It's expensive to go out to see a movie....two kids, two adults, popcorn (occasionally) and cokes. Yikes! Suddenly I'm out $40-$50. How do you - or better yet, can you save money going to the movies?
I tend to avoid night shows because of the cost and I keep my Harkins cup handy so I only pay a buck for soda. As for popcorn - it's an every other movie thing...but someone mentioned buying the refillable popcorn bucket, saving it and then bringing it on the next trip. I never thought of that.
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
We all have the soda
We all have the soda cups...but refilling the bucket of popcorn the next time around I wouldn't do. It seems like since they are made from cardboard, the butter and any leftover bits of popcorn in it would turn rancid in between movies.
If you don't get butter in the popcorn maybe it could work. The popcorn is made with oil though, correct? So that would still turn rancid.
Mom of sons M (18), J (14), and daughter S (11) ... I love them all but heaven help me, some days I want to run away :)
We buy our tickets in bulk
We buy our tickets in bulk through the theatre. You get a reduced rate per ticket and they have no expiration. We also use them to give away as thank yous or small gifts if we need to.
Do you mean those Harkins
Do you mean those Harkins passes (some are platinum passes)? I know I have a few around the house. My husband sometimes gets them as a little thank you at work.
I can see those being great teach gifts. I just bought a bunch of movie gift cards for our teachers.
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
Yes, you buy them in books
Yes, you buy them in books of 50. The tickets then are basically $5 each, so you have to pay $250 out of pockets, but they are basically good anytime of day. I think the only restriction on the classic tickets we have is that when a movie is first released you can't use the pass at night until it has been out for a week, but you can still use them for matinees. I love it because they don't expire! Also, if you give someone a couple tickets for a small gift, it only costs you $10 for something seen as a $20 value.
On weekends, movies before
On weekends, movies before 12 pm, or before 6 pm on weekdays, are about $6.50.
Otherwise, yes, I wait until I can use the vouchers.
Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She spends most of her days juggling her duties as a (bio & step) mom, wife, and business owner. Her three little kittens range in age from 5 to 13.
My husband and I are very
My husband and I are very picky now about the movies we see at the theater. Only ones that will really make your body rock because of the surround sound. :) All the romantic comedies, dramas, etc, we usually wait till it's out on dvd. And we usually only try to see matinees, and limit our concession buys to maybe one drink, MAYBE popcorn.
Although, we did go and see Prince Caspian on opening night (hadn't been to an opening day since Shrek 2). But, it was the only time we could get a sitter.
And mind you, we have a just one-year old, so our times out to the theater have been few and far between.
But it's fun when we go. We will be going to go see Indy this weekend with my parents-and another evening showing. Oh well, you only live once I guess. ;)
Harkins also has a deal
Harkins also has a deal where if you buy a $25 giftcard, you get a coupon for a free medium size popcorn. So BEFORE we buy our tickets, we get the giftcard (and hence free popcorn) THEN pay for our admission tickets with the giftcard we just bought! We were going to spend at least $25 any way (there are 5 of us) but this way, we get free popcorn, too!
New to AZ --- and missing autumn leaves and the smell of apple orchards!
Wow! That's very clever!
Wow! That's very clever! I'm going to do that at the next matinee!
Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She spends most of her days juggling her duties as a (bio & step) mom, wife, and business owner. Her three little kittens range in age from 5 to 13.
We get harkins tickets as
We get harkins tickets as thank you's at work as well. I usually get six at a time. I received a few as a thank you for being team mom last weekend. We went and watched baby mama immediately.It was cute. We usually just take the kids to see kids movies when they come out or if there is something we really want to see we go on date night. We have harkins cups that we refill and we always get popcorn and put that powder cheese and powder ranch on it. YUM i kow it's not good for you but it is a treat! I have taken the girls to the dollar theater at superstition springs mall a few times. Nothing grand but cheap and something to do. And we do the drive in's. I posted about it last time we went. Thats always fun when the weather is nice.
A few coworker mom's and I have contemplated getting the bulk harkins tickets but they are not discounted. Just a ton of tickets vip or classic for the regular price if I remember correctly. We will get them eventually because they make great gifts.
Jennifer is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com and mommy to four beautiful girls who range from 9 to 4 years of age.
Since prices have gone up we
Since prices have gone up we have cut down on our movie trips to the movie theater. When there is a must see movie we almost always go earlier in the day.
We also have cut back on foods we purchase at the theater. Packing a couple of waters in our purses is always an option.
One of our favorite things to do is to wait for movies to come out on dvd and purchase a couple at a discount price and then we have a family movie night at home.
JuneSlager is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com, raising three children (ages 15, 14, & 11) in Northeast Phoenix.
To make matters worse, I
To make matters worse, I have a friend, who's husband simply downloads every new movie that they want to see from illegal bootleg sites. We just shelled out $50 to take the kids to see Ironman and will do it again this weekend for Indiana Jones. Meanwhile, her kids saw Ironman last week, sitting on their couch, eating microwave popcorn! She offfers to burn us a copy, but I can't do it. It's so unfair!
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
That guy is really rolling
That guy is really rolling the dice.......there's a good chance he'll get busted, eventually..................and what a stupid thing to go down for! Chances are good if he's skirting the system that way he's doing other squirrely things, too.....and sooner or later that catches up with you...
