Skip the Theater, Get Netflix

Written by Nickel - 9 Comments

Earlier this summer we dropped our Netflix membership. Don’t get me wrong, we love Netflix — it’s one of those rare companies that just seems to get it comes to providing a valuable service at a competitive price. But we were just about to move, and we also knew that we’d be travelling quite a bit over the summer, so why pay for movies that we wouldn’t be watching?

Later on this summer I was reminded of what a great deal Netflix really is… We were looking for something to do on an unbearably hot Saturday afternoon, and we ended up deciding to take our three oldest boys to see “Cars” in our local theater. Guess what?

We dropped enough on the tickets alone (at matinee pricing, no less) to pay for six weeks of Netflix. Six weeks. All for the price of one trip to the movie theater.

That’s a month and a half of basically unlimited movie watching. No need to burn gas (or time) on a trip to the video store only to find that all of the good movies are checked out. No need to pay late fees if we don’t get the movie back in time. And no need to drop a wad of cash on a sticky-floored movie theater.

That evening, I sat down and re-activated our Netflix account, and we haven’t looked back since.

Published on August 31st, 2006 - 9 Comments
Filed under: Online
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

Comments (scroll down to add your own):

I agree 100%…Either Netflix or blockbuster.com…either way, it’s a bargain compared to seeing movies at the theaters…
Comment by financial freedumb — Aug 31st 2006 @ 6:29 am
Yeah, I am also a big fan of netflix.
Comment by Blaine Moore — Aug 31st 2006 @ 8:31 am
I like blockbuster.com better because you also get the free in stor movie.

Right now they are still running a prom at the local stores for one free month
Comment by Rob — Aug 31st 2006 @ 9:23 am
I suggest trying Peerflix.com. Similar service, free DVD trading.
Comment by Dave — Aug 31st 2006 @ 7:18 pm
I tried netflix trial and it was cool. If I rented movies that is what I’d use.

I can see free movies at the theater but theres nothing good out and I don’t want to waste my time.
Comment by Dave — Sep 1st 2006 @ 9:05 pm