Every year I am tempted to reuse the old Halloween candy from last year's stash to save money on the vast amounts of candy we give out at our door. We live in a popular trick-or-treating area and we get loads of kids coming by with adorable costumes and big smiles! In search of one thing...candy! But something stops me short of tricking these kids with the old stale confections. Is it just the thought of old unappealing candy, the ethical dilemma of re-gifting or the fear of being outed as the stale candy mom on the block? Needless to say I end up trekking to the store and spending too much on new candy that is probably the same quality candy that was on the shelves last year. Is there really an expiration date on that prepackaged Halloween candy anyway? This year I decided to be more frugal and investigate ways I could save money on Halloween candy. The mission is to find ways to get free or discounted candy to give out to the neighborhood kids from my door on Halloween night.

There are a few options to weigh with pros and cons to each method. Ordering online is a great way to buy in bulk but you must pay shipping charges. I can wait it out and buy the unwanted candy on clearance on the day of Halloween but risk my kids labeling me the "uncool" candy mom when I come home with the "wrong" brand. Honestly, if it's not chocolate, its not candy in my book.

Here are some deals that were published recently on FreeCoupons.com. "If you haven't used your Mars candy bar coupon from the Sunday insert that was published a couple of weeks ago, you can use it now for free candy. CVS has the candy at 2/$1, and you can use the 2/$1 coupon to make it free. If you have any extra Sunday insert coupons, stock up on the candy for Halloween! Full size candy bars are a big hit, and who can complain when they are free?" Thanks to Marnie Moore for teaching me about combining store coupons with manufacturer coupons to get things virtually for free.

With a little advance planning, I might just be able to buy enough to enjoy the leftovers myself!