How Many Days Until Halloween? 8 Days Left on Oct. 23

Eight days left, and the most useful thing this weekend is not buying more. Halloween is eight days out, on Saturday, October 31, which leaves five weekdays and three weekend days.

Where the discounts are, in order

Prices fall in a sequence, and it runs opposite to what most shoppers assume. Costumes are discounted first and hardest, because a licensed costume has no value on November 1 and retailers clear it aggressively. Decorations are discounted moderately and later, because generic items can be stored and sold next year. Candy barely moves at all in the final week, because demand peaks exactly when supply is thinnest.

That produces a split strategy rather than a single rule. Wait on the costume if the exact character does not matter. Buy the decorations now if you want them at all, because the good ones sell out before the discounts arrive. Buy candy this weekend rather than next, since the price will not improve and the selection will.

What the season costs, with a week to go

The National Retail Federation’s 2026 survey puts average spending at 115.14 per person, with households averaging 52 and households with children around 60. Nationally, costumes account for 4.4 billion, decorations 4.3 billion, candy 4.1 billion and greeting cards $0.8 billion. Those figures describe the country rather than any kitchen table, but the balance is informative: costumes and decorations together are more than twice the candy bill, which is why reuse changes a household’s total more than any coupon.

The category where late buying genuinely works is costumes, because a costume has no second season. Retailers would rather sell at a loss than store licensed merchandise for a year, which is why the discounts at the end of October run deeper than anything offered in September. Selection is the tradeoff, and by this weekend the shelves hold size runs missing their middle.

Anyone shopping for next year should reverse the advice. Decorations and non-perishable props bought in the final week cost less than they will in September, and they can be stored. The post-holiday window is the only time of year that gets both the discount and the choice.

This weekend is also the last realistic window for alterations. Anything that needs a hem, a strap adjustment or a size swap has to be handled in the next three days, because tailors and dry cleaners fill up in the final week and frequently stop taking new work by October 28.