A new survey finds 157 million Americans will mark Halloween this year, spending about $6.9 billion as they do.

The survey was done for The National Retail Federation by Prosper Insights and Analytics.

Federation spokeswoman Kathy Grannis said average spending for Halloween this year is down slightly from last year.

"Consumers are really just taking more of a conservative approach to buying new items, meaning that they will take a look at what they already have, especially after years of stocking up, and decide what they really need from a store, from a retailer to celebrate this year," she said.

The average spending per person for halloween this year is $74.24, compared with $77.52 last year.

Grannis said Halloween is still one of the most beloved times of year for millions of Americans, and in fact, we have seen the celebrations really skyrocket over the last few years.

She said most of our bucks will go for treats: "The majority of halloween celebrants' budget will go to candy, not surprisingly."

"The second part of the really big budget for consumers comes in a variety of different areas, in the sense that people are either going to buy accessories to make their own, or they will head to their store to buy new pet costumes, or they will look for something special for their child, or they really will go all out and buy that expensive costume for themselves," Grannis said.

Spending for adult costumes will be around $1.2 billion — $950 million for kids' costumes, and another $350 million dressing up their cats or dogs.

According to the federation's survey, 68 million Americans will dress up this Halloween. Another 20 million pet owners will dress their pets.

Other parts of the Halloween budget will go to decorations, and even greeting cards, for people who want to celebrate Halloween across the miles.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor at New Jersey 101.5.

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