the best things in life are free

Apparently sometimes I get in a ranting mood, and Suzanne's blog set me off. (In a good way.) The NYC baseball teams - and I'm sure they're not the only ones - are raising ticket prices. Gone will be the cheapo seats. It is the dawn of the very expensive seats, no matter what view you have.

My 1st (and only) Mets game was with $5 seats. Dammit, I had fun. It was something I could just go do. But this is just an example. $5 is a what I'm willing to spend to have a good time with my friends for a few hours, regardless of whether or not there is some sort of sport spectating involved. I mean, I'll watch the game & get into it if it's there, but I will also watch a movie or play video games or eat or just hang out. One of my mottos is "it's not what you do, but who you do it with." That goes hand in hand with "everything is more fun with a friend."

When things are more expensive, they require more work & planning to save up the dough, not to mention coordinating between a large group of people - who's initially buying the tickets, who can even afford it, etc. I've often been the chick that couldn't participate because of lack of funds. But I've also been the one who, way in advance, got a group of people together to do something that cost more. (Example: once I invited about 8 friends to go see Cirque Du Solieil, which was about $75 a pop. But I planned it out months in advance, and people were prepared for it.)

Also when things cost more, it's almost stressful to make sure you have fun and therefore get your money's worth. Then the stress about having fun in turn makes it less fun, and the viscious circle continues. I'm as happy as a clam sitting on a nice day in the park, or swimming, or bowling, or playing videogames, or other things that are free or low cost to me. Speaking of videogames, a good example is World of Warcraft. Sure it costs $28 for Jay & I to both have access, but we figure that less than a dollar a day per month is a small price to pay. Though we can't play at the same time (yet - just wait til we get another monitor!), we have fun. Besides, when he's playing, I generally play with beads, which is a means to making money. When I play the game, he sits next to me and helps me out (I am still what they consider a newb). Either way, we are in the same room hanging out together, and not out somewhere else spending exorbant amounts of money for something that could be less fun.

There are exceptions of course; this is no rule. Going on vacation generally costs a pretty penny and is fun, but that's different than spending $150 to go to a 4-hour basball game. Maybe it's just because I'm more on the "have not" side of the rainbow - $150 is a good part of my paycheck. Maybe if I made 10 times that much per week, I would care less. But it's not the numbers that are important, it's the relative expense. If you have to set aside a large percentage of your income for one outing, that's a big deal.

Maybe that's why I use free websites? Hmmmm.
Your thoughts / experiences in this matter?




ps - did you see the earrings I made? Don't you wish your daughter was getting them for your bday? Well only one person has that honor. Sorry everyone else.



ppss - don't forget to support me in the AIDS Walk!!!!!!