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Rising Costs Of Family Outings (1 Viewer)

No kidding. I once scalped a ticket 3 rows behind 3rd base for $5. Team was in first place. Barry Bonds, Dave Parker etc. Entire outfield seats covered by a tarp. Maybe 5,000 fans. Only in Pittsburgh.  
Why would anyone want to watch scrubs such as Parker and Bonds. They aren't even HOF material. Kidding aside, Bonds should make it based on his time in PIT, before steroids. 

 
i wonder if everyone has a magical figure in mind for a good or service that they won’t cross and have already given up….on another thread i said i won’t pay over $4 for my sbux iced coffee anymore.  in my mind, i still think i should be able to grab lunch under $10 (used to be $5 and i still try for this).  dining out i can’t go over $20 on entrees.  i don’t even bother with live sporting events anymore unless i am gifted the tix.  there are so many items, just curious if anyone else has guardrails.

 
FairWarning said:
The cheapest tickets for MLB will always be stubhub, especially at the last-minute.


Hasn't worked for me. Stubhub last minute for the Padres game was $113/ticket, after being around $48 earlier in the day. 

Exact same tickets too so it's not like the ones I was looking at sold and only more expensive ones were left. It was just that one company owned the majority of the tickets so they were essentially price fixing them the same way that airlines do, raising the prices all together as game time got closer. Treating it like a business where it's more valuable to them to set market expectations that ticket prices are only going to go up and you can't just wait for a last minute deals than it is to make money on those unsold tickets. 

 
i wonder if everyone has a magical figure in mind for a good or service that they won’t cross and have already given up….on another thread i said i won’t pay over $4 for my sbux iced coffee anymore.  in my mind, i still think i should be able to grab lunch under $10 (used to be $5 and i still try for this).  dining out i can’t go over $20 on entrees.  i don’t even bother with live sporting events anymore unless i am gifted the tix.  there are so many items, just curious if anyone else has guardrails.
i have many.  having worked in the restaurant biz for ever, knowing what the mark ups are, it's tough to eat out at all.  we almost exclusively go to places where we don't know how to make the food. (indian and whatnot) 

and  i won't buy coffee or water anywhere.  ridiculous.

 
Hasn't worked for me. Stubhub last minute for the Padres game was $113/ticket, after being around $48 earlier in the day. 

Exact same tickets too so it's not like the ones I was looking at sold and only more expensive ones were left. It was just that one company owned the majority of the tickets so they were essentially price fixing them the same way that airlines do, raising the prices all together as game time got closer. Treating it like a business where it's more valuable to them to set market expectations that ticket prices are only going to go up and you can't just wait for a last minute deals than it is to make money on those unsold tickets. 
That could very well be for certain teams.  I suspect there are some national ticket brokers buying up season tix for SD, LAD, both NY teams, Boston, etc with the hopes of securing playoff tickets  - and a bigger payday.  Unfortunately it’s something you have to monitor every day to lock in tickets.  Petco is at the top of the list of parks I want to see a game at, and a fun team to  watch always helps.

 
Treating it like a business where it's more valuable to them to set market expectations that ticket prices are only going to go up and you can't just wait for a last minute deals than it is to make money on those unsold tickets. 
That's the impression I get.  I monitor tickets extensively for concerts.   Every once in awhile, you get something reasonable which is probably an actual person doing a one off sale but in general I find the price is the price and it ain't budging much.  At some point day of, the tickets just start getting taken down.  

 
Judge Smails said:
No kidding. I once scalped a ticket 3 rows behind 3rd base for $5. Team was in first place. Barry Bonds, Dave Parker etc. Entire outfield seats covered by a tarp. Maybe 5,000 fans. Only in Pittsburgh.  
Don’t want to harsh on your mellow but Parker was already in Cincinnati for a couple years before Bonds was a rookie and they weren’t a top team until 1988 when Parker was off in Oakland. Parker was fun and old when he had his resurgence in Cincy. Maybe you were thinking of Bonilla?

All I know is I just looked and Bonds’ stats in SF were redonkulous. 232 walks when he was 39. An OBP of .609. I know about the steroids but geez people who didn’t watch him don’t realize how little pitchers gave him to hit. He had 45 HRs that year and only struck out 41 times. How many HR hitters nowadays hit .328, .370, .341 and .362 in 4 straight years with no one pitching to them. 755 walks to 265 Ks with 209 HRs.

