The only thing scary about Halloween since becoming a parent is how much looking like Elsa costs. Every year for over the past decade, The National Retail Federation has crunched these numbers you never really wanted to know, and this year it found that spending in the U.S. could top out at $8.4 billion — the highest in the 11-year history of the consumer survey. Who needs haunted houses when you have this to keep you up at night?
Looking at 6,791 consumers total, the NRF found that individual shoppers are expected to shell out about $82.93 on average, up from $74.34. If you think that sounds like an expensive bed sheet with holes cut it in, it is. According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.1 billion on costumes, $2.5 billion on candy, $2.4 billion on decorations, and $390 million on Halloween greeting cards — which will be promptly thrown in the garbage, because come on.
