SPOOKY season is here but forget the the ghastly ghouls and spooky spirits.
The most horrifying thing of all is running out of sweets for children on Halloween.
Whether you’re throwing a party to celebrate October 31 or just embracing the spirit by giving treats out, you’ll need to be well prepared.
The shops are stocked up on sweets perfect for trick or treaters and there are plenty of offers to help get the best price.
Big tubs often work out as some of the best value, and you can remind little monsters to just take one or two.
Or individually wrapped sweets from treat sharing bags may feel like a more hygienic options if there are going to be lots of little hands dipping into tubs.
If you don’t want to answer the door Halloween night, you can get free ‘please take one’ printable signs on social media site Pinterest.
These are ideal when leaving a bowl by the door, helping to remind everyone to take no more than their fair share of goodies so you don’t run dry early on.
Here are the best deals on sweets in the shops this year…
ALDI
Aldi has brought back retro sweetshop hero Flying Saucers, 99p (20g) in sweet and sour flavours, especially for Halloween.
The grocer’s Halloween Scary Sweets, 99p, for 160g, include spiders, brains, and fangs – perfect for emptying and mixing in a big bowl.
ASDA
Asda is running two for £4 on a variety of sharing packs, including Haribo Share The Happy 22-packs mini treat bags usually £3 each.
Cadbury Freddo & Friends 12-packs, normally £3, are also included in the offer, as well as Swizzels scary mix of sweets, and trick or treat lolly mix – both usually £2.50.
B&M
You can get a dedicated Trick or Treat glow in the dark box for £4 from B&M, it’s filled with around 66 sweets – perfect for holding out when you get a knock at the door.
Or the retailer also has £1 packs of monster gummies, fizzy fangs, and witches fingers, which can be popped into a bowl.
The store is also stocking smaller packs of gummy treats for 89p each.
LIDL
Lidl is one of the best value stores for Halloween sweets this year
You can get a great value tub of 1kg jelly Halloween sweets for £4.49 which is one the cheapest around.
Or Halloween chocolate balls are a great option for popping in a bowl, as each is individually wrapped. A 200g bag is £1.99.
Or a giant 1.2kg bag of Halloween fruit chews, again individually wrapped, is £5.99.
Smaller 200g bags of vampire teeth are £1.29. And Chupa Chups mini 30 lollies are £1.99.
MORRISONS
At Morrisons you can get fun size treat bags for £2.75, down from £4.20.
The supermarket is also offering two sweet tubs for £7 for More card customers.
What is loyalty pricing?
You may have heard of loyalty pricing, but do you know what it is?
Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons are three supermarkets that offer customers signed up to their loyalty schemes exclusive discounts – known as loyalty pricing.
All three retailer’s schemes, Nectar Card, Clubcard and More Card, are free to sign up to as well.
The obvious advantage to loyalty pricing is that you can save potentially hundreds of pounds a year on your shopping, all without spending a penny.
But different supermarkets offer exclusive discounts on different products, so do some research before doing your shopping.
Either way, be wary of supermarkets artificially inflating prices to make it seem like you’re getting a better deal than you are.
A previous investigation by consumer group Which? found Sainsbury’s and Tesco have increased the price of everyday goods then slapped loyalty prices on them thinking customers wouldn’t notice.
Either way, it’s worth shopping around though.
Supermarkets change their prices all the time, sometimes multiple times daily, so it’s worth researching to ensure you’re getting the best price on an item.
You can use websites like Trolley to see how the major supermarket’s compare in terms of price on any number of goods.
And Rocky Mountain Mega Marshmallows £2 down from £2.75
POUNDLAND
Hop over to Poundland and you can pick-up a 420g tub of Haribo starmix or tangfastics for £2.75.
Or a pack of 11 mini Haribo starmix is £1.50.
You can also get a pack of 30 mini chuppa chups lollies for £2. Or a 140g bag of Maoam stripes is £1.40.
SAINSBURYS
A bumper box of 50 starmix is £5 working out as 10p a treat bag,[/caption]
At Sainsbury’s you’ll also find the best deals if you are a Nectar card holder.
A bumper box of 50 Haribo starmix treat bags is £5 with a Nectar card of £5.50 without, working out as 10p a bag.
A 22-pack of Haribo Share The Happy, 352g is down from £3 to £2 with Nectar, this is actually a slightly better value option than the box with the treat bags working out at just over 9p each.
IF you want to pour some sweets in a bowl, try Sainsbury’s fruity blood bites, 70p with Nectar or 85p without.
Other offers include a 20-pack of fun size chocolate bars is £3 with Nectar or £5.20 without.
Or Skittles sharing pouch, 318g, is £1.25 with Nectar or £2.50 without.
TESCO
If you’re a Clubcard customer you can save a third on a range of sugary delights perfect for handing out on Halloween.
A bag of 14 Milky Way, Malteaser or Mars fun size is down to £2.75.
Or 18 fun size Skittles bags are £2.75, from £4.
You can also get Haribo Share The Happy Fizzy & Fruit Gums, or Starmix 22 multi pack, both 352g for £2.35, down from £3, This is slightly more expensive than Sainsbury’s which is stocking the same pack.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
