CORRIN, Neb. — Tom Ruddick, 61, said Saturday that he had bought the candy his household will hand out next Halloween, a bag of fun-size bars he paid for at a discount grocery in Corrin, Neb., in early October, and that the purchase was made with money from the current year, which he said was the only kind he has ever used.
“I have not carried a balance since 1994,” Ruddick said at his kitchen table, where a green ledger lay open beside a plate of the 2027 candy. “I pay in cash. I count the change. I do not believe in debt, so I do not believe in next October. The bag was on the shelf with this year’s bags, and it was the same price, so I took it home and paid for it before anyone could ask me to wait.”
The National Retail Federation said in its Halloween forecast that U.S. consumers expect to spend $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, based on a survey by Prosper Insights & Analytics of 7,889 consumers conducted Sept. 1 through 9. Average spending is projected at $115.14 per person, compared with $114.45 last year. Ninety-six percent of consumers plan to buy sweets, accounting for $4.1 billion in spending.
Dr. Marjorie Teller, director of the Center for Measured Outcomes, said the figures were preliminary and that a survey is not a receipt. “A forecast tells you what people told a pollster they intended to do in September,” Teller said by phone. “It does not tell you what they bought in October, or what they bought in advance, or in what year. Further study is needed.” The Center has applied for a grant to study the question.
Ruddick said he was not concerned about the grant, or about the bag’s freshness, which he said would be assessed when the bag arrived. He said he had already put the receipt in the ledger, under the heading “Future,” which is also the name of the section where he keeps his savings. The receipt is dated Oct. 3, 2026. The candy is dated Oct. 31, 2027.
Ruddick said he planned to buy his 2028 candy next spring, once the 2027 bags are on sale, and that he had already written the purchase into the ledger. He said he would tell his grandchildren about the arrangement when they were old enough to understand money, which he estimated would be in the year 2041.
“The way I see it, the candy is paid for,” Ruddick said. “I cannot give you a reason it is not, because it is in the bag, and the bag is in the pantry, and I have the receipt. I have been cash-only my whole life. This is just cash that is early.”
The National Retail Federation’s figures show total spending expected to rise, and the per-person average up by less than a dollar. Ruddick said he had checked the math twice and that the difference was enough to buy one additional fun-size bar, which he said he would put in the 2027 bag.