Husband is in charge of the Halloween Candy. He lives for this time of year. He gets the big assorted bags of stuff he likes (or likes most of) then arranges them in a basket by type and gives out what he likes the least first. And he usually finishes most of what he really likes before Halloween. Sigh. The man is 53 years old. There are Reese’s PB Cup wrappers littering my house like fall leaves.
That is fantastic. Good for you.
My wife and I get lots of leftovers, so we buy stuff I’ll eat (my wife isn’t much into candy). My wife usually buys mini chocolate bars and I buy the cheapest thing (pound for pound) that I still find relatively palatable – suckers or Tootsie Roll assortments, for instance.
I don’t get trick or treaters in my neighborhood because it’s rural. However, I do donate bags of the “good stuff” to trunk or treat at my church. I reward myself by buyin’ a couple bags of “good stuff” for the squeeze and me.
Then there is the annual tradition of goin’ to the store Hallowe’en night and/or the day after to buy half price “good stuff.” The days after Hallow’een, Valentine’s Day and Easter are known as “cheap chocolate” days.
I used to buy the good stuff, and by that I mean Trader Joe’s level full-sized chocolate bars. Little snack-sized snickers when times were lean.
But Celtling hates and despises chocolate. Last year she wouldn’t go near the front closet for a month, because it still “smelled like chocolate.” So this year I’m innovating - I got a bunch of inidividually wrapped glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs from the dollar store, and we’re giving those out instead.
The chocolate is in the drawer here at the office. Yummmm! And I’ll get a major infusion of it when she sorts out her bag. :: rubs hands together ::
Just realizing that I have to bump up my workouts in order to make up for all the leftovers.
No trick or treaters come to my own home (second floor, entrance on the back of the house) so I go to the home of friends who live in a neighborhood with a tremendous volume of trick or treaters. About a dozen of us get together, eat lasagna and pool candy.
In my current financial state I’ll take 2 bags of “fun size” somethings. I’ll choose whatever of the good stuff is most affordable based on my son’s preference first and mine second. Fortunately we both like Baby Ruths and I got a bag on sale last night.
If I was dispensing candy solo in that neighborhood it would have to be Dum Dum pops, though.
I grew up in a house with two flights of steps to the front door. We only got the most intrepid kids. That’s where I was educated to get candy you like because there WILL be leftovers. To this day Halloween conjures an image of my grandmother’s yellow glass mixing bowl filled with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups on the credenza.
Next time a “What if you were suddenly rich” thread comes around I will try and remember King Size Whatchamacallits for every trick-or-treater.
I buy something that I think Trick or Treaters will like. Sometimes I like it too. Other times, I think it is completely gross.
If there are leftovers (whether I like them or not) they come into work to be eaten by the locusts that appear to dwell here.
Normally I buy I mix of what I like and what my SO likes. This year I’ve been on a crazy diet so I’m only buying things I don’t like, but my SO does. He’s going to hide the leftovers from me, hopefully by taking them to the office where I can’t see them.
As I mentioned in this thread, we get a variety of brands of candy, and I start by passing out the stuff we least covet. I haven’t opened any of the bags yet, and won’t until Halloween, so there’s a chance (however slim) that I may not get to enjoy any of the treats myself.
My sister gives out kid’s choice of mini PlayDoh or glow necklace/bracelet. You can hear the kids yelling down the street “Hey! This lady’s giving out PlayDoh!!!” Funny thing is, even the big kids (HS age) like the PlayDoh and glow necklaces.
StG
You know, I’m beginning to see the flaw in my cunning plan. There’s a huge storm headed our way and a good chance that there will be no trickor treat this year.
Now, to be left in a blackout with a bag full of snicker bars or TJ chocolate is a boon to survival. At the very worst the lights come back onin a couple of days and you unload the leftovers on the starving interns at work.
But what the heckity am I going to do 50 or 60 glow-in-the-dark fang sets?!?
White elephant anyone?
The good news about glow in the dark fang sets–you can save them for Halloween NEXT year.
I buy both kinds, but as I am diabetic, the last kid who rings the doorbell before I turn in for the night gets the uber-treat as I just dump the bowl out into his bag. Go, me. This is especially great for the looks on the parents’ faces.
Inspired by my own life experience:
I have a brother who’s a year older than me. He got to go trick-or-treating his first time a year before I did. The next year, I asked him what the deal is, and he said, “you ring the doorbell, yell “trick or treat” when they open the door, and they give you some candy.” So our parents drive us to a part of town with houses rather than farmland.
First house: “Trick or treat!” Homeowner looks at us kind of funny. Picks up the bowl of candy and dumps half into my brother’s bag, half into mine. I think: “This is GREAT!”
Second house: The same.
Third house: The same.
My brother and I return to the car and tell our parent’s we’re done, as our shopping bags are full.
We had missed Halloween and were trick-or-treating on November 1.
I mostly buy candy I don’t like, so I won’t be tempted, but I do buy a little bit of stuff I like and then try to get rid of most of it first, only holding back a little for leftovers. But just because I don’t buy stuff I don’t like, doesn’t mean that I buy crappy stuff that NOBODY likes.
This year I won’t be buying any candy since I’m out in the field, and I probably wouldn’t even if I were home, I live in an apartment building and we never get any trick or treaters anyway.
We get at least decent peanut safe stuff, as well as something that really little ones can safely eat also. This way I can have a little bit of the candy too. 
I like Necco wafers and if I were home this year, that’s all I’d hand out.
You don’t like 'em? TOUGH.
Good thing for the little ones that I’m not home this year, I guess
Side tangent: When I lived in St. Paul, the fire station two blocks down gave out full-sized candy bars as part of their attempt to get kids used to the idea that going to the fire station was a cool thing to do in case they needed someplace safe to go.
What we like. I have a habit of overestimating potential trick or treaters and despite the Hubby being a generous candy giver there are leftovers.
When finances allow I try to get a variety of chocolate and non-chocolate candies, suckers and hard candies, gum and gummies. I like chocolate but am not a chocolate freak, I prefer caramel. This year looks like a chocolate heavy year though.
I choose other, because we used to get what we liked, but don’t pass out candy anymore. The idea was that if we got too much, it would not go to waste. There wasn’t usually much left anyway, as we’d get more generous towards the end of the night.
We stopped because where we live now is infected with young teens with a) pillowcases, b) no costumes, and c) no manners. They also like to pull the “double visit” maneuver. One year of that was one too many. Now it’s lights out and hunker down!