Are you going to the State Fair? Free or discounted tickets can be had; you just need to know where to find them.

Budget conscious consumers are sometimes faced with a dilemma when a special event comes to town: do they pay full price for the circus, fair, or play and risk blowing their budget, or stay home, or can they still attend a seasonal event without going broke?

Well, if you consider yourself to be a savvy consumer, you’ll find a way to attend that event and save money too.

Fortuitously, savings can be had if you use a little bit of ingenuity and you don’t mind doing something different such as attending a matinée instead of a prime time showing. Regardless, there are ways for you to save money on ticket prices, including getting in free for certain events:

Find Promotionals – I have a neighbor who almost always seems to find a way to get free tickets to movie premiers and other special events. I can’t share her secrets here, but it does involve signing up with one or more online sites to get preview tickets. As you might guess, there are some restrictions involved and you may only get one pair of tickets, two pair if you are fortunate. Still, if all you need is two, you could see that movie for free – just pay for your own soda and popcorn.

Register For The Event – Well before the circus or fair comes to town, are volunteers being sought to help out? If so, contribute some of your time to take tickets, usher parking, or provide some other help. Likely, you’ll be rewarded with several free passes for your labor.

Go During Off Hours – A new movie might cost you $10 to see in the evening, but if you go during the day, while the children are in school, your matinée might cost you just $6 and you won’t have to pay for a babysitter.

Hit The Sales (Late) – So you missed the big sale and only by one day. Drat! Yet, if there is something that you like and you still want the sales price, talk to a manager and ask him if he will honor yesterday’s special. Don’t make up an excuse, just tell him that you would like to buy the item for the lower price – it can’t hurt to ask!

Write A Review – If you have the talent to write and you manage a blog, ask the event planner for free tickets in exchange for your write up. Of course, the more popular site, the better, but if your demographics parallels the type of people the event is geared toward reaching (e.g., young families) you could suddenly find yourself playing a one time roll as spokeswoman for that event.

Special Drawings – Newspapers, internet sites, radio stations, and other media outlets are often given a bunch of tickets to give away to a popular event in exchange for some free media time. “Be the fifth caller and you could win” tells you to start dialing, but you can also win tickets by simply calling the event planner and asking her directly.

Families often shy away from expensive, paid events knowing that they’ll have to shell out a lot of money to attend. Even if you win two free tickets and need to get four more, you’ve already saved one-third the cost thanks to what you won. Take whatever savings or winnings you get and enjoy yourself the next time that the circus comes to town.

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Tags: budget, circus, discounts, fair, free, matinee, play, prime time, save money, tickets

A topsy-turvy stock market has a lot of people concerned and for good reason: no one is quite certain what the impact of these movements will be. Given that a new president and Congress will be running the country in January 2009, consumers have additional reasons to wonder what the future holds for them.

But, life goes on and we can’t let events that we have no control over dictate our lives. We need to go on living and one of the ways we enjoy our lives is through entertainment pursuits. As you know, entertainment can take up a significant chunk of your budget and is often the first thing that gets cut back when the economy sours.

Fortunately, there are ways for you to still enjoy a movie, an afternoon playing putt-putt with the kids, or even take a family vacation without busting your budget. Let’s take a look at several wise moves you can take to save on entertainment costs without cutting out the fun:

Watch A Movie — Heading to the theater when matinees are being shown can save you two or three dollars off of the price of a ticket. Even better, is to wait until the movie comes out on tape and pay $4 for your Blockbuster rental. Best: rent the movie from your public library where it is either free or will cost you a nominal fee (usually $1).

Get The Discount — Zoos, parks, museums, art galleries and other public venues usually have at least one day per week where you and your family can get admitted for a discount. Check out their website to look for specials which may include a printable discount coupon. Some of the larger regional theme parks print their discounts on locally bottled cans of your favorite soft drink or snack.

Go With A Group — Your large family may not qualify for a group rate, but if you have a friends and neighbors who are interested in visiting the same theme park or want to take in the same show at the coliseum, you could ask for a discount. Send a large enough group to a baseball game and your group could be recognized on the home team’s scoreboard!

Use Your Membership Wisely — People who are members of AARP, AAA, or some other large and well known association are often extended discounts when they flash their card. Professional associations can sometimes bring savings your way too, so before you book your next room, rent a car, or take a flight, see which card opens doors for you.

