Movie Fun For Less

by Nicole Humphrey | More from this Blogger

07 Jul 2006 09:28 AM

Movies are probably one of our most popular methods of entertainment. If you don't have cable or don't subscribe to movie channels, there is hope for saving money on this expensive entertainment.

Rent Rent movies instead of going out to the movies. With movie ticket prices on the rise, and movie rental prices dropping, you can beat a rented movie!

Share/Borrow/Trade Share your movies with your friends, family and neighbors. Borrow movies from them. We own enough DVD's and Videos to open our own rental shop. I compiled a typed list of movies in alphabetical order and printed it out. It was 25 pages long. Of course I also included a brief description and the movies ratings. You can pass this around to your neighbors or family and they could do the same for you.

Frequent Used Media Stores If you do want to own a particular movie, don't buy it brand new. Visit rental stores or used media stores and purchase it there. You can usually find it for more than 50% off the retail price. At rental stores they often have great deals like 4/$20.00 on used DVD's. Watch for those specials, and grab a few for your family. Don't forget to have a Family Movie night so everyone can enjoy them too!

Library Borrow movies on your library card for FREE! Our libraries have all of the latest and greatest movies. If it's not there, do a search on the libraries computer. You can usually even request one from another branch, or place a hold on one. You don't have to do anything except wait for it to arrive at your branch. Typically they will call you when it's there!

Matinée Go to your matinée showing at your local theater. Typically ticket prices are reduced dramatically during this time of day. You can then see the brand new movie that just opened this weekend for a lot less!

Candy Don't purchase your candy at the movie theater. The prices will literally drain your wallet. Eat a meal or heavy snack before going to the theater. Pack a couple of juice boxes in your purse for the kids. And grab some candy from the grocery store or discount chain before the movie. The savings can be 50%-75%!

Movie Discount Passes Be sure and utilize passes if your movie chain offers them. Sometimes if you buy movie tickets ahead you can use these.

Group Rates For us we are three short of our local movie theaters group rate discount. We have seven of us. But if we take some friends with us, we more than meet the group amount. Most movie theaters offer group discounts, usually for 10 or more. Take advantage of this way to save!

These are just a few of the ways you can save on the latest flick! Do you have any ideas?

Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Nicole Humphrey

Nicole Humphrey is a freelance writer, consultant for CTMH and a Sr. Blogger for families.com. She resides in St. Charles, Missouri with Mike and their five children and two furbabies.

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goofyG (21) 08 Jul 2006 01:36 PM

Regarding candy, I would caution your readers to not make it obvious that they have a large quantity of candy on their person when patronizing a cinema. I have known cinema employees to confiscate candy not purchased on site.

Andrea M (2525) 09 Jul 2006 02:18 PM

I have always bought my candy somewhere else other than the theatre. My kids have even walked into the movie with it in their hands and I have never had a problem. I think that they might feel pretty bad for taking candy from a child (that most have bought with their own money)! To this day I have had no problems with that. I think that these are all great ideas!

Nicole Humphrey (15757) 12 Jul 2006 03:53 PM

I too have never had any problem bringing candy into a movie theater. I'd actually be horrified if a movie theater attendant thought they could take anything away from me or my child. Maybe it is just around our neck of the woods that our movie theaters are more tolerant?

Obviously they would rather you purchase it from them which I understand, and they offer deals so that it comes with popcorn and soda and we do sometimes buy it, but most of the time we just bring it from home.

I'm sure if they saw me carrying in a popcorn bag and a couple of gas station soda's that would be a whole different story. LOL

I really don't see why anyone would actually have a problem, and thankfully I have not been faced with one.

In fact, just Sunday we went and saw Pirates 2, and we put candy in paper bags for each kid. Each of our five children walked in carrying the bags and proudly ate them out in the open. Nobody said a word and we noticed at least two other families in that packed theater had done the same.

So of course, I will caution everyone to use your better judgement when bringing something into a place like that, but as long as you're carrying in some candy, I just cannot see a problem with it.

Thanks for the thoughts :)

WordsAplenty (4029) 12 Jul 2006 05:53 PM

Around here, we have to sneak candy in. Sometimes they actually check bags and purses! Our theaters have signs up, explaining that outside snacks are not allowed.