Best Stores to Buy Any Candy for Halloween
I’ve never actually lived in an area that attracted a lot of cheaters, but that doesn’t stop me from buying candy for Halloween. Obviously, I take this task very seriously because even if zero children visit my house, I want to get as much tasty seasonal sugar as possible for my money.
To answer this most burning question, I went looking at Costco, Target, Big Lots and the grocery store (Fred Meyer who is a member of the Kroger family) to find the best deals. Results may vary slightly by region, but this is what I found in my forest (Portland, Oregon). Also, for the sake of brevity, I’ve focused mainly on good deals, not shitty ones; there was a lot of shit.
Best for Full Size Chocolate Bars: Costco
Ah, full sized bars, the Holy Grail of Tricks or Gimmicks. They didn’t give them out in my area (Echo Park, circa 1996), so my mom took us to Brentwood. There we will find at least one, if not more, literal angel houses. These angels (who used to open the door in chic all-black ensembles with graceful devil horns and a glass of wine in hand) presented us with gorgeous full-size chocolate bars. You can be an angel too. You, too, can change your life.
I wasn’t terribly shocked that Costco had the best price for large chocolate bars because … well, that’s Costco. Thanks to the $ 12.99 Instant Manufacturer Discount, you get thirty full-size candy “units” that are split into six Snickers, five Twix, four 3 Musketeers, and three Milky Ways. ( That’s $ 0.43 per bar and $ 8.54 per kilogram of candy. ) Focusing on just one type of bar raises the price slightly; you can get forty-eight Snickers for $ 27.99 ($ 0.58 per bar / $ 11.06 per kilogram ) or thirty-six Almond Joy for $ 21.39 ( $ 0.59 per bar / $ 13.04 per kilogram ).
Hershey’s will cost you more than Mars at Costco. In fact, each lane there is only a penny cheaper than Target. If you’re shopping at Costco, the Hershey’s Variety Pack (which contains Hershey Bars, Hershey Almond Bars, Reese Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats) will set you back $ 17.59 for thirty ( $ 0.59 per bar / 13.85 dollars per kilogram ), which isn’t much cheaper than the 18-pack at Target (Hershey Bars, Kit Kats, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups), which costs $ 10.79 ( $ 0.60 per bar / $ 13.96 for kilogram ).
Big Lots and The Dollar Tree were the worst places to buy angel supplies, with full-size chocolate bars priced at $ 0.85 per bar and $ 1 per bar, respectively.
Best for snack-sized chocolate bars and mini chocolate bars: Aim (but barely)
When it comes to smaller posts, you have to make some decisions. Is your priority to handing out large quantities of individually wrapped items? Or are you more worried about the mass of chocolate you get for your hard-earned money? Luckily for you, the shift in focus has minimal impact on price.
If you’re expecting a lot of Tricks or Heals, you might want to focus on sheer item counts, in which case Target is a pretty good bet. For $ 14.99, you get 245 individually wrapped mini chocolates (Twix, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way), which is $ 0.06 per candy or $ 7.76 per kilogram of chocolate . If you value bulk rather than quantity of handouts, Target has a selection of assorted Nestle products (with two hundred Baby Ruths, Crunch Bars, Butterfingers) for $ 14.99 ( $ 0.07 per candy / $ 6.94 per kilogram ) … The only problem is, then you have two hundred baby routes, crunch bars and butterfingers.
There is no exact count for Costco’s £ 5 Chocolate Mini Favorite Kirkland Signature Favorites at $ 15.99 (Snickers, Butterfingers, Milky Way, Milky Way Midnight, Baby Ruths, Kirkland Brand Peanut Butter Cups), but the price per kilogram ( $ 7.04 / kg ) is not bad, and based on the weight of other similar bags of chocolate, I would guess that there are at least two hundred in there (which, hypothetically, would be $ 0.08 per candy .
Best Not For Chocolate: Costco
This category is a little tricky because it has a lot to do with whether or not you hate kids. If you hate kids, you can buy a bag of “candy” called “Kids Games” and drop it. “Kids Games,” which contains every Tootsie Roll shape, size and flavors ever made, as well as dots, are pretty cheap wherever you go. (And yes, I know Tootsie Rolls technically have chocolate “flavor,” but Tootsie Rolls are real chocolate, like dry hands are for sex.)
In any case, a bag, “Kids Games”, weighing 3 ½ pound can be found in stores Fred Meyer (Kroger store) and Target costs 7.99 dollars (5.03 dollars per kilogram), but only $ 0.33 more for kilogram (so, $ 5.36 per kilogram ). You can get a Costco bag with the same creepy name “Funhouse Treats” which contains a wider selection of much better chocolates (count them: Skittles, Mike & Ike, Life Savers Gummies, Sour Patch Kids, Nerds, Starbursts, Hot Tamales, Twizzlers, Haribo Gummy Bears, Swedish Fish and Everlasting Gobstoppers).
Best for Smart Guys: Don’t Buy Smart Guys, You Monster
I’m talking about these chalky American smarties. The ones you get across the pond (or in Canada) are drugs.
Best Place for Salty Snacks: Target
My guess is that if you are handing out chips or something similar, you are more concerned about the number of tiny bags you can buy. If you were looking for the best value for money in terms of chip mass, you would just buy a giant Doritos package from Costco and live your best life. However, there is one product that manages to be priced well in terms of portions and weight, and that is UTZ pretzels.
While not really chips, they are salty and crunchy, and you can buy fifty little packets of them at Target for $ 4.99 ( $ 0.10 per pack / $ 8.80 per kilogram ). Cheetos (crunchy) are the second-best deal on Target, but they cost nearly double the price of pretzels per pack ( $ 5.99 for $ 26 or $ 0.23 per bag / $ 12.50 per kilogram ). The scene with the chips at Costco is not much better, with the «Lay’s Classic Mix» the best value for money with 54 points (Cheetos, Fritos and Lay’s Potato Chip in the Classic, Sour Cream & Onion and Barbeque) at the price of 12.99 dollar (0, $ 24 apiece). bag / $ 8.49 per kilogram ).
Worst of all categories: Large games
Okay, that’s not entirely fair. Big Lots has a decent price tag on these caramel apples where you can get twenty for $ 2.95 ( $ 0.15 apiece), but that’s no better than Target’s eighteen for $ 2.69 ( also $ 0.15 per piece ). After all, Big Lots are completely useless for Halloween candy.
And here, my friends, you have to buy the Halloween award. Of course, if candy is just for you and not for the children of the world, just wait until the day after Halloween; then everything will be even cheaper.
Oh, and if you want to save on some Christmas candy, just do what my mom did: steal your kids’ Halloween bait and put it in the freezer until the end of December; I’m sure they won’t notice the little bats on their stockings.