Saving money by staying home.
By kris182_2000
@kris182_2000 (5444)
Canada
March 19, 2011 7:10pm CST
My husband and I were just talking about the money we saved today by staying home instead of going out.
To go to a movie and get snacks and have dinner afterwards, it would cost roughly about $65.
Instead, we bought a party size pizza from the grocery store for $3, 7 dvd movies for $40, and snacks for under $6.
We saved a lot of money by doing it this way, considering the fact that going to the movie theater would cost $26 alone for the 2 of us. And that's just for one movie.
It's so much cheaper to stay home and watch a movie here. In total, tonight staying in, it cost us about $8 total versus going out for about $65 as stated earlier.
I've forgotten that we've already watched 3 movies and are going on to the 4th in a few minutes. At $5.71 per dvd, that's not a bad deal.
Not that there are any movies we want to see, and we don't want to risk getting bed bugs, which have been found in movie theater.
I guess you could call us thrifty, I've never thought of it this way until he brought it up.
If everyone did that, then they'd save money too, but a lot of businesses would go out of business.
I'm off to enjoy another movie now.
2 people like this
22 responses
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
20 Mar 11
There is nothing wrong with being thrifty! I am that way all the time! I think I went to one movie in the last year and that was Michael Moore because my brother wanted his daughter to see it and since she was living with me he invited me as well. Of course, some people just prefer the big screen and don't care the cost. I feel sorry for those folks. Have a great week!!!
2 people like this
@dreamsharmin (2281)
• China
23 Mar 11
Yes i do save money while staying home. When i go outside i do feel to buy some thing which i don't need and i go to restrurant which is also costly now a days. And that's why me and my room mate have decide to don't go outside without important to go out side. Otherwise we both cost much money and later we both regret. And we are student so don't earn much money and it's very important to save money.
Have a good time!
1 person likes this
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
21 Mar 11
I hope your movies were good ones. We don't go to the movies, as there is not one in our town, we have to drive to the next town to go. We have also started playing a lot of board games.
1 person likes this
@lucy67 (819)
• China
20 Mar 11
i like the way you do. actually i have done it for several years. i can't remember the last time i went to cinema. perhaps 4 or 5 years ago. i like enjoying favorite moviea at home, not only for saving money but also for tne convenience. i can enjoy a movie at any time in pajamas and give comments without worrying about disturbing others.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71663)
• United States
20 Mar 11
Wow that is terrible that you have to worry about getting bed bugs at the movie theater. I'd be furious if that happened to me and its not even the theaters fault. People can bring them in on their bags and not even know it. I pray I never get them in my house. Rarely have I ever heard of people around here having them. For the past 6 weeks my kids and I have stayed home and only shopped in town for groceries. The price of gas is to expensive. I had a birthday party to go to about 45 minutes from me and it cost me about $30 or more in gas to go there and back. I went and got groceries and things while I was near wal-mart since they have so much more then our local grocery store does. We had to stop at burger king and get macaroni and cheese and mozzarella sticks for the kids to eat. It wound up being about $5 for the food. I cant imagine if I had to work there spending $30 in gas a day would make working a minimum wage job pretty worthless.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157629)
• United States
20 Mar 11
Every once in awhile, especially when our evening meal has come out really nice, hubby and I will try to figure what that meal would cost in a local restaurant. We come up with the idea that we only spend a fraction of the cost of a meal out, eat healthier, and love how it is seasoned. It makes us feel good to know how we are saving money. You did not even mention the cost of gas to get to wherever you are going.
1 person likes this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
30 Mar 11
I don't remember the last time I set foot in a movie theatre!! As for those DVDs you bought, they're yours to keep and enjoy again and again and again. Imagine re-renting them, or re-viewing them in movie theatres. Smart, smart, smart!!
My husband and I go out now and then, but not often. If we really want to get out of the house, we'll go to the coffee shop, or veterans club next door, but only for a drink or two.