 
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Don’t want to harsh on your mellow but Parker was already in Cincinnati for a couple years before Bonds was a rookie and they weren’t a top team until 1988 when Parker was off in Oakland. Parker was fun and old when he had his resurgence in Cincy. Maybe you were thinking of Bonilla?

All I know is I just looked and Bonds’ stats in SF were redonkulous. 232 walks when he was 39. An OBP of .609. I know about the steroids but geez people who didn’t watch him don’t realize how little pitchers gave him to hit. He had 45 HRs that year and only struck out 41 times. How many HR hitters nowadays hit .328, .370, .341 and .362 in 4 straight years with no one pitching to them. 755 walks to 265 Ks with 209 HRs.
Bonds is without a doubt the best hitter I’ve ever watched. 

 
i have many.  having worked in the restaurant biz for ever, knowing what the mark ups are, it's tough to eat out at all.  we almost exclusively go to places where we don't know how to make the food. (indian and whatnot) 

and  i won't buy coffee or water anywhere.  ridiculous.
I work in a restaurant and I go out to eat maybe 3-4 times a year. Usually only go to a local joint I like as an excuse to leave a big tip.

I'm no 5-star chef, but my job is to prepare good food on a budget for a living. Going out to eat, for me, makes as much sense as carpenter paying someone to build their deck. Certainly with you on the Indian food thing. I can do something passable, but I'm happy to pay a pro for some delicious Indian food.

The in-laws, God bless'em,  do invite us out to dinner from time to time. Always some stupid chain. I'm very good at making excuses to get out of it. On the times I cave, it's just absolutely miserable. People literally waiting 30, 45 minutes, an hour just to get a table to eat some horribly overpriced crap from a chain just blows my mind. On the rare occasion I get roped into that, all I can think is we could have swung by the grocery store and be drinking beer by the grill making something awesome in half the time. 

For the markups, that's why I only go to local places. I believe there are basically only 2 ways to make money in the restaurant industry.

A chain going for scale where they generally underpay employees, overcharge customers, and use their weight to squeeze suppliers. They have big ad budgets that allow them to get away with this.

If a restaurant can hire new 18 year olds every week to pull this off, that's a pretty sweet business model, but I ain't eating there. 

The other way is a local joint where the owner (in a lot of cases, the whole family) is in the business working their ### off to provide a great service at a great value. That's where I spend money when I do.

 
i wonder if everyone has a magical figure in mind for a good or service that they won’t cross and have already given up….on another thread i said i won’t pay over $4 for my sbux iced coffee anymore.  in my mind, i still think i should be able to grab lunch under $10 (used to be $5 and i still try for this).  dining out i can’t go over $20 on entrees.  i don’t even bother with live sporting events anymore unless i am gifted the tix.  there are so many items, just curious if anyone else has guardrails.
Based on my spending behavior it appears I draw the line at $9/lb for mid-range steaks, $5 for a foot long, and $3 for cheap custard. Before this year we only bought steaks when they went on sale for $6.99, in bulk at $5.99, and splurged to $7.99 when we hadn't seen the first two in a while but haven't bought any this year as they haven't dropped below $8.99. I justified Subway longer than I care to admit, but now the best coupon is buy 2 get 1 free and they're $9 a pop which apparently tipped us over the edge. We'll still splurge on ice cream but we now only go to the premium local joints relatively infrequently that charge about $4 a pop as the cheap custard place a block away finally tipped over $3.

 
i have many.  having worked in the restaurant biz for ever, knowing what the mark ups are, it's tough to eat out at all.  we almost exclusively go to places where we don't know how to make the food. (indian and whatnot) 

and  i won't buy coffee or water anywhere.  ridiculous.
Here here - if it weren't for kids we'd only go to local joints in which we can't make the food or don't want to make it for a variety of reasons. Even with them we're 90+% local joints - they'll rope us into McD's (franchise owner's a great guy - most efficient fast food joint in existence) but I can't think of anything else that's any more than a one-off.

And I don't remember the last time I paid for a water or a coffee.

 
I know this is more for entertainment, but kids activities in general are crazy expensive too

ive got 2 in Parkour at $130/mo each (we get a discount on the 2nd so it’s like $230/mo total)

the one of those is in karate at $100/mo

oldest will rejoin swimming in the fall that’s another $100/mo

then any rec level baseball/soccer is $100-$200 for the season (which is a bargain compared to the others)

I can’t imagine any of you poor bastards who have kids in travel sports or girls dance.  I think my wife’s cousin pays $1000/mo for 2 girls in dance or something crazy like that 

oh and my Jets pizza order the other day was $95.  Granted I had like 4 pizzas and some breadsticks delivered and got multiple meals out of the leftovers but still crazy 

 
The hotel pool bar prices are insane.  I think a Truly was like +$10 at the Marriott pool bar in Orlando, and they check your bags walking in to make sure you aren't bringing your own.  Wife & I will usually mix a few drinks in room and buy some more at the pool bar, along with food.  They still get their money's worth out of us, but at least we don't feel like we are getting that hosed. 