Last Minute Planning — Planning ahead can yield big discounts, but so can waiting until the last minute, especially if you are flexible with your plans. Having young children in tow can make this difficult to do, but if you are looking for a discount on a flight, some airlines will give to you their best price if you are at the airport and willing to fly standby. Hotels want to fill beds while theater houses will often cut ticket prices at the very last minute.

Find Free Events – Spending time at a public park, heading to your local college campus for a public event, or visiting a state run art museum usually means one thing: your time there is free. In some cases you’ll pay a nominal fee to enjoy a college presentation, which can be quite good, but with free parking available, you’ll find the savings to add up compared to a night out on the town.

Your weekly community newspapers can be a treasure trove of excellent information on free or discounted events in your area. Many are free and some offer prizes, one more incentive to bring your family to a fun event.

Adv. — Does your college student need a credit card? Shop around to find and compare the best offers, deals that can benefit your student and help them as needed. Please visit SayStudent.com for the information you need to find the credit card that is right for you adult child.

Tags: budget, college, cost savings, entertainment, event planning, movies, parks, plays, sporting events, stock market, theater, university

You’ve just logged on to read your third quarter 401(k) statement and the news is not pretty. In fact, with your net loss pushing 20%, you imagine that it will take years for you to recover what seems to have evaporated within days.

Lots of Americans have been in a blue funk lately, suddenly realizing that life isn’t as good as they thought that it was. Millions of consumers are still trying to refinance their homes, cars, and school loans, while others are taking a look at ways to cut back in a bid to conserve some cash.

Your vacation budget is likely to be eviscerated as you seek to shift money to cover other expenses. However, if you’re thinking of cutting back on entertainment, you may find that you’re simply cutting off your nose to spite your face. In other words, the one thing you need to help you relax is something you’re considering trimming. Instead, why not plan your own entertainment, specifically by holding your own parties and saving yourself a lot of money?

Besides, you can’t do anything about the economy, but you can decide to have some fun and save a bundle of money in the process. Let’s take a look at some money saving tips for planning an unforgettable bash on a shoestring budget:

Plan a Theme – Over the next several months, you’re going to have a lot of “excuses” for throwing a party, as the holiday season kicks into full force. Halloween/Harvest, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, the New Year, and Super Bowl Sunday are a handful of special occasions coming up. If you want to do something different, don’t forget that Columbus Day and Sweetest Day (look that one up) both fall in October, November has Election Day and Veterans Day, while December 21^st (or thereabouts) is Winter Solstice.

Plan a Budget – One of the fun parts of planning an event is getting the decorations, food, beverages, music and games together that everyone enjoys. Party stores and online shops offer great deals; most dollar stores are worth a visit too. When it comes to food, you can go “pot luck” and have people bring their favorite dish with them or you can stop by at BJS, Costco, or Sam’s Club to find tasty party food at prices you can afford. Concerning music, pull out your favorite CDs or switch to a music channel on your cable system for excellent background noise.

Send Invitations – Unless your party is formal, email invites are perfectly acceptable these days to replace traditional print invitations. Likely, you already have everyone’s email address, so create a fun message, send it out and follow it up in a few days with a second message or a phone call to confirm who is coming and what they’re bringing with them.

The Big Day – Whether throwing a small, intimate bash or inviting everyone from your church, social group, or neighborhood, you’ll want to plan your time wisely or otherwise risk wearing yourself out before the first guests arrive. Get everyone in your household to help prepare for your bash, assigning vacuuming and dusting chores to your teens and even enlisting the support of your preschooler who can help “set” the table, make decorations, tidy his room, etc. Keep it simple and you’ll have a lot less to worry about — after all, you may be the host but you need to enjoy the party too!

Relax – If you have a party agenda, rip that list up at once! Sure, you can ask people if they want to participate in certain activities, but don’t spoil relaxing conversation or force people to do something awkward especially if they are already enjoying themselves. Your guests can sense nervous energy which can take away from everyone’s enjoyment of the event.

Clean Up – Late running parties mean that everyone is tired, but some of your clean up can wait ’til morning. Pots that need to be soaked or plates rinsed should be handled right away, but straightening up the room or removing decorations is something that can wait until after you have had sufficient rest.

Once the party has ended, you’ll soon know if it was a success and how much money you had to spend to put it together. Concerning the latter, your party hosting costs probably came in much lower than a night you could have spent out on the town with your spouse as dinner, theater tickets, and related costs can easily exceed $200, while most parties can be hosted in your home and cost less than half that amount.

Tags: beverage, candy, food, lower your bills, party favors, party ideas, party planner, save money, theater tickets, utensils