Posted: 6/9/18 at 3:38pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 3:41pm
delete
Updated On: 6/9/18 at 03:41 PM
Posted: 6/9/18 at 3:50pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 3:58pm
basically ditto, alcohol and friends.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 4:34pm
Ditto for me too. I don't drink anymore, and am not the type of girl to spend money on expensive shoes and purses the way a lot of my friends do. Theatre is my splurge, other than travel.
Also worth saying that age/career has a lot to do with it. When I first moved to the city and was living paycheck to paycheck I was obviously seeing WAY less than I am now in my late 30s with an established career. I've worked hard to get where I am and feel very grateful to be in a position now that I can see whatever I want to see. Certainly wasn't always the case.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 4:43pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 4:46pm
I don’t go out often, only when visiting friends which is usually like three times a year. I don’t eat out much unless I have gift cards. I don’t live in the city but I don’t live super far either so I can save money by taking a bus into the city during my trips.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 6:02pm
I do hair modeling to get free haircuts (or sometimes even get paid to have my hair cut) and skimp on other expenses like that (do my own nails, don't get my eyebrows waxed, etc). I'd rather pay $100 to see a show than pay $100 to get my hair trimmed. I try to get as many comps as possible but it's harder to do for hot shows. I try to only splurge on prime tickets when it's something I really want to see and has a limited run.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 6:09pm
I have friends in the community who I help get tickets and who help me get tickets.
I am starkly against materialism so I don't buy vinyl, new clothing (unless I have to), or all the other little things that add up quickly like I used to!
I stopped drinking completely, which saves me a LOT of money a money.
And I don't live outside of my means. If I don't have money in the bank to buy something, I don't buy it. I have a modest apartment and I don't go out to eat (unless it's grabbing Papaya Dog or something off a fast food value menu).
By not racking up debt, I don't have to pay debt off. I work hard and splurge on a full price ticket rarely (Lazarus as NYTW is the last full price ticket I bought) and line up early for a rush ticket if I have to see a hot ticket. I use seat geek or stub hub right before curtain for a hot ticket show and can usually see shows for very cheap (sat in the orchestra for Angels for less than $70 this way... and that included tickets to both plays).
There are ways to live a full life, not starve yourself, and see every show in a season.
Updated On: 6/9/18 at 06:09 PM
Posted: 6/9/18 at 6:10pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 6:12pm
Bwayfan292 said: "Weed."
Now, see. That's where I draw the line hahahaha
I think I would have loudly groaned so loudly it would hav stopped the show in the Carousel revival at multiple points if I gave that up.
Updated On: 6/9/18 at 06:12 PM
Posted: 6/9/18 at 6:46pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 8:19pm
greenifyme2 said: "I don’t really go out to bars or drink much at all. My husband will go out and spend $100 in one night on drinks with his friends. So I spend my $100 going to shows instead."
exactly the same here.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 8:27pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 9:17pm
I don't drink alcohol or eat meat, or own a car, or live in NYC, so those things tend to leave some money free for a fair bit of theatre. I also no longer do other kinds of traveling because of my injury/disability and resulting ankle pain, so money that i used to save for a one or two-week vacation each year involving hiking or walking around new cities now goes to 2 or 3 five-day trips to NYC per year to see shows. It's the only fun thing left that doesn't hurt my ankle every time.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 9:39pm
Posted: 6/9/18 at 9:47pm
I rarely drink, which is a big money saver. When I go out to eat, I go to moderately priced restaurants and get an entree, that's it (no drinks, appetizer, dessert, etc., which add up quite a bit). I rarely get my nails done professionally. I don't buy new clothes very often, and when I do, I buy non-name brands and/or on sale. I grocery shop at Trader Joe's, which is cheapest. I mainly see shows through TDF; I very rarely spend full price or even more than $50 on a show. I don't see every show of the season. There are a few shows (ex: Mean Girls) I haven't seen yet because of the price. I didn't grow up with a lot of money, and I kept a lot of the frugality as my family did when I was a kid.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 9:50pm
Sometimes we pay full price and usually don't see a show more than once with the exception ...Hello Dolly!
Posted: 6/9/18 at 10:50pm
I have made a science out of purchasing tickets. Small theatre with no discounts means cheap seats, e.g., row 7 of the Booth balcony ain't exactly awful; small theatre with discounts means orchestra and we will split up if singles get us better seats, etc. If I think a show is going to be a hit, I will probably get tickets before the reviews and price increases. I don't get to Broadway as much as I used to -- probably 12 - 14 shows a year, but I see a lot in Florida, including touring shows, two local rep companies that are actually excellent -- I enjoyed Spamalot and Once more in Florida than the Broadway productions -- and the tickets are a lot more reasonable, e.g., I saw Beautiful (for the fourth time) in Tampa for $80 in the front orchestra.
Re sacrifices, stay in Jersey (Secacus) instead of Manhattan when I am paying (we have a close friend with some sort of Hilton Club thing that costs us nothing) and usually keep dinner reasonable, e.g., great Thai, Turkish, Juniors, neighborhood Greek.
Posted: 6/9/18 at 11:29pm
Posted: 6/10/18 at 12:35am
- well paying job
- rush, standing room, discount codes, etc, lots of ways to get cheaper tickets. I have limits on this, I genuinely do not see the point of sitting in rear mezz and I'm wary of rear orch unless I've done my research (It was fine for Anastasia, and we got tickets for $50 each, but at Hamilton it's partial view)
- ...bootlegs. I don't live in NYC so the cost of travelling there is quite prohibitive. It allows me to see more shows.
Saving money in real life
- I'm cheap as heck when I go out to eat, will choose the cheapest thing on the menu and water. Or just wait till I get home
- Like many said, I don't drink
- When I do go out, we choose cheaper things to do or find ways of having a good experience for cheaper. Bring sandwiches to a theme park instead of buying food there. Have a picnic for free. Go to a nice restaurant for lunch, it's half the price of dinner.
- I'm an avid thrift store and kijiji shopper. Bought a couch for $100, pants for $8, at the local value village I can often find brand name stuff too.
- Investing in doing it yourself. This is a time as much as money investment. Instead of spending $$$ on skincare, learn to do it yourself with simpler ingredients. I was sick of paying for stamped jewelry, so I bought a stamping kit and learned to do it myself. I would not call myself a handy person at all, but I can still drywall, tile, paint, and otherwise make stuff other people do not bother to learn how to do.
- Cut down on small luxuries. Give your self 10, 15, 20 bucks a week to cover all nonessential purchases. When I was in college and working a min wage job, I could not believe how often my coworkers would order food (When we got soup for free), order a drink after work, come in with frozen yogurt, uber to work, etc. I ate the free soup and soft drinks, walked or biked to work every day, and took myself to NYC with the money I saved.
Posted: 6/10/18 at 12:49am
Posted: 6/10/18 at 12:55am