 
The hotel pool bar prices are insane.  I think a Truly was like +$10 at the Marriott pool bar in Orlando, and they check your bags walking in to make sure you aren't bringing your own.  Wife & I will usually mix a few drinks in room and buy some more at the pool bar, along with food.  They still get their money's worth out of us, but at least we don't feel like we are getting that hosed. 


This group of investors turned old snack bars right on the sand in Huntington Beach into "adult venues" with beers, live music, etc.  One place serves pizza (at $7 a slice), another tacos, and another is burgers or something.  All three places, though, have insanely high prices for beer.  Like $10 for a can of Modelo.  No cold glass or lime, either.  I can power through at least 6-7 of those if I'm out for a late afternoon / early evening soiree.  So a good $80 just for Mexican swill beer.  But they can totally get away with it, since you're literally steps from the sand and in the case of one of the places, they have sand right there on the property you can sink your toes into.

 
I think a Truly was like +$10 at the Marriott pool bar in Orlando, and they check your bags walking in to make sure you aren't bringing your own.
Huh? I’ve stayed at dozen Orlando hotels and never had anybody do this. I bring my drinks all the time. Where are you staying? 

 
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Oh and a birthday party coming up at the waterpark at like $13/kid plus parents gonna cost me like $250 I’m sure
I think about this at every birthday party our kids go to because we don't do it for them. I'm glancing around the room just seeing $. 

 
The hotel pool bar prices are insane.  I think a Truly was like +$10 at the Marriott pool bar in Orlando, and they check your bags walking in to make sure you aren't bringing your own.  Wife & I will usually mix a few drinks in room and buy some more at the pool bar, along with food.  They still get their money's worth out of us, but at least we don't feel like we are getting that hosed. 
Oh, man. This has me going exorcist just thinking about it. A pool/beach day not sneaking in booze defeats the purpose of a pool/beach day. 

 
The hotel pool bar prices are insane.  I think a Truly was like +$10 at the Marriott pool bar in Orlando, and they check your bags walking in to make sure you aren't bringing your own.  Wife & I will usually mix a few drinks in room and buy some more at the pool bar, along with food.  They still get their money's worth out of us, but at least we don't feel like we are getting that hosed. 


Yep, I just got back from the beach in Cali and mixed drinks from the pool bar started at $22/ea.

 
i wonder if everyone has a magical figure in mind for a good or service that they won’t cross and have already given up….on another thread i said i won’t pay over $4 for my sbux iced coffee anymore.  in my mind, i still think i should be able to grab lunch under $10 (used to be $5 and i still try for this).  dining out i can’t go over $20 on entrees.  i don’t even bother with live sporting events anymore unless i am gifted the tix.  there are so many items, just curious if anyone else has guardrails.
About the same for most of that. i still have the delusion that dinner with the family at a regular place like Zaxbys or Culver’s should be under $50. But that’s become $60-70. When I’m out to dinner with the wife we occasionally go over $100 with drinks which she knows I don’t like, prefer to keep that under $50 with tip. 
For a while I wouldn’t pay more than $1/beer in a 6 or 12 pack. But now that’s moved to $10 for a six pack. 

 
My payback will be when they have to wipe my butt when I’m 89 years old.
You laugh, but my nephew recently was in the room with my dad when he got his catheter checked and my BIL had to help dad empty his bag. I’ve been lucky enough to avoid most of that but I did take him to the doctor’s when I last visited. Meanwhile, my MIL had surgery in her urethra and has been talking to my wife about all that with UTI’s - we’re lucky there too, as SIL lives a mile from them and is a nurse so she deals with it. 

 
I know this is more for entertainment, but kids activities in general are crazy expensive too

ive got 2 in Parkour at $130/mo each (we get a discount on the 2nd so it’s like $230/mo total)

the one of those is in karate at $100/mo

oldest will rejoin swimming in the fall that’s another $100/mo

then any rec level baseball/soccer is $100-$200 for the season (which is a bargain compared to the others)

I can’t imagine any of you poor bastards who have kids in travel sports or girls dance.  I think my wife’s cousin pays $1000/mo for 2 girls in dance or something crazy like that 

oh and my Jets pizza order the other day was $95.  Granted I had like 4 pizzas and some breadsticks delivered and got multiple meals out of the leftovers but still crazy 
My three kids used to bleed me dry for 20's, but damn that is nothing compared to what you are dealing with.

