost a penny or less individually.

Another way to save has to do with what kind of candy you buy, but you don’t have to skip every kid’s favorite brands.

You do want to cut back on the chocolate (not that we have anything against it.)

But a comparison of top brands shows that, for the same price, you can get almost double the amount of hard candies as you can for chocolate ones.

Or you can cut back on candy and add in a few non-sugar items. Things like spider rings, temporary tattoos, stickers, and bouncy balls can be just as fun and inexpensive if bought in bulk.