The new year will soon be here, but before that its Christmas day which many of us are looking forward to for various reasons. Gareth's looking forward to Christmas day because of a whole different reason, and it's nothing festive at all!
The reason why he's looking forward to Christmas day so much is because on the 25th of December, it'll only be (so I keep hearing) eight months until Reading Festival begins. Reading Festival once known as Reading Rock Festival to us locals is the world's oldest popular music festival and it's having it's 61st annual festival in 2017, and Gareth is eager to go!
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I don't mind Gareth going to the festival at all, however for just a standard weekend camping ticket, the cost for that is £213 - yes £213 for a THREE day festival ticket - that doesn't include his food, drink and all in between, it's a disgusting price! If he wants posh - in other words cleaned more often toilets, and a place to charge his phone that's an extra £20 on top, oh and if he wants early access which is highly recommended - that's another £20, another £35 for a seat of luxury pass (whatever that is) and that's another £75 on top of what the ticket cost bringing the ticket price alone to a staggering £288! He seems to think this cost is justifiable though as he got a bargain on his discount store tent!
Like I've already mentioned that doesn't include the cost of everything else that weekend like clothing, food, drink and transport, and as we've got a wedding to plan and pay for, I think it's an unreasonable cost to justify. With bottles of water from these places costing £4.00 for a 200ml bottle of water that cost just 69p to buy in a shop, it's a fool's game if you ask me so I'm trying to persuade Gareth to go to a concert instead, or do it on a budget - I would like to get married one day, after all, he was the one who put a ring on it!
So here are my tips on how to attend festivals, events and tours on a budget, if there's an event you'd like to attend, I'm 99% sure there is ALWAYS a way to save money!
Like I've already mentioned that doesn't include the cost of everything else that weekend like clothing, food, drink and transport, and as we've got a wedding to plan and pay for, I think it's an unreasonable cost to justify. With bottles of water from these places costing £4.00 for a 200ml bottle of water that cost just 69p to buy in a shop, it's a fool's game if you ask me so I'm trying to persuade Gareth to go to a concert instead, or do it on a budget - I would like to get married one day, after all, he was the one who put a ring on it!
So here are my tips on how to attend festivals, events and tours on a budget, if there's an event you'd like to attend, I'm 99% sure there is ALWAYS a way to save money!
1. Volunteer To Help.
This may not apply to all events, but Reading Festival allows you to volunteer at the festival doing shifts in return for a weekend ticket. Last year, my second eldest brother and a group of his friends volunteered to help in return for a weekend ticket and he had a great time. Luckily his volunteering duty was to wristband festival goers, but you could be given any job including litter picking, helping security or even cleaning the toilets. In return for a pricey ticket, it's a good reward if you're willing to live on little sleep and party at the same time.
2. Group Discounts
If a group of you want to attend an event, it's always worth looking at group discounts, just like school trips we went on when we were younger, where our parents would pay a discounted price, so do have a look for group bookings. Group discounts may not apply with the event itself, but maybe you could save money with group travelling, for example buying a group travel pass instead of lots of individual passes, and group discounts could even work on meals too! Four eat for the price of three is a regular foodie discount, as well as buy two, get two free, there's money to be saved, you just need to do your research.
3: Buying On Release Date
If your favourite artist or festival has announced the date of their ticket sales, make sure you have enough money to buy there and then on that date. Otherwise tickets will be purchased in large quantities by ticket scouts who sell tickets for up to 12 times their face value, it's a sad state of affairs, but sadly it happens and ticket scouts aren't doing anything illegal, once the ticket is theirs, it's up to them to decide how much to sell on for.
4. Buy Legit.
Want to buy a ticket for that Chelsea v Liverpool (an example) football game that's approaching? Make sure whenever you buy tickets it's from trusted sellers otherwise you could be conned into buying fake tickets that look 100% genuine. When I worked at Madejski Stadium (home to Reading Football Club) I would see people turning up with smiles on their faces only to be turned away with frowns due to them having what they believed was real tickets.
5. Thinking Wisely
When you go to a tour, concert, festival or another event, it's easy to be sucked into the sellers at the event selling various items from guide books to merchandise. Ask yourself if you have a purpose for these items before making impulse buys? If the answer is no, then leave them out and save the cash, it's also worth calling venues in advance to find out whether you can take your own food and drink in, whilst most say no, until you ask you'll never know.
There are so many other ways to save money when it comes to festivals, tours and events, it's all about planning early on and researching things. This will take a little bit of time, but ensures you spend the minimal amount of money, money saved for a rainy day - or in mine and Gareth's case - money saved for our dream wedding.
Jada x
This may not apply to all events, but Reading Festival allows you to volunteer at the festival doing shifts in return for a weekend ticket. Last year, my second eldest brother and a group of his friends volunteered to help in return for a weekend ticket and he had a great time. Luckily his volunteering duty was to wristband festival goers, but you could be given any job including litter picking, helping security or even cleaning the toilets. In return for a pricey ticket, it's a good reward if you're willing to live on little sleep and party at the same time.
2. Group Discounts
If a group of you want to attend an event, it's always worth looking at group discounts, just like school trips we went on when we were younger, where our parents would pay a discounted price, so do have a look for group bookings. Group discounts may not apply with the event itself, but maybe you could save money with group travelling, for example buying a group travel pass instead of lots of individual passes, and group discounts could even work on meals too! Four eat for the price of three is a regular foodie discount, as well as buy two, get two free, there's money to be saved, you just need to do your research.
3: Buying On Release Date
If your favourite artist or festival has announced the date of their ticket sales, make sure you have enough money to buy there and then on that date. Otherwise tickets will be purchased in large quantities by ticket scouts who sell tickets for up to 12 times their face value, it's a sad state of affairs, but sadly it happens and ticket scouts aren't doing anything illegal, once the ticket is theirs, it's up to them to decide how much to sell on for.
4. Buy Legit.
Want to buy a ticket for that Chelsea v Liverpool (an example) football game that's approaching? Make sure whenever you buy tickets it's from trusted sellers otherwise you could be conned into buying fake tickets that look 100% genuine. When I worked at Madejski Stadium (home to Reading Football Club) I would see people turning up with smiles on their faces only to be turned away with frowns due to them having what they believed was real tickets.
5. Thinking Wisely
When you go to a tour, concert, festival or another event, it's easy to be sucked into the sellers at the event selling various items from guide books to merchandise. Ask yourself if you have a purpose for these items before making impulse buys? If the answer is no, then leave them out and save the cash, it's also worth calling venues in advance to find out whether you can take your own food and drink in, whilst most say no, until you ask you'll never know.
There are so many other ways to save money when it comes to festivals, tours and events, it's all about planning early on and researching things. This will take a little bit of time, but ensures you spend the minimal amount of money, money saved for a rainy day - or in mine and Gareth's case - money saved for our dream wedding.
Jada x
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