Also, parkour training was free when I was a kid.

EDIT: In 4th through 6th grade (Arlington, TX), we had to scamper vertically up a rope 20 feet in PE class and touch the beam to which the rope was tethered.  Full disclosure, It might have been 15 feet, but either way it was a long way to the top, for those who wanted to rock and roll.

Also, when I was 7-8-ish, I used to climb to the top of the rocket slide to watch F-14 Tomcats and  F-4 Phantoms do touch and goes at Point Mugu NAS.  Thing was, there was no ladder to the top level, but luckily a few of the vertical bars were pried apart and I could scale to the top level from the outside and assume the catbird seat.

 
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Oh, man. This has me going exorcist just thinking about it. A pool/beach day not sneaking in booze defeats the purpose of a pool/beach day. 
No kidding. Neighborhood pool becomes middle age parent happy hour around here. No sneaking involved. 

 
I know this is more for entertainment, but kids activities in general are crazy expensive too

ive got 2 in Parkour at $130/mo each (we get a discount on the 2nd so it’s like $230/mo total)

the one of those is in karate at $100/mo

oldest will rejoin swimming in the fall that’s another $100/mo

then any rec level baseball/soccer is $100-$200 for the season (which is a bargain compared to the others)

I can’t imagine any of you poor bastards who have kids in travel sports or girls dance.  I think my wife’s cousin pays $1000/mo for 2 girls in dance or something crazy like that 

oh and my Jets pizza order the other day was $95.  Granted I had like 4 pizzas and some breadsticks delivered and got multiple meals out of the leftovers but still crazy 
Parkour sounds awesome though. Dance team is lunacy. And ridiculous clothing for the young girls. Not happening here. Our daughter is in a Christian Ballet group, much more reasonable. 

 
snellman said:
  @ChiefD I am not sure where the Chiefs have camp now, but it may be worth looking into because it could be a much better experience for a lot less Money, because like you said it is insane what it costs to go to an NFL game now.
still in River Falls, WI??

 
still in River Falls, WI??
St Joe, MO. About an hour north of KC.

I actually went to River Falls 13 years ago. Was my 40th birthday and stopped on my way to my uncle’s house in Wisconsin to do some muskie fishing. Really enjoyed that town. I wish it was still there.

St Joe is an armpit.

 
No kidding. Neighborhood pool becomes middle age parent happy hour around here. No sneaking involved. 
Our city's decision makers will never remove their head from their ###. That 15 year old we used to coach is not going to tell us to put that beer away, but we also don't want that 15 year old to be put in that position so it all goes in our hydroflask. 

 
About the same for most of that. i still have the delusion that dinner with the family at a regular place like Zaxbys or Culver’s should be under $50. But that’s become $60-70. When I’m out to dinner with the wife we occasionally go over $100 with drinks which she knows I don’t like, prefer to keep that under $50 with tip. 
For a while I wouldn’t pay more than $1/beer in a 6 or 12 pack. But now that’s moved to $10 for a six pack. 
how is zaxbys?  i drive by them down here but never had even a hint of wanting to go.

 
i wonder if everyone has a magical figure in mind for a good or service that they won’t cross and have already given up….on another thread i said i won’t pay over $4 for my sbux iced coffee anymore.  in my mind, i still think i should be able to grab lunch under $10 (used to be $5 and i still try for this).  dining out i can’t go over $20 on entrees.  i don’t even bother with live sporting events anymore unless i am gifted the tix.  there are so many items, just curious if anyone else has guardrails.
Absolutely. Some similar ones to yours, too.

Rarely do Starbuck-type places, and the price is a big reason. Much happier with my homemade coffee.

$10 is also my got-a-good-deal line for lunch. In practice, I bring lunch half the time, and just go up to around $15 the rest of the time. Work from home often, too, so that's changed the lunch calculus a lot.

Rarely dine out now. Our regular Central American place has some steals in the $8 range (e.g. a sizeable and very good taco salad). Even for dinners out, my mental line is $15-ish but I'm getting to the point where my wife and I split a lot of stuff, especially at places with huge portions. $20 and up feels like splurging, maybe a once-a-year treat.

