Making Halloween Count: Navigating Spending, Inflation, And Teaching Kids Smart Money Habits

A Note From Taylor:

Hello and welcome to Forbes Advisor’s Weekly Brief, where we dive into the realities of consumer finance and empower you with knowledge to help make your financial journey easier.

Boo!

This Thursday is Halloween, though all three of my children have been donning their costumes for weeks. It’ll be a relief when the holiday has passed and a 3-foot dinosaur isn’t barreling toward my knees.?

Of course, All Hallow’s Eve isn’t just big in the Tepper household. More than 7 in 10 Americans plan to celebrate in some way, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), with half saying they’ll dress in a costume.?

Between candy, decorations and costumes, Americans plan to spend $11.6 billion on Halloween this year. That’s greater than the gross domestic product of Togo.?

To get in on the fun, we’ve accumulated a few stats to give you a sense of the Halloween economy, as well as offered one useful personal finance lesson that you can teach your kids.

Take care,?

Taylor Tepper

Senior Staff Writer, Forbes Advisor

What You Need To Know About Halloween Finances

The U.S. Census says there were 41 million potential treat-or-treaters (kids between the ages of 5 and 14) in 2023, though if your neighborhood is like mine, even toddlers will be bumbling along asking for candy. And they can potentially visit more than 130 million homes or apartments before the night is out.?

The sheer size of the holiday helps explain why we spend so much time and money preparing for the night, and why it presents a good opportunity to teach your kids a valuable financial lesson.

Halloween Is Very Popular

You’re not imagining things: folks really are getting more into Halloween.?

• 47% of consumers start shopping for Halloween before October now compared to 32% in 2014, per the NRF.?
• Nearly 2 in 5 (37%) say Halloween is their favorite holiday, and almost 30% will either attend or throw a party.
• 75% of consumers will purchase decorations in 2024, compared to 69% 10 years ago.

The average person will spend $104 on Halloween, and candy isn’t even the most popular item

NRF estimates that Americans will spend $3.8 billion on decorations, $3.8 billion on costumes, $3.5 billion on candy and $500 million on greeting cards.?

In fact, grown-ups like Halloween as much (or more) than kids. Adult costume sales, for instance, will hit $1.8 billion, or $500 million more than kids’ outfit sales. Folks will also shell out $700 million to dress up their pets.?

Inflation Is Taking a Toll

While spooky season interest is up, spending isn’t necessarily so.?

In 2014, for instance, the average person spent nearly $103 on Halloween in today’s dollars, which is only $0.69 less than what they’ll spend this year.?

Moreover, spending will likely fall by around $600 million in 2024 compared to last year, with the average person doling out $4.62 less.?

This dovetails with a larger trend: Americans are spooked by the economy. Consumers have been feeling negative about the economy for almost three years now, per Gallup.?

Folks are saving less than they did before the pandemic, while credit card debt has jumped from $1.08 trillion to $1.14 trillion over the past 12 months.??

When times get tough, folks tend to scale back discretionary purchases, which may result in buying a little less candy, or fewer pumpkins, than last year.

The Value of Saving (Your Candy)

Our oldest is 10, so we’re veterans of the Halloween mania that grips children on October 31. After weeks of costume shopping and decorations and planning, the big day finally arrives and they amass a vat of candy.?

And then the negotiations—ahem, tantrums—start.?

Children feel as if they’ve earned their candy, and as such, they have ownership of it. Which means they can gorge as they please. One year my daughter tried to eat every piece of candy the moment a neighbor gave it to her.?

I could hardly blame her. On this magical day, dozens of grown-ups hand her more delicious pieces of sugar than she could ever imagine having.?

Initially I smarted when my children said that their haul was the result of some sort of effort on their part. But now, as a more mature personal finance writer, I’ve embraced it.?

I tell them they’ve earned their candy just like their mom and dad earns a paycheck. But just as we need to save some of our money for stuff we want in the future, they too need to save some of their candy so they can enjoy it for more than one day.?

They don’t love the idea, but they eventually warm up to it.?

In any case, I’m not above using sugar to teach my children about the value of saving.

Related Stories:?

• Costumes, Candy And Smart Savings: Your Guide To A Budget-Friendly Halloween 2024
• How To Create A Budget For A Middle-Class Family
• Best Budgeting Apps

Here’s what else is going on in the news this week:

• Zillow Now Shows Climate Risks: Is Your Future Home Safe? ?Zillow is about to put climate risk front and center on its for-sale listings, giving buyers essential data on flood, wildfire, heat, wind and air quality risks.
• What New Tariff Rules Could Mean For Shein And Temu Shoppers The Biden administration recently announced a new rule that could increase the costs of both companies to ship goods to Americans, which came after a House of Representatives Select Committee report that detailed just how much both companies benefited from that tax loophole.