Movie date : $30 versus $20

My wife and I wanted to catch a movie about a week ago. We usually go to the movies on the weekends and see the matinee showing. We like to split a small popcorn and pop. Usually we go to the small chain theater on one side of town. But on that day we were too late to catch the early evening showing of the movie we were interested in so we decided to go to the Regal cinema on the other side of town. By going to an evening showing at Regal we ended up spending quite a bit more than we usually do.

Movie Date #1 : Tuesday evening at Regal
2 adult tickets = $19
Popcorn & pop = $11
Total = $30

This past Saturday we went to another film at the usual small chain for a matinee price.

Movie Date #2 : Saturday afternoon at small chain
2 adult tickets = $13
Pop & popcorn = $7
Total = $20

The quality of the experience was virtually the same in both cases. The pop at Regal was probably a 32 ounce and the pop at the small chain theater was just a 20 ounce. However I don't think this is much of a complaint since we don't really need nor want to drink 32 ounces anyway. And if we really wanted we could up grade to a larger soda to get 32 ounces for $1-2 more.

By simply going to the movies at a different day at a more economical theatre we save $10.

Of course we could save more by not buying the overpriced popcorn and pop at the theatre at all. We could save even more than that by waiting till the movie is out on DVD and renting it. But going out to the movies and having popcorn is part of the entertainment experience and we enjoy doing this. If we were broke or had lots of credit card debt then I think this kind of indulgence would be a luxury we couldn't afford. We choose to spend some of our discretionary spending on this form of entertainment. But even when you're spending on luxury, discretionary items theres no sense in wasting money when you don't have to.