This one is just kind of a “feeling in the room” kind of thing - does anyone know what’s happening lately?
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This is hilarious. Unorthodox Halloween treats actually win the night 
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckdy5qFrNCj/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
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I hope this becomes a thing every Halloween now. 
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Even better if they coordinate it among the neighbors so it moves every year and it becomes a game of find the potato
Edit: they could call the neighborhood “Potatoland”…
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That is an excellent idea!
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Genius.
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I first heard this guy on a financial podcast a few years ago - he has been doing various mystery cash envelope games each year. Sounds pretty cool!
It’s no 
tho’
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/how-kids-can-learn-inflation-lessons-at-halloween/
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That’s really cool!
I’ll have to try to view the link on my phone - it’s behind a paywall.
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Huh, I didn’t get any paywall popups… Here’s the text from reader mode.
I stuck it under a “hide details” button so so it isn’t ginormous on small devices. People can click the Summary button to expand it.
Summary
New twist in ‘cash or candy’ game may cast a rewarding inflation spell on trick-or-treaters
Oct. 14, 2022 at 6:30 am Updated Oct. 14, 2022 at 7:16 am
The cost of Halloween is going up this year.
Inflation has hit costumes, decorations and, of course, candy.
Americans plan to spend an average of $169 in 2022, according to a survey out this week from LendingTree, with parents of underage children shelling out an average of $309.
Of course, the kids are mostly oblivious to how inflation affects the holiday. They may notice some shrinkflation — smaller candy bars and/or less-generous neighbors — but Halloween is one thing that the participants should come away from feeling was “normal,” even in these unusual times.
Except at my house, of course, because since 2016 I have answered the cries of “Trick or treat!” with a question of my own: “Cash or candy?”
It’s a fun, fabulous and favorite personal tradition built around decision-making and the value of money; it’s a fun Halloween exercise that takes some spookiness out of money discussions, encouraging parents and kids to have conversations.
Plus, it limits my leftover candy, which is good for my waistline.
In a year with such financial turmoil, I encourage you to try it in your neighborhood.
I change my system every year to keep it interesting for both me and the kids; while my methods are over the top, I have talked with many people who used their own system, as simple as offering a choice of half-dollars or candy bars.
The idea is to challenge the children to think of candy as what it really is to them, a valuable commodity. It’s the return-on-investment they get from dressing up and coming to my house.
The fun flows freely from there.
Start by setting a baseline; visiting me in costume “earns” three pieces of fun-sized candy. Historically, that has been worth about 37.5 cents total; this year, it’s 50 cents or more.
Children in the second grade or below get candy.
Third graders and up have choices.
Before revealing the choices I’m offering for Halloween 2022, let me point out that kids overwhelmingly choose cash over candy.
That was true in 2016, when trick-or-treaters had a straight-up either/or choice of candy or a coin envelope with anywhere from 25 cents to $6 in it (every envelope had a coin; the jackpot envelope held a $1 coin plus a $5 bill).
In 2017, kids could select from envelopes with at least 25 cents and up to $3, or could trade a piece of candy they’d collected to pick from envelopes containing 50 cents up to five bucks. Some 90% of the kids not only wanted money but played big.
In 2018, trading in one candy earned an envelope with between 50 cents and $4 [half of the envelopes held the minimum], while three candies bought a pick from a basket where winning envelopes held between $1 and $10, but where half of the envelopes held no money at all.
About two-thirds of the kids played for big money (just over half went home empty-handed), 25% went with the sure thing and the rest took candy.
A “lottery element” was added in 2019, an additional option of trading six pieces of candy to play for a $20 jackpot, but every envelope except for the winner and a $10 second prize was empty. A boy named Liam will someday tell his children about the time he came home from trick-or-treating with 20 bucks.
Ironically, kids who wanted a guaranteed win but a smaller potential jackpot wound up winning more than the kids who played for something bigger, most lottery players went home empty-handed.
COVID-19 changed things in 2020 (no trading of candy), with the options being a 3-piece candy gift bag, a gift card for a dollar (or a $1.35 ice cream sandwich) to the neighborhood ice cream shop, a pick from envelopes with between a quarter and five bucks in it, and the lottery option.
The older kids all went for the money or the ice cream (which was the best value, although you had to bike or walk to the shop or persuade parents to take you).
In 2021, the choices remained the same. More kids played the lottery, fewer took the sure things, especially the ice cream.
This year’s twist: Children must decide whether to take their three candies, a $1 coin, or to trade two candies for envelopes that could win $5, or trade five candies to play the lottery.
Given the rising price of candy, kids who trade it should calculate if they are overpaying for the chance to win. (Hint: They are.)
It’s the safety-minded dollar takers who are likely to come away on average as the winners unless the jackpots are hit.
But if the children are truly affected by inflation and seeing it and hearing about it at home, they may recognize the value of a dollar; someday they may equate the idea of giving up the candy for a $1 coin as the same kind of choice as saving a dollar and having an employer match it in a retirement plan.
Over the years, I have heard 9-year-olds talk about “return on investment,” discuss risks, gambling and more. Preteen girls have talked about how to decide which choice “makes the most of my money.”
Kids try to calculate every angle — they want to make good choices, they’d like to win — and making them now on something fun will only help them later in life when the stakes are much bigger.
If you have children or grandchildren, ask them what they would do. Tell them how you would make your decision, and whether you would base it on fun, hope or value. Talk about the cost of the candy they see in the grocery checkout line and how spending decisions are the exact same as what they are thinking about here.
It will make the holiday a lot more valuable and memorable than normal.
And if it leads to fun discussions in your household, bring the fun to your neighborhood. Yes, it costs a bit more to do this than to simply hand out candy, but it’s totally worth it even at 2022 inflated prices.
Chuck Jaffe: on Twitter: @MoneyLifeShow. Chuck Jaffe is a nationally syndicated financial columnist and the host of “Money Life with Chuck Jaffe.” Tune in at moneylifeshow.com.
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That’s a really neat concept.
I think I would come at it from the fun angle - lottery should never be played for a need anyway and if I win I could do more than stuff three candies in my face with my winnings.
Speaking of - anyone here a billionaire this morning?
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No winners, Powerball is now $1.5B last time I checked.
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