I admit that I am a
I admit that I am a soda/water smuggler into the movie theaters. I also bring paper bags and buy the refillable popcorn bucket so $6 to feed all of us popcorn isn't so bad.
When the ticket prices were more reasonable I could spend a little more at the concession stand, but now....
My neighbors have three kids and instead of going to the movies they purchase the new release DVDS, watch, eat, etc at home and end up saving $30.
I have taken my own water
I have taken my own water bottle in before and kid snacks (short bread cookies and cheerios) when they were little. Now that they are older, all they want is a popcorn and coke ("It's the moooovies, mom!!!").
I think I will start bringing paper bags or cups so we can split the popcorn better.
I do know there is a place at Warner and Gilbert Road in Gilbert - not owned by Harkins - that offers $5 movies if you go to the first show. We've done that a few times, too. Haven't gone in a while, though.
I am planning on using some Harkins passes tonight. Someone told me they don't really expire. I tossed several just the other day that had October 2006 or 2007 expirations (cleaning out the junk drawer) - I'm so mad now that I didn't at least keep them and ask a ticket person.
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
The cardboard food carrier
The cardboard food carrier trays work well and you don't have to remember to bring anything! My sister and I, line up our 6 kids next to each other, plop a tray on each of their laps, and walk down the row, dumping some popcorn on each tray. Then, we split a bag of twizlers between them, placing a few sticks on each tray as well. Then, we take advantage of the free refill on the large bucket, and go back and fill it up for us and some seconds for the crew.
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
3 of my boys went to the
3 of my boys went to the IMAX yesterday to see speed racer in IMAX. I gave them money and dropped them off. I thought it was going to be like 5.00 for child and 8.00 for matinee weeellllll, I found out later that it was 10.50 for matinee and 9.50 for child. YIKES!!
They ended up buying only 2 soda for something like 7.00. The nice thing is gateway gave out free popcorn tickets when they got free popcorn.
West Wind Glendale 9 Drive
West Wind Glendale 9 Drive Inn
5650 N. 55th Ave., Glendale, AZ, 85301
(623)939-9715
http://www.fandango.com/glendaledrivein_aaceb/theaterpage
West Wind Scottsdale 6 Drive-In
8101 E. McKellips, Scottsdale, AZ, 85256
(480)949-9451
http://www.fandango.com/scottsdaledrivein_aacea/theaterpage
Maybe the drive-in will be more economical and you get to see two movies for the price of one.
We are bad, we sneak candy
We are bad, we sneak candy in our pockets. We only go to matinees since they are cheaper and I make sure the kids drink before we go in! We save "popcorn & movies" for when we watch movie rentals at home. Instead of having to fork out at the theater (and then need a drink because it is so salty).
Also, we go to the Scottsdale drive in. You get a double feature (yes, NEW release films) for $6.50 per adult and kids under 12 (I think it is 12) are free. Again, then we bring our cooler (so we do have real drinks) our just popped microwave bags and other snacks and sit out in our fold up chairs. It is great on a breezy night!
Single mom in Mesa to two great kids (8 & 10) and two great adults (18 & 20)
We have an AMC Movie
We have an AMC Movie watcher's card. It's free to sign up for one (much like a card for the grocery store.) Each time we go to a movie we get coupons for free popcorn, discounts on combo deals, and sometimes free tickets.
Two free tickets at Safeway.
Two free tickets at Safeway. Spend $40.00 on qualifying purchases and you get two free movie tickets to any movie you want. We went and bought food we normally eat and then bought diapers we normally buy anyway. So now we have 12 movie tickets to use for our family for the summer, totally free for things we already purchase. I do not know when the promotion is ending. Safeway does this several times a year. Also, you can redeem codes at mycokerewards.com to get free movie rentals at Blockbuster or free movie tickets at AMC.
arizona_mom is a stay-at-home mother of two boys, a kindergartener and a two year old. Just sharing my two cents worth. www.mops.org
It only cost me $8 to treat
It only cost me $8 to treat myself to a movie last Friday. I paid $7 for the matinee show and $1 for my drink. I got free popcorn with my Harkins Loyalty T-shirt that I had bought earlier this year for $20. Every time I go to the movies, I bring my loyalty cup and t-shirt and get my $1 drink and free popcorn. I'm certainly getting my money's worth out of that shirt!
Also, I buy Harkins two passes at Costco for $14.99. I use those when I can't make a matinee.
Going to the movies is really such a treat these days.
Patricia is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com. She and her husband live in Phoenix and are raising a 4-year-old son they adopted as an infant.
AMC offers $5 movies before
AMC offers $5 movies before noon. Even the new releases. That helps then pack your favorite treat in your purse. The smell of the popcorn is usually too much to pass up but if we use our AMC MovieWatcher card we often earn a free popcorn--Wed. is always a free popcorn day with the purchase of a ticket!
soccermom of a 12 yr old boy and 15 yr old young lady
Costco also sells movie
Costco also sells movie tickets for about $7.50 per ticket--usually sold in 2 packs. At least that is better than $9.50 per ticket at Harkins. Unless it is big screen action, we prefer to watch it at home without other people around. That way we can enjoy our own popcorn without breaking the bank.
soccermom of a 12 yr old boy and 15 yr old young lady