(Part 1 of Other People’s Money post)
I was chatting with a colleague about how I recently watched the first season of Riverdale (Jughead + Betty forever!), but because I don’t have Netflix I had to wait until it came to iTunes. He said, “You’re a single woman, you don’t have kids, you have lots of money – why don’t you have Netflix? It’s only $10 a month.”
Well, that gave me enough for two blog posts, so welcome to the first one. Let’s get started with Netflix itself and “it’s only $10 a month.”
Do you really think I can afford the fees for an image of Jughead and Betty, or Netflix? Instead, please enjoy this cool piggy bank I found free on Pixabay.
That’s $120 a year, not including tax. But I’d have to increase my internet bandwidth and at minimum, that’s another $10 a month, or $120 plus tax. That’s spending $240+ a year on a season of Riverdale.
Yes, there’s a lot of other content on it, but that’s what I feel like watching right now. Even paying as I go to download occasionally from iTunes, I do not spend $240 a year on TV shows or movies. (I track my spending. I work for myself, of course I do.)
When you’re considering spending, what else is involved and what are the whole costs? It’s like home renovations. First you fix the kitchen, but then by comparison the rest of the house seems off, so you keep going and spending. (Canadians spend an awful lot on home renos! ) Or you find the perfect cute top, but it doesn’t go with anything in your wardrobe, so now you need new jeans or a new skirt, and of course then you need new shoes. Hey, I get it, the whole spending scope creep.
One that catches me is the hidden costs to travel. Besides the airfare and accommodations, there’s the vaccinations if needed, the incidentals like sunscreen or bug spray you need to stock up on when they’re out of season and thus more expensive, the Uber fare to and from the airport and so on.
Ever play the game I’d Rather? You may have heard of it in other contexts. Kate Moss once said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” (Obviously she’s never had chocolate cake. Or tacos. Or… but I digress.) She plays the I’d Rather game – she’d rather be skinny than indulge on food.
Personally, I’d rather put that $240 towards a trip, my concert fund, or some activity that doesn’t involve me sitting at home with my butt on the couch staring at a screen alone. (Even going to the movies, where I sit on my butt and stare at a screen is better, because I like the social aspect.)
Netflix is obviously just not a priority for me right now. Yes I’ll probably get it eventually, but until then I have other things to do with my money. It’s all about your personal choices.
Jughead and Betty will just have to hold on until then.
Don't Eat Cat Food in Your Old Age 