With the huge number of jobs cut this week, it is a good day to learn about cheap entertainment options:
- Downgrade/get rid of cable TV. This has the potential of saving you lots of money over the rest of your life on TV entertainment alone. Get an over the air antenna or watch your favorite shows online. You can read more about this tip here.
- Do not pay movie theater prices. Get netflix instead. For a low monthly rent of $8.99 you can check as many DVDs as you like (1 at a time) and watch thousands of movies online.
- If you don’t mind waiting to get the movie you want to watch, check it out from your local library. You may need to put a hold on the movies you want because good ones are in very high demand, and are almost always checked out.
- While you are at the library, check out a few books.
- If you really want need to watch a movie in the theaters, go before 2:30pm on weekends and 5pm on weekdays to catch a matinee show. Matinee show hours will vary, so don’t forget to check your local theater’s website before heading out. This will save you $2-4 per person per movie.
- Do not buy popcorn/soda/candy at concession stands in the theater. This is where theaters make the biggest margins. Have a snack before the movie to reduce temptations once you are at the theater.
- Host a board game night for friends and family and play a fun game like Monopoly. Even better, play mafia – it does not require you to buy a board; and all the drama, lies, suspense, and murders makes you feel like you are in a movie.
- Play video games. The arcade version of a XBox 360 costs only $199, but it can entertain you for hours on end, saving you money you would have spent on other entertainment.
- Play online games for free. Zone.msn.com and games.yahoo.com are good sites that have tons of games for all types of people.
- Don’t buy music, don’t pay for subscription satellite radio, but don’t pirate music either. Use a free online radio service such as pandora. Pandora is great because if you tell it your favorite artist, band o/composer, it will find music that you will like.
- And because I like to under-promise and over-deliver, here’s tip number 11 for you: go out for a run, do something physical, play frisbee, enjoy the setting sun (or the rising sun depending on your waking hours), play with your kids, play with your pets. Not only do these activities have entertaining values, but they will enrich your life and keep you mentally and physically healthy as well.
