The following tips can avoid you from debt this Halloween:

1. Try wrapped candies in bulk or purchasing generic – but still delicious! – brands in order to save money.
2. Team up with your neighbors, sit outside on lawn chairs and hand out candy together from the same spot. Everyone can save by divvying up all the candy costs.
3. Decorate your own way, making your own using construction paper, poster board, old sheets, old costumes and cotton balls.
4. Make your own costumes or borrow used costumes or arrange a costume swap between your kids’ friends.
5. Watch those admission costs. It can cost a pretty penny to visit some elaborate haunted houses and other Halloween attractions. Look for low-cost – or better yet, free – alternative activities by scanning calendar listings in the newspaper, staying alert for coupons and discounts, and visiting the Web sites of your city’s or county’s recreation departments.
6. Stay safe. Considering how costly an unexpected trip to the emergency room can be, remember to supervise young children when trick-or-treating or carving pumpkins, and also to eyeball all candy before letting your kids devour it.
7. Try to anticipate what you’ll spend between now and the end of the year and stick to a budget.