One thing I've gotten old-man-cheap about is drinks with meals out. Not alcohol ... I mean Cokes, ice teas, lemonade, etc. In the 1990s, it was almost universally a dollar for a drink with a meal just about anywhere below fine dining. These days, it's $3.00 - $3.50 at your Applebee's-level places and I just won't do it. Water is just fine, thanks. Yep -- cheap bastage here and just fine with that.

 
i have many.  having worked in the restaurant biz for ever, knowing what the mark ups are, it's tough to eat out at all.  we almost exclusively go to places where we don't know how to make the food. (indian and whatnot) 

and  i won't buy coffee or water anywhere.  ridiculous.
Should have kept reading. I'm nodding to a lot of this.

In the New Orleans area, a lot of ethnic places are by far the best dining-out deals in the city.

 
Don’t want to harsh on your mellow but Parker was already in Cincinnati for a couple years before Bonds was a rookie and they weren’t a top team until 1988 when Parker was off in Oakland. Parker was fun and old when he had his resurgence in Cincy. Maybe you were thinking of Bonilla?

All I know is I just looked and Bonds’ stats in SF were redonkulous. 232 walks when he was 39. An OBP of .609. I know about the steroids but geez people who didn’t watch him don’t realize how little pitchers gave him to hit. He had 45 HRs that year and only struck out 41 times. How many HR hitters nowadays hit .328, .370, .341 and .362 in 4 straight years with no one pitching to them. 755 walks to 265 Ks with 209 HRs.
Yep - Bonilla. My bad. Should have come up with his name after just reading about the anniversary of his legendary contract. 

That’s what pisses me off about guys like Bonds and Palmeiro. These guys were generational hitters without steroids. Bonds didn’t have this long, lifted launch swing like many of the power hitters do today. He choked up and just squared the ball time after time.  

 
Should have kept reading. I'm nodding to a lot of this.

In the New Orleans area, a lot of ethnic places are by far the best dining-out deals in the city.
Especially family owned restaurants.  The portions seem to be a little bigger.  It’s also a pride thing for them vs a bean-counter inspired chain.

 
I know this is more for entertainment, but kids activities in general are crazy expensive too

ive got 2 in Parkour at $130/mo each (we get a discount on the 2nd so it’s like $230/mo total)

the one of those is in karate at $100/mo

oldest will rejoin swimming in the fall that’s another $100/mo

then any rec level baseball/soccer is $100-$200 for the season (which is a bargain compared to the others)

I can’t imagine any of you poor bastards who have kids in travel sports or girls dance.  I think my wife’s cousin pays $1000/mo for 2 girls in dance or something crazy like that 

oh and my Jets pizza order the other day was $95.  Granted I had like 4 pizzas and some breadsticks delivered and got multiple meals out of the leftovers but still crazy 
Wait, so some genius figured out how to make parents pay for parkour?

Wasn't that literally invented to be a free activity?

 
Our city's decision makers will never remove their head from their ###. That 15 year old we used to coach is not going to tell us to put that beer away, but we also don't want that 15 year old to be put in that position so it all goes in our hydroflask. 
None of the neighborhood pools here have lifeguards. So that’s easy. Some have HOA monsters but our HOA board is far more concerned with social hour than with enforcing rules. (Which isn’t ideal either)

 
Wait, so some genius figured out how to make parents pay for parkour?

Wasn't that literally invented to be a free activity?
I suppose so but they offer training and have some nice obstacles and equipment.  Plus they get an hour of open gym where they can play tag and stuff like that

they also offer a breakdancing class that my youngest has started

 
Especially family owned restaurants.  The portions seem to be a little bigger.  It’s also a pride thing for them vs a bean-counter inspired chain.
One good thing about the New Orleans food scene is that the family-owned places encompass not only ethnic faves like Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican/Central American, and Thai but also many "New Orleans comfort food places". There even used to be a sole-proprietor steakhouse that had a very no-frills dining room and atmosphere, but undercut other area steak places by a good 40-50% -- RIP Crazy Johnnie's.

 
I always think of Zaxby's first, second, and third as a chicken fingers place like Raisin' Canes. I guess from going there with kids so much. But yeah, they do have some more on their menu.

 
I suppose so but they offer training and have some nice obstacles and equipment.  Plus they get an hour of open gym where they can play tag and stuff like that

they also offer a breakdancing class that my youngest has started
Makes sense. I was serious that it's genius for somebody to turn it into a business.

I assume parkour originated from helmet-less hooligans ripping and running through the concrete jungle destroying public and private property.

Providing a way for kids to get the benefits of it in a safer, supervised way without being a public nuisance is a great idea. 

 

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