Okay. Confession #1. I love movies. I subscribe to cable TV’s premium movie channels and am always searching through the menu for a good movie to watch. And yet, it often seems there is nothing playing that tempts me in the least. All that money for all those channels down the drain.
I have an extensive library of DVDs and a rather large one of older videos as well. I pluck my favorites out to watch again and again, but there are also quite a few I’ve purchased that I’ve never viewed a second time. Occasionally, I liked the movie when I saw it in the theater and bought the DVD knowing I liked it, but once home, it didn’t turn out to be a “view often” picture after all. Worse are the times that I’ve purchased a movie without seeing it first (either on the recommend of a friend or by the reviews) and then I’ve discovered it was a waste of money. Ouch!
A week or two ago, I went to the video store and rented a number of movies. And I also bought three movies: Lemony Snicket; Phantom of the Opera; and National Treasure. Yes, I will watch all of these purchased movies multiple times. However, the purchases and the rentals got me to thinking. The rentals were $3.69 each and had to be returned in 4 days. A real pain since I’m not out in the car that much and even less so in the direction of the video store. The purchased movies cost a minimum of $19.99 plus tax. Ka-ching… Ka-ching…
I’ve heard about Netflix for several years, but it seemed silly since we have cable TV. I know several people who are members. So on Thursday, I decided to check things out on their web site. It didn’t take long to see that this could be a major way to save and still view lots of movies I otherwise never would at $3.69 a pop. For $17.99/mo I can rent as many DVDs as I want, keep them as long as I want (total of three at a time), and never have to make a run to the video store again. That’s less than five rentals at myr local video store, and it’s definitely less than buying just one DVD. And it may even allow me to cut some premium movie channels from the cable package. (That’s the plan, anyway.)
I now have about 45 movies in my queue that I want to view eventually, including the old BBC Upstairs Downstairs series collection that sells for $240 at Amazon.com. Viewing those alone will be worth the membership!
As long as I’m baring my soul, here’s Confession #2: I have very little pleasure reading time. In order to keep me up to speed, I like to listen to audiobooks while in my car or when riding the recumbent stationary bike. But I hate abridged audiobooks and the unabridged can be very pricey ($35 or more not being unusual for the best ones).
Well, about two or three months ago, a writer friend advised me of the subscription available via Audible. For $14.95/mo, I can download one book and one other subscription item. For $21.95/mo, I could download two books. After downloading, I can put the book in my MP3 player or burn it to CDs to listen to in my car. Including the free book of my choice that I received upon joining, I figure I’ve already saved close to $100. Plus I’ve listened to some excellent books. Savings and entertainment — the best of both worlds.
Robin, have you ever seen (or read) “Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood”? Scott and I rented last weekend and I fell in love with it. It’s definitely a new favorite.
Robin, we love Netflix at our house too. We can expose the kids to oldies they’ve never seen. Plus, we just saw Phantom of the Opera and National Treasure. Loved them both~
Well here’s my confession, I don’t watch a lot of movies because I’m usually reading books for school – HOWEVER, now that I’m finally out of school forever – I might just check this Netflix thing out and also the audio book thing too because I have an mp3 player and know how to burn things to dvd and I have a treadmill that is not infront of a tv.
In fact, I’m going there now to check it out…..thanks Robin. 🙂