Cheerful Frugality Goes To The Movies
While Frugal Hacks founder Kim C is gallivanting at a film festival, I thought we'd talk about movies.
Or, how to enjoy them without paying $12 a ticket and $5 for a Diet Coke.
We used to go to the movies like regular people. Then we downsized to the $1.50 cinema for as long as it lasted. And then...we just stopped going.
(May I recommend having small children and no babysitter as an easy deterrent?)
Every year or two we see a blockbuster like Indiana Jones--when the big screen truly enhances the experience. Otherwise, we barely notice what we're missing.
5 Easy Alternatives To Movie Theatre Robbery:
- Redbox--love the free coupon codes, love that I can pull up to a McDonald's or Walgreens kiosk and leave the kids 3 feet away in their carseats.
- Netflix--for regular DVD viewers, especially of esoteric films.
- Trading--swap DVDs with another family for the weekend.
- Library--kid movie heaven, also good for those television series DVDs that are so pricey to buy.
- Drive-in theatres--still exist, particularly good for large families.
Eliminating the movie theatre habit has been painless and practical for my family.
The only downside? The popcorn gets spilled on my floor instead!
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14 Responses to “Cheerful Frugality Goes To The Movies”
January 12th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Lucky here! Local movie rental has the “second” run movies at 5 movies, 5 days for $5.00.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Hubby and I went to countless movies before children and then like you we downgraded to the matinee or the cheap theater. Along came children and we probably get to the movies three times a year. There is a cheap theater in town that we do take the kids to once a year when a good kids movie is in the theater but since it’s a rare trip it’s extra special to my kids.
We load up on library movies and one at a time Netflix instead and we are entertained very well indeed. And I save bunches on money on popcorn and soda this way too.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:48 am
We have been using Netflix for almost a year and love it. We upgraded to two movies a time which averages to two movies a week. Occasionally we’ve had to wait for a new release but its worth it.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:52 am
We still have a 99-cent movie theater near us. I only go when there’s something for the boys playing, and including splurging on a Coke & popcorn (to share), we can go for $10. Still, it only happens a few times a year, usually in the dead heat of summer, or the dead of winter.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
You are very lucky that you have a kiosk that is outside so you don’t have to take kids out of the car. Every one that I have seen in my area are inside McDonalds so obviously, my children have be unbuckled to go in for literally about 1 minute and then buckled back in again.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Great topic!
If you buy movies, I’ve found the local pawn shop to be a bargain. We rarely buy them, but when we do, that’s one of the first places we look. If we can’t get it there, secondhand on Amazon is pretty sweet as well.
January 12th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Sorry we didn’t connect at the festival. It was funny that we parked right next to each other and then I never saw you again. I hope your family had a nice time. I know we did. Lisa~
January 13th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
we love the redbox too, for buying we find rental places (like blockbusters)are great finds. You don’t have to be a member to buy often have deals going on with new & used dvds a 30 day bring it back policy & that also extends to games
January 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
We don’t go to movies very often. The local theater (small town life here, so no big chain) charges only six bucks a ticket, but still. That adds up quickly, especially when the snack bar is just as expensive as it is in a larger city.
SwapADVD.com is a pretty-good place to trade DVDs with other people all over the United States. You do have to pay for postage to send out your DVDs to earn credits that you spend on movies that you want, but it’s worth the investment if you ask me.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
We use the dollar theater (1.00 on Tuesdays and 2.00 every other day) and “sneak in” our own snacks. I guess it’s up to you how ethical you want to be. We even bring in some hot dogs wrapped in tin foil, cans of soda, candies, homemade popcorn, etc…
January 18th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Going to the movies seems like such a waste of money to us. First of all, the faire offered is usually not what our family would care to see, and even if something decent is produced (which is exceedingly rare), it’ll be out in the rental places within just a few months.
China4
January 18th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
We bought several VHS tapes at our local Friends of the Library store. They were $.50 each. Friends of the Library can be it’s own store or sometimes just a shelf in your local library that houses books, movies, and such that other people have donated and they don’t necessarily want them on their shelves. One of the movies we picked up was the old Flipper movie about the dolphin.
January 18th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I just thought of another possibility. If you have a local swap meet, flea market people or curriculum sale you can usually find movies for sale.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
My hubby and I used to have “date day” once a week and that would include dinner/movie. To save money we usually did matinees. Our financial situation got quite bad after a while so…we stopped going period. Then we found Netflix and love it! We get to see many movies that we would have never have even thought existed and we usually watch one every night so we definately get our monies worth. What we pay per month for Netflix is about what we would pay Just to go to the movies once!LOL! Insane I tell you.
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