Cost of 2 movie tickets for Friday night: $22
Cost of 2 sodas, one popcorn and one nachos at the movies: $21
Total cost of my husband and my first night out alone in nearly a year: $43

Seriously. I mean seriously. WHY DOES IT COST SO MUCH TO GO TO THE MOVIES?!?

I thought the ticket prices were awful when I bought them online (truth be told, I could have saved $2 by buying them at the theatre, but since it was the opening night I wanted to be sure we got them for the time we wanted).

But the food. Oh, the food. Once upon a time, movie theatre food cost a fraction of the price and was made on the premises. You would get hot nacho cheese, just popped popcorn, etc, etc. These days, everything comes out of bags and plastic containers. In fact, they don’t even put the butter on the popcorn for you anymore. Geesh. We are paying for less quality, less work by the workers and convenience. It’s a scam.

How to save money at the movies:

1) Bring your own food. Nachos and cheese? No problem. Ortega sells these handy little tubs of nacho cheese in four packs (check the Mexican food aisle at the grocery store) for about $3. Take one, and a baggy of tortilla chips and hide in your large purse. For drinks, bring your favorites – water, flavored waters, even sodas – in your purse. But wait till the lights dim to whip them out. Even popcorn can be popped at home and brought with you.

2) Go to the matinee. Yea, it’s fun to see movies at night. But it’s more fun to not spend an arm and a leg doing it so save a few dollars and go in the afternoon on a rainy day. Your wallet will thank you.

3) Only see what you can’t wait for. Don’t go to the movies just to go to the movies. Go when it’s a movie you are dying to see that you cannot wait for. Otherwise, save the money and wait for it to come out on video – you can either spend about $5 and rent it or spend $15 and own it. Both cases are less than the cost of two movie tickets.

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