BOSTON, September 11, 2012 – With Halloween spending up 9% in 2011 to $72 per family on average, Americans should take the fright out of their purchasing. Just before the holiday gift buying season and on the heels of summer vacations & school shopping, many families are feeling cash-strapped.

The costs add up when buying candy, decorations, costumes and more, especially for families with more than one child. 70% of participants in a survey conducted by BIGResearch for the National Retail Federation planned to celebrate Halloween in 2011 and 50% planned to decorate their home or yard. There are simple ways to save on Halloween expenses. To avoid getting a scary bill related to Halloween purchases, Jon Lal, BeFrugal.com founder, recommends the following:

• When shopping for decorations, costumes & candy, shop online.

1. Visit a free coupons & cash back website such as BeFrugal.com to view available free shipping offers and online coupons.
2. After signing in, click on a money-saving offer that meets your needs. If you spot a money bag symbol on BeFrugal.com, you can get more savings by earning cash back in addition to using an online coupon.
3. Then shop as normal, completing your purchase in a timely manner in the current browser.

• If you plan to shop at the store for decorations, costumes & candy, there are two ways your computer can help you save:

1. Look at weekly online sales flyers to see what’s on sale before you go to the store.
2. After you’ve identified the sales, check for printable coupons online for retail stores to save on costumes & decorations and get grocery coupons online for candy.

"At BeFrugal.com, we are glad to help families have a fun Halloween while stretching their dollars further. Our free online resources – such as online and printable coupons, cash back and online weekly ads - can help them save,” said Jon Lal, founder of BeFrugal.com.

Coupons & cash back website BeFrugal.com offers free online coupons that have save an average of $27 per purchase, and an average of 7 percent cash back - where a percentage of eligible online transactions is deposited into a free BeFrugal.com account. The savings are available on purchases made with 3000+ merchants including popular stores such as Target, Kmart, Walmart, Halloween Express and many others.

With a record number of 3,000+ cash back stores, and coupons for 40,000 stores, BeFrugal.com has a greater number of stores than any comparable cash back program. The BeFrugal.com free cash back offering was announced in 2011 to save shoppers more money, rewarding shoppers with cash back for their eligible online purchases. BeFrugal.com now offers an average of 7 percent cash back on purchases, which can be combined with their free online coupons to get extra savings on each purchase. Since launching in 2009, BeFrugal.com has saved shoppers more than $25 million dollars.

About BeFrugal.com

BeFrugal.com is a website focused on frugal living. It features cash back, coupons, deals and bargains, as well as Web-based tools to help consumers save money.

Image thanks to lobo235 on Flickr.