My Financial Profile - MyFinPro.com
 |  |  |  |  |  |
The Budget Tip of the Day
Monday, February 25, 2008
Today's Tip: Rent Movies With Redbox
The movie rental industry seems to resemble the stock market with its constant ups and
downs. In the 1980s, companies burst out of the scene and there were seemingly rental
outlets at your grocer, at a couple mom-n-pop's, as well as the up and coming Blockbuster.
Blockbuster was industry changing and monopolized the movie rental market until the
emergence of a company that could ship movies directly to your home (Netflix).
Well, the movie industry has a new face. It's been here for awhile, and I want to inform
you that in my opinion, it's the latest and greatest. The company is called Redbox, and it's
like an ATM for movie rentals. They are found in stores nationwide, and we've been
frequenting the one at the local Walgreens.
Redbox allows you to rent movies for $1 per day, and allows you to return the movie the
following day by 7:00 pm at any Redbox location. For an infrequent movie viewer, this has
kind of gotten me back into the habit of the occasional rental every now and then. I'm just
not the type of person that watches enough movies to get the benefit from a monthly movie
rental commitment. (Believe me, I tried the commitment thing with movies, and I found
that I was watching movies just for sport so that I could make the math work with getting
enough out of the membership). Anyway, I found that it was pretty much a complete
waste of time, because you know as well as I do, there are probably only between 7-10
good movies a year, so you can imagine how much time I would waste!
The downside to Redbox is that they do not have near the selection as a major movie rental
business. They generally stick to new releases and movies that haven't been out any longer
than one year. But the up side is that it's only a buck and if the movie is a flop, hey - no big
deal, right?
The bottom line: if you see one of these in your area, give it a shot. There are no late fees,
it's simply a dollar a day, so if you miss it by a day, the DVD rental would cost you $2.
Hey, even if you hold it two days, the total cost is less than half of what it would be at the
alternative.
Have you downloaded the free budget yet? Our free budget spreadsheet is updated for
2008 and features a monthly account tracker and budget form!
The movie rental industry seems to resemble the stock market with its constant ups and
downs. In the 1980s, companies burst out of the scene and there were seemingly rental
outlets at your grocer, at a couple mom-n-pop's, as well as the up and coming Blockbuster.
Blockbuster was industry changing and monopolized the movie rental market until the
emergence of a company that could ship movies directly to your home (Netflix).
Well, the movie industry has a new face. It's been here for awhile, and I want to inform
you that in my opinion, it's the latest and greatest. The company is called Redbox, and it's
like an ATM for movie rentals. They are found in stores nationwide, and we've been
frequenting the one at the local Walgreens.
Redbox allows you to rent movies for $1 per day, and allows you to return the movie the
following day by 7:00 pm at any Redbox location. For an infrequent movie viewer, this has
kind of gotten me back into the habit of the occasional rental every now and then. I'm just
not the type of person that watches enough movies to get the benefit from a monthly movie
rental commitment. (Believe me, I tried the commitment thing with movies, and I found
that I was watching movies just for sport so that I could make the math work with getting
enough out of the membership). Anyway, I found that it was pretty much a complete
waste of time, because you know as well as I do, there are probably only between 7-10
good movies a year, so you can imagine how much time I would waste!
The downside to Redbox is that they do not have near the selection as a major movie rental
business. They generally stick to new releases and movies that haven't been out any longer
than one year. But the up side is that it's only a buck and if the movie is a flop, hey - no big
deal, right?
The bottom line: if you see one of these in your area, give it a shot. There are no late fees,
it's simply a dollar a day, so if you miss it by a day, the DVD rental would cost you $2.
Hey, even if you hold it two days, the total cost is less than half of what it would be at the
alternative.
Have you downloaded the free budget yet? Our free budget spreadsheet is updated for
2008 and features a monthly account tracker and budget form!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Get It Here
-------The Budget Tip Archive----- |
Free Budget Spreadsheet