I’m feeling a little guilty that instead of approaching our baby’s first Halloween with excitement, I’m worried.  What will happen when we run out of candy to give the neighborhood kids?  I’ve come all too close to the Sue Sylvester school of thought and I don’t like where that’s headed.

Kidding aside, I’ve already decided I don’t care if we’re the “cheap candy” house this year.  Beggars can’t be choosers, no matter how cute/scary/strangely they are dressed.  Don’t misunderstand me: I love Halloween and have gone “all out” a number of times . . . but this year we are trying to afford two Christmas plane tickets.

According to this study by Visa, the average family with any kids under 18 spends about $54 dollars on just candy and decorations for Halloween.  (Roughly 10% of our estimated ticket cost)  With costumes, this holiday can be quite an investment.  If we were buying our costumes, I estimate we’d be out at least $40 per person.  We did luck out this year in a number of ways: our 11 month old can’t walk yet, so we will probably just stay at home and let him help us give out candy.  Grandma sent us a little pirate-themed onesie about a month ago, so we’ll add a homemade eye patch, some existing pants, goofy black and orange socks found in the dollar bin at Target and have a makeshift baby Halloween costume just right for staying at home and taking a couple pictures.

As for the wife and I?  We didn’t get invited to any parties, so the wife is still deciding if she cares enough to make a costume. I figure I can dig that last-year’s clearance bin skeleton wind chime out of the attic, recycle last year’s Spiderman costume for $0 and if I have the energy, use twine from the garage to make this our house’s primary decoration.  We’ll buy our candy the morning of Halloween, hoping the stores are marking it 50% off by then.  You know, the more I think about it, the less guilty I feel for avoiding some of the hype this year.  I’d rather spend the money when our son is old enough to really understand what its all about.

Last month we completely emptied our freezer and pantry since we couldn’t afford to buy groceries. This month we had free food thrown at us left and right.  Since there is no free lunch, the trade-off was we had to help a friend move from Houston to Austin.  All weekend.  This involved heavy furniture and winding staircases.  And sleeping on a half-deflated air mattress.  BUT, we didn’t pay for a meal from Friday night through Sunday morning.  Pizza, beer, breakfast tacos and coffee, leftover pizza, Wendy’s, donuts and coffee, and more pizza.  Carb-heavy? Yes.  Nutritionally sound?  Not so much.   I figure those five meals and drinks saved us at least $25, even accounting for what we would prepare at home.  Yes, I’m considering the supreme pizza toppings a serving of vegetables.  Hey, at least we sweat out a few calories hauling heavy awkward boxes down the stairs and onto the moving truck.

Right before we went away for the weekend, we spent $500 restocking our pathetically empty freezer and pantry with an overzealous Sam’s Club trip.  Yes, we sleazily borrowed a friend’s card rather than renew our own membership. We just couldn’t justify paying full price for something we only do 4 times a year.

A large portion of our money this trip was spent on formula, diapers and wipes.  Those are non-negotiable at this point.  We also put some dollars into the things that got us through last month without feeling too malnourished or deprived: frozen fruit and veggies and cheap protein sources. Lots of spinach, edamame, and stir-fry veggies, canned beans, canned tuna, massive jar of peanut butter and 5 lbs. of protein powder.  My wife used to give me dirty looks about buying something so “frivolous” . . . not the case any more since learning the bulk bag yields 76 servings of protein for less than $30.

This purchase I’m less proud of:  Jimmy Dean D’Lights: turkey sausage, egg white and cheese on an english muffin.  Goes from freezer to my mouth after two minutes in the microwave and somehow isn’t that high in fat or calories.  These worked out to barely cheaper than the dollar menu at about $0.86 each. We splurged here, planning for those days I wake up late or the wife and baby have back to back morning appointments.   At least they’ll give us a break from the oatmeal.