Budget-Wise – At the Movies

One stand-by source of family entertainment is the movies. For a family, it can be hard to find a movie that everyone wants to watch. Add being on a budget - and family movie night can become a challenge.

Part of the fun of being on a budget is learning how to get the most enjoyment out of life on the least amount of money. And yes, once you have caught the budget bug, it is fun. As you progress in developing your money management skills – you will discover new budget-wise ways to do old activities.

In the days before your budget – you and your family might have thought of movie night as heading out to the local theatre where you would enjoy first run movies, the smell of popcorn, treats at the candy counter, and the excitement of the cinema. When it was all added up, it would cost close to $80 for a family of four. In those days, you weren’t worried about the cost.

Once you were on a budget however, you realized that $80 was a lot of money to spend – and that there should be more frugal ways for a family to enjoy a movie.

Perhaps in the early days of your budget, you convinced the family to try a second-run movie theatre, where they would have the same movie theatre experience – but in a slightly different setting. A visit to the candy counter was still ok, but was kept to popcorn and soda. This change of venue had brought the cost (for your family of four) down to $50.

While you had cut the cost to $50, it still seemed like a lot of money.

So, you convinced the family to try something different for their movie night. It started with all four of you going to the movie rental store – where after much looking and negotiating your family selected ‘the movie’.

When you got home, you all helped to pop the popcorn, pour the soda and get the living room ready for the viewing. Then, when everyone was settled, and enjoying the smell of the popcorn, you put the movie on. Unlike the theatre, you were able to laugh and talk to each other as the movie was running. You were also able to pause the move when when people had to leave the room, and do a bit of a rewinding to catch the part you all missed. And when it was over, you realized that for a total cost of $10 your family had just had a great family movie night.

So, now the cost was down to $10 and you were feeling very pleased with yourself. And so you should.

To recap:

• Family of four – first run movie: $80 (includes popcorn & soda)


• Family of four – second run movie: $50 (includes popcorn & soda)


• Family of four – rental movie: $10 (includes homemade popcorn & soda)

Can you cut the cost further? Yes. You could watch a movie on TV or borrow a movie from the local library or watch a movie that your family already owns or ...

Getting the most enjoyment out of life on the least amount of money – can be fun and a great lesson for the budget-wise family.