@SydneyHazelton (4586)
• Singapore
20 Mar 11
Way to go! It's a great way to save some money. And if this is a regular activity you and your husband engage in, you can imagine the amount of money you can save in a week, month and year. Money you can put to better use, like investments that you generate higher returns. This is potentially a winning formula to get richer! 
@dodo19 (47102)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
20 Mar 11
It is true that you can save money when you stay home. When you go out, I think that we usually have a tendency to spend. But when you stay home, I don't think that we usually have the same tendency to do so. I think that it's just in our nature to spend when we go out.
1 person likes this
@natnickeep (2336)
• United States
20 Mar 11
Yes staying home does save money. Food at the grocery store is cheapest. You save gas too...and more movies. Netflix is great for saving money on movies. I think sometimes it's nice to get out. But if you do it only for special occasions it makes it even better.
1 person likes this
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
20 Mar 11
I am with on this. My boyfriend and I do it all the time. We really do not have money to spend habitually on social events so we do a lot of the similar things as you. There are times that we do go out but more times then not we prefer to do some things at home and enjoy not having to go and return and be in the comfort of home, plus the savings.
1 person likes this
@keshia2007r (2880)
• United States
20 Mar 11
In this economy a lot of people are finding ways to save. There is nothing wrong being thrifty, its being smart. And you're right, a friend of mines and I were talking about this the other night. For a weekend with the girls we need to at least spend $40 for the movies, conecssion at the movies, and going out to eat afterwards. So $40 or about $40 per person. Oh, and another money saving tip, I don't know if you know this, but there are sites online where you can watch NEW movies that recently came out for FREE. My favoirte four letter work *FREE* So you could pretty much save that $40 for 7 dvds and order pizza and call it a night! Have a good one!
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
20 Mar 11
yes, resisting the urge to go out really saves us money, I remember after the down turn we did not go out to eat in restaurants like we used to, we just stayed at home and leaned to cook the food similar to what we eat out and we saw we saved a lot, it was fun to learn too. Being out most of the times also causes unnecessary spendings. cause you are tempted to buy things even if you don't need them especially if the kids are the ones asking 
.
. 1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
20 Mar 11
I also always prefer to watch movie from home. It is so much cheaper and more enjoyable as well. I can't remember when is the last time I went to the cinema. It is definitely ages ago. Anyway, if I can enjoy myself from home, I don't see any reason why I have to spend more money by going outside. Frugal is a must nowadays especially with the economy situation recently. Take care and have a nice day.
@jamz82 (1860)
• Italy
20 Mar 11
I think staying at home watching a movie is good because of you have more privacy don't waste money with car fuel, movie ticket, and snacks sold in theater. Sometimes is good too to go to the theater to make something different from daily routine. It's funnier when you go with some friends and after the movie you can share opinions about how it was. Cheers :)
@Nadinest1 (2016)
• Canada
20 Mar 11
My husband bought a coupon at our local movie theater for $25. It is buy 1 ticket, get 1 free(BOGO). It is good for 10 movies. So, it only took a few free movie to spend the $25. It is worth $100. We have bought this type of coupon twice now. It is a great savings. The snacks cost about $13-16....which is highway robbery, IMO. We usually eat dinner before going to the movies, so no expense there.
We don't go a lot, but when something good comes out we go.....our youngest is 14 now, so it is nice to go alone after all of these years.
@junrapmian (2169)
• Philippines
20 Mar 11
That's what we do also if we have limited budget. I cook some snacks like pop corn and tacos and my husbands rents some DVD and we all watch a movie at home. We can still bond the way we used to do if we have the money.
@Sheeny (173)
• Philippines
20 Mar 11
We can really save money by staying at home instead of going out. Yesterday, My boyfriend and I go out for a movie date and eat at a fast food chain, after that date we just realized how much money we have spent for that day. I suggest to him that instead of watching movie at the theatre we can try to watch movie at home to save money. lol
@nj_1022 (251)
•
20 Mar 11
Staying at home really saves a lot of money. I hope I can also encourage my husband to stay at home at weekends.
