Blog Money Whore

The movie has always been a good standby for entertainment, but over time, the cost of tickets, rentals, and DVDs really adds up. Movie tickets these days are often $10.50! Rentals can easily cost you $3.99! DVDs can cost $19.99 or more! That’s expensive! Guess what, though. I haven’t paid for a single movie in months, yet I’ve seen twenty-two movies since I started logging what I’ve watched on November 18. How do you do it without breaking the law? A number of methods:

1. Sign up for e-rewards. It’s invitation-only, but I’ve never heard of denials. You fill out surveys in exchange for rewards that can be redeemed for Blockbuster rentals. For every $25 of rewards (they’re not truly worth $25: it’s just the way they’re denominated), you can get six free rentals.
2. Sign up for emails from Redbox. They send out occasional coupon codes that can be redeemed for free rentals. You do have to swipe your credit card, but it isn’t charged unless you return the movie late. Coupon codes appear to be limited to once per credit card, which means that you can easily reuse them if you have more than one credit card.
3. Search with Blingo. Seriously. I’ve won a ridiculous number of prizes with Blingo, and one of the frequent prizes is a free movie ticket. Last night, I used a free movie ticket from them to see Juno. I got the movie ticket for answering some interview questions from winning the $1500 cash last year.
4. Redeem points on your Sony Card for Blockbuster coupons and Regal Super Savers. The Sony Card is a Visa issued by Chase. Just do a quick search of Google (via Blingo of course) or FatWallet Finance, and you’ll find tons of offers for it that will include 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for 12 months and all sorts of bonus points after your first use. I recently collected half a dozen coupons and two Super Savers from them, which I’m still slowly using.
5. Use your TiVo! I have a lifetime subscription, which I’ve definitely been putting to use, and we only subscribe to basic cable! Yup, we don’t bother paying for digital, HBO, Showtime, etc. There’s plenty of programming, especially if you choose to watch according to your schedule by recording movies rather than by watching according to the networks’ schedules.
6. Pay attention to sites like FatWallet Free Stuff and Slickdeals.net. I’ve gotten several free Fandango codes as a result, which I’ve used to see movies in actual movie theaters. I’ve also gotten codes for free movie downloads from services like Amazon Unbox.
7. Sign up for free trials of Netflix and Blockbuster Online and cancel before the trials end. Yes, this really works. Just set a reminder for yourself using a calendar program or something like Time Cave. Sign up through some other site like AA.com to get even more reward points.
8. Subscribe to emails from Wild About Movies. There are tons of free advance movie screenings, though everyone else already knows about them. You usually have to show up an hour or more in advance to stand in line for the better ones. However, not only do you get to see the movie for free but you also get to see it before everyone else! If you’re not doing anything productive anyway, then you might as well stand in line and read a book.
9. Borrow movies from your friends. I’m always amazed at the number of people who buy movies on DVD or VHS. Then again, some people really like re-watching movies, so it does make financial sense given their utility curves, especially if they have kids. I’m more of a watch once and then only if it happens to be on TV sort of guy.
10. When all else fails, mooch! Seriously. My girlfriend used to have a Netflix account and added me as a user. Out of her three DVDs at a time, I got one. That was more than enough to watch dozens and dozens of movies. Plus, I got to watch all the movies that she rented. Not a bad deal!

Of course, remember to return your movie rentals on time to avoid late fees, and skip the concession stands. Last night, I checked the latest prices, and it was $5.50 for a large soda! Are you kidding me? My girlfriend’s frozen drink and medium popcorn came out to something like $11! I’m not shelling out for that! Of course, be forewarned that this may put a serious crimp in your dating experience. All of the above tips are strongly suggested for when you’re buy yourself or with someone who already knows you well and not for first dates. Then again, if you can pull this off on a first date, then she’s a real keeper.

• Earnings: If you win on Blingo, then I win the same thing you win.

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