Friday, March 26, 2010

Entertainment Budget: Room For A Splurge?

March 26, 2010

There are two words that don't sound very fun together...entertainment & budget! If you are living with a budget though, it should include everything, right? Right!

We are blessed to live in Central Florida...entertaining theme parks are everywhere! But, as we all know, they have the potential to be costly...tickets/passes, food, trinkets!

As a family we analyzed our theme park choices, what percentage of attractions appeal to each of us, special events throughout the year, and of course compared and weighed the costs. For us, we decided Disney's four parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios) offered something for each of us throughout the year.


At first glance the cost of Disney's four park annual pass (which includes parking) is higher than other local theme parks. My hubby likes to calculate the "true cost" of something based on how many times you use it/wear it/whatever. We take advantage of our passes...whenever hubby has a day off, we have free time, or there are special events at the parks we are there!


I look at our entertainment budget first from the cost of our annual passes, since they are the biggest expense, broken down to the monthly cost to our budget. $1,000 for our three passes divided by 12 months is $83.33 per month...about $20 per week for the three of us! Sounds like a lot of money?

Think about this...a trip to the snack bar at the movie theater costs more than $20 for three people, not to mention the tickets! We opt for Disney & Netflix!

It's all about choices right? We can't do everything we want, so we choose what can fit in our budget. You can choose a big ticket entertainment item like annual passes to a park, but you have to be willing to make sacrifices in other areas. So our annual splurge of passes we make fit in our entertainment budget by limiting the movie theater and eating out. It is definitely worth it for the family time we enjoy at the parks!

Yesterday we went to Epcot! The International Flower & Garden Festival is going on there now. My girlie loves flowers! Her favorite for the past couple of years has been the Fairy Garden!






The Fairy Garden also had a butterfly house that she loves too!



Hubby & I enjoy the topiaries!





There is still so much more to see and learn! Good thing we have our passes to go back a few more times before the Flower & Garden Festival ends!


I would love to hear what you use your entertainment budget to enjoy! Leave a comment and let us know how you manage your dollars to include family fun!


5 comments:

  1. I hopped over from New Friend Friday and I am so happy that I did! I enjoyed your terrific photos! Please accept my invitation to drop in at my place one day this week when you get a moment. until later...

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  2. Hi,

    Happy FF!

    I think annual passes are SOOOOOO worth the money! I lived in California my whole life before moving to Texas and we always had Disneyland passes, you go just a few times and you got your monies worth from then on out it free days at Disney,lol! Then you can stop by for a couple hours and not feel guilty about spending the money because you have already paid!

    We would also pack snacks, Disney food can get expensive when you are there at least once a week!

    Great post and great pics! Glad I stopped by!

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  3. Hey there! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and for your kind comments! I loved reading this post...you're right..it's all about what we choose to do. Going to Disney once a week sounds incredible to me!! We're coming in a few weeks and we cannot wait! Nice to meet you, -shaunna :)

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