Is this TOO cheap? or smart?

[Disneylush]

For Halloween we get about 250-500 kids (we live about a mile from a couple of high rise apartment buildings) They come by the van load and never stop! Last year I gave out pencils I got when Target school supplies went 75% off. This year our Targets didn't even have pencils left at full price 2 weeks before school started! So here is what I am thinking. The brunswick bowling alley website lets you print off as many coupons as you would like for a free game of bowling and I have a stack of card stock left from my kid's consignment sale.

I am thinking of printing free bowling coupons on card stock and passing them out for Halloween

Am I too cheap or smart?

TIA

 

[fakereadhed]

Too cheap. And I would feel sorry for the poor folks at the Brunswick bowling alley who get slammed with 500 free games.

 

[luvsJack]

I would at least have to tape a sucker or little pack of m&m's or something to the coupon.

Oriental Trading Company has stuff you can buy in bulk if you get that many kids and its pretty cheap.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

For Halloween we get about 250-500 kids (we live about a mile from a couple of high rise apartment buildings) They come by the van load and never stop! Last year I gave out pencils I got when Target school supplies went 75% off. This year our Targets didn't even have pencils left at full price 2 weeks before school started! So here is what I am thinking. The brunswick bowling alley website lets you print off as many coupons as you would like for a free game of bowling and I have a stack of card stock left from my kid's consignment sale.

I am thinking of printing free bowling coupons on card stock and passing them out for Halloween

Am I too cheap or smart?

TIA

That's a lot of kids! We get (maybe) 20 kids on a nice night so I always buy the full-size candy bars and I still have some leftover at the end of the night.

Around here, turning the porch light off is a sign that you're out of candy or not participating in ToT. Maybe you could do that instead? The bowling cards sound like a lot of effort and I don't know that the kids will get to use them like they would a pencil or small toy.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

Can you hit up your local Dollar Store? Ours has great Halloween treats, and even buying that much would probably cost you less than the ink/toner would for that many copies!

 

[mrudman]

I second the Oriental Trading idea...

Was just looking at their site at the Halloween goodies, and you can get
6-packs of crayons in a cute halloween box for fairly cheap.

They come bundled in 24 boxes, and if you bought 15 of those bundles that would give you 360 boxes to give away....

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/b...I=processProductsCatalog&sd=Halloween+Crayons


Use the 20% coupon that's out right now, and these would cost you $35.88 plus shipping (and believe there's free shipping codes out right now also).

You'd probably spend that much in the ink to print out that many coupons.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Kids like candy....period. The "free" game of bowling will cost mom and dad at least the price of shoe rental. Not so free. I would go to Sam's or Walmart and buy a large bag of Dum Dum suckers and hand those out. Kids I know would really turn their noses up at a pencil.

 

[okeydokey]

I can sympathize because we usually get 200-300 kids. However, a few big bags of smarties or dum dum pops aren't that much. If need be, you can turn off the lights when you run out.

 

[1-disneyfan]

Asked my DD6 what she thought, it was a no go......only candy, like's the pencils too. How about Costco or Sam's club? they have big bags of Halloween candy now

 

[DawnM]

I agree.....inexpensive candy is better.

Dawn

 

[allison443]

I think you should just buy whatever candy you can afford, in whatever quantity you can afford, and when you run out, you're done.

 

[areno79]

I get about 400 kids each year, and always hit up Sam's Club. This year I got Ring pops, blow pops, and full size Airheads all for about $40.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

That is alot of kids. While i dont necessarily like the idea of giving away something printed off of someone's website(no matter what it is), you could just buy a bag of dum dums which has about 300 candies and give each kid one.
I know that today everyone is watching their dollars so i understand not wanting to spend alot. So on the flip side, as a parent, i teach my children to be grateful for what they get. No one has to do anything. I appreciate people spending their money on treats for children.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you can't afford to give out candy, then don't give out anything. Just turn off your front lights and go out to a movie or something if you're not willing to ignore the occasional kid who ignores the no-light-over-the-door signal.

The cheapest candy option is hard candy. Skip the chocolate if you're on a budget. Word will quickly get out that the pickings at your house are slim, and your numbers will decline accordingly.

 

[mum of two pirates]

micowave popcorn this year from costco. A box of 32 is like $4 right now using the coupon in their book. I thought that was a better deal than buying chocolate this year as it is on sale.

 

[KelleyD]

Walmart.com has 80 sticker/tatoos in individual boxes for $5. (4 boxes of 20 boxes with stickers or tatoos in them. I think its 6 stickers per box and 4 tatoos per box)

Free site to store shipping...Mostly halloween i think they threw some kittens in there...but its a good deal if you have a walmart close by.

 

[marlynnp]

Just turn off your light.

I think the bowling alley would have an issue with someone printing and handing out hundreds of their coupons. And your neighbors would have an issue with the litter as I'm sure many of those would get tossed on the ground.

 

[pearlieq]

Way too cheap. And possibly not that cost-effective, depending on what kind of ink your printer uses.

Around here, Pixy Sticks are 180 for about $4-5. Get $20 worth and call it a night. You could probably even give each kid two. The kids will appreciate it much more.

One year, in an effort not to eat too much halloween candy, I got a punch of those McD's coupons to give the trick or treaters. I had one 3 year old boy tell me, quite indignantly, "We're getting candy, NOT PAPER!" It was kind of funny, but I can't believe his Dad didn't say anything to him. My mom would have been on me like white on rice if I had done that!

 

[a1tinkfans]

OMGosh!
We are lucky enough to get 30 kids, tops!

I say turn the light out when you run out of WHATEVER you can afford to purchase. No one should feel obligated to feed some kids sweet tooth, It should not put you in the poor house. Buy what you can..........

At out home,
We always have a halloween bowl with chocolate and lollipops and another of silly TOYS, like whistles, and "tricks" and silly key chains and basic kid junk....(saved up during the year, oriental trading, Xtras from party favors (like the rubber dinosaurs, etc...)

Kids get to choose which basket they take from...and Usually its the toy....If it were me I'd take the CHOCOLATE.....which is why I have not bought ANY candy for halloween yet, I'd eat it!!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN to ALL! I love to see the little ones in their costumes, what fun..............

 

[malibuconlee]

I bought the mini bags of microwave popcorn to give out this year. I also bought two bags of the individual teddygrahams for the younger kids. I always try and have something for the little ones that might not be able to eat the candy...like my daughter this year!!