Our post from a couple weeks back regarding frugality sure brought in some great comments here and on some other boards. Based on those comments, I am going to provide some alternatives that to some may be pretty obvious, however, the point is to get you thinking about your spending instead of waiting to think about it when your credit card bill arrives (cough, you should be paying with cash you have).
So we all love movies. It gives us 2 hours of peace and if we're lucky the kids are sleeping or with a babysitter.
Let's look at your options:
- Go to the theater- Hey, fun, let's get out of the house. This is a fair option but the most expensive. You are looking at $9 per ticket (more in NY I think) so for 2 people you are at $18. Add some popcorn and a Coke and you realistically going to spend $30.00 to see one movie.
- Go to a drive-in- Believe it or not, these still exist. It's cheaper in the sense that you might pay $10.00 per car as opposed to $10.00 per person. Your cost for refreshments will vary based on how many people you have with you. However staying within the 2-person example, $20.00 should do it; a savings of $10.00. If you are lucky, the drive-in you choose will show a double-feature so you can watch two movies. Unless you are in a cramped 1978 Pinto, that sounds pretty good to me. If you are looking for a drive-in, visit Driveinmovie.com which I never knew existed until now.
- Rent a movie- You know the drill. Go to the rental store, walk-the-walk and look for a good new movie. This option is great and will only cost you $4-5. When you get home, a little popcorn in the microwave and a drink and you are done for no more than $6. Just do yourself a favor, when you are done watching, get the damn movie into your car so when you leave the house next you return it. If late, you are paying $4-$5 per day.
- Pay-per-view- Your selection is pretty limited with most satellite providers or cable companies and you have to watch the movie based on their schedule but you only pay $4.95 per movie. Obviously there is no late-fee risk.
- Subscribe to a delivery service- In my opinion, this is the best value. You spend anywhere from $5.99-$19.99 per month and you get the movies actually delivered to your door. When you are done, stick it in the mailbox and order more. There are never any late fees and I've found that these services have great selections. Netflix is the leader in this category and I used their service for a year before we totally cut movies out of the budget.
- Play around on youtube- Ok, not quite the same thing but it's free. My daughter and I have honestly sat in front of youtube for 2 hours before laughing like crazy at some of the videos we found.
- Online movie downloads- There are about 50 options here and they are all cheap. Don't expect to get the new releases like you would at Blockbuster, but us cheapskates can't be picky. We are not going to review all of the options because I found a site that already did.
- The neighborhood library- You may not get the newest releases but is 100% free provided you have a library card (although my library charges a $1 per day late fee).
-Mark
Somewhat related:
Google Movie Previews
Not reviews, but previews. Google constantly updates their new site allowing you to watch the trailer from movies currently in the theater and coming attractions. One of the nicer parts is that it allows you to download the trailer to your PSP or iPod.
Cutting Costs: Seeing Movies
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