Common Cents # 21 - Entertainment

 

Getting the Most from our Entertainment Dollars

 

My idea of entertainment always involves live music, delicious food, and educational travel.  The last few months have been full of dizzying changes of plans, cancelled reservations, and miraculous refunds.  For me, entertainment is a basic need for a full life. I don’t know where it falls in the hierarchy along with food and shelter, but I am pretty sure it is right up there once those basics are covered. Evidence of music, athletic contests, and various types of recreation go back to the earliest recorded history.

It is interesting that humans have such a variety of ways to entertain themselves. Some people enjoy sports, some enjoy music, while others would rather watch a movie. The current pandemic has thrown a curve at just about every form of entertainment. It has been weird to watch the Indy 500 and the Kentucky Derby on television with no fans in the stands.

We have been amazed that so many of the cancelled festivals chose to provide some kind of broadcast or streaming free of charge from previous years of these events. We have been able to see a number of wonderful concerts as well as touring world-renowned museums from the comfort of our living room. We have discovered a few more festivals to add to our bucket list when they actually occur again.

This brought up the idea of cost-benefit analysis. Of course, watching a show on a screen in our living room is not the same as being there, no more than watching a football game on television is like being at the stadium. But in some ways, there are advantages. It is a lot less hassle, we can see and hear better, and the food is likely better, not to mention cheaper.

So, how do we decide how to spend our entertainment budget? You do have an entertainment budget, don’t you? What percentage of our income should we spend on entertainment? Entertainment includes things like going out to eat, cable TV, Netflix and Sirius XM subscriptions, vacations, and concert and sports tickets. We probably spend more than we think if we add it all up. Maybe we should use this “off year” to take a look at what we spend and see if it adds up to the enjoyment we get. Some of us are anxious to get back to seeing the world, while others realize how much they enjoy staying home and saving the cash.

One year we had season tickets to the Kansas City Royals and it was a lot of fun. When they raised the prices the next year, we chose to use those dollars for a season of plays with the Theatre League. We all have different priorities and should spend time in family discussions talking about the best way to spend our entertainment dollars. I like to think in terms of smiles per hour per dollar. A hundred dollars will buy a very nice meal at a beautiful restaurant but would barely pay for parking at Arrowhead Stadium. For some people this would not even be a discussion, others will need to talk about it.

We don’t want to deprive ourselves of much needed recreation and entertainment, but unless we have unlimited funds, we need to use the money wisely to get the most bang for the buck for the activity that gives us the most pleasure.