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Splurging On Concert Tickets And Going Easier On Myself

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Splurging on Concert Tickets

You’ve probably seen lots of news articles over the past few days about Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and the struggle to get tickets. Unfortunately I’ve found myself caught up in all the ticket buying craziness! My sister and I love Taylor and have been fans since she released her second album Fearless. Going to her concerts has been a major bonding event for us over the years.

My sister and I have a seven year age gap, so as you can imagine, we haven’t always gotten along. But we’ve always been able to bond over our shared love of Taylor Swift’s music, so it was important to me to get tickets for this tour.

I Got Tickets, But They Were Expensive

I did manage to secure tickets, but the whole ticket buying process was a mess! Although I had a presale code, I wasn’t able to actually purchase tickets because of all the technical issues with Ticketmaster’s website. Earlier today I found out that the general sale was cancelled, so my only chance at getting tickets was to buy a pair from resellers.

Since Taylor is one of two artists I ever want to see in person (the other is a pop punk band that charges about $30 for tickets), I caved. I paid about $850 for two tickets in the nosebleeds earlier this afternoon. Ouch! My wallet hurts just thinking about it. I didn’t have savings to cover this because I honestly didn’t think Taylor would do a nationwide tour right now.

Her last tour got cancelled because of the pandemic and only had two stops – one in Boston and one in LA. I thought she would do something similar for Midnights because of lingering COVID concerns, which would make it impossible to get tickets. For reference, when Harry Styles did a one-night musical event, resale tickets sold for $11,000. That makes my $850 tickets look like a bargain!

For now, I took the money out of savings. But I’m going to do a credit card offer to get a sign-up bonus to help offset the cost, and may look into bank account bonus offers as well. I also got an unexpected $380 check recently, so that will cover about half of the price of the tickets. My sister offered to pay for her ticket, but I think I’m going to give it to her as a Christmas gift. We usually don’t exchange gifts, but she’s been having a tough time lately and I want to treat her to an unforgettable night out.

Going Easier On Myself

Before I started working with my therapist, I would’ve beaten myself up endlessly about this ticket purchase. Even though I can afford it and am going to find ways to replace the money I took from my savings, splurging like this still would’ve flared my financial anxiety. A few months ago, I probably would’ve been sitting in bed crying right now. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to sit down and write this post, so I’m pretty proud of my progress!

I’ve realized that taking a balanced approach to finances means that sometimes I won’t make the absolute wisest, most frugal decisions. Sometimes I’ll splurge on a concert ticket or a nice dinner out even though I’m trying to get out of debt and put myself on a good financial path. I’m a human, not a robot. I still have to live my life and enjoy myself a bit on the road to debt payoff, or else I’ll burn out. So I’m trying to go easier on myself and find financial balance.

How do you find financial balance in your own life? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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Layoffs And Holiday Plans

Holiday Faux-Pas

It’s sad when kindness is unexpected

Holiday Faux-Pas

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Gift Exchanges

There are lots of ways to do holiday gift exchanges for extended families – secret Santa, white elephant, no gift exchange, everyone exchanges gifts. Just to name a few.

In my family, we typically buy for each other’s kids, but the adults don’t exchange gifts. After my brother passed away (1.5-years ago), my mom started a new tradition of us simply having a Family Christmas Party – a time we all get together, enjoy baked goods, and go look at lights as an extended family.

In my husband’s family, they had historically bought gifts for everyone (adults and children alike). This year, to try to cut costs, one of his siblings suggested drawing names, so each person only buys a gift for one individual. I love this idea!

2022 Name Drawing

This year, my husband’s sweet aunt drew my name. A couple days after names were drawn, she texted asking me for the size of clothing that I wear.

Let me just say – I love his aunt. She is the sweetest, kindest soul. She is also crazy smart, is incredibly well read and traveled, and seems to know about everything. She really is the coolest.

That said….I do not think we have a similar “style” in clothing. And, frankly, I don’t want her buying me any clothes. I worry it would never get worn and end up as a waste of money, collecting dust in the back of my closet.

My Response

So how did I answer? I told her my size, but followed it up saying “Some ideas for me are: makeup brushes, immersion blender, food processor, and garden lights.” Basically, I tried to give several NON-clothing options that she could consider. We may not have the same style in clothing, but I’d be thrilled with just about any type of garden light there is.

When I told my husband about the text-exchange, he seemed to think I could still end up with clothes. He indicated that this is how his family is, and they tend to buy things based off of what they think you would like, and do not purchase off any type of gift list. This is foreign to me, as I would LOVE being given a list of ideas and picking something that I know the person likes and wants. But I also understand that may be seen as less work and maybe less thoughtful than coming up with my own idea(s).

What do you think?

Did I commit a holiday faux-pas by providing specific gift ideas? Should I just graciously accept whatever is gifted regardless of whether it will get any use?

What do your families do for holiday gift exchanges? Draw names? No gifts? Gifts for everyone? Something else entirely?

Have you started holiday shopping yet? I have not – but this recent name-drawing is reminding me that I need to get on the ball!