Prices are going up, up and I'm going away...
I pay close attention to prices and costs. It's the accountant-portion of my brain. I compare gasoline prices, parking fees and so on. Now I've just paid $3 to park at my favorite movie theater and it may be the last time I go there to see a movie by choice.
I like going to movies when I can at AMC theaters because I am a member of their frequent-user club. Every time I spend another $100 on films over the period of weeks or months, I get a $10 credit to be used at the AMC theater. So it pays to go there over other similarly prices theaters. But now the Westfield Century City mall is charging for even the first three hours of parking. Never mind that they've had three hours of free parking there since back in the 1970s. As for those people who go to the AMC, they will pay $3 for the first three hours and with validation, $4 for the first five hours. After that, it's another dollar for every fifteen minutes.
I have choices. I can go to the AMC theaters in Santa Monica and the reduced price of parking may make it worthwhile, especially since their ticket pricing is $1 lower than Century City. I could go to the South Bay Galleria, where I can park for free for an unlimited time and pay that lower price. The gas to drive 22 miles is much cheaper than the $4 I'd save. That's just the AMC alternatives. There's always the Landmark Theater, or the Rave theater.
So the AMC at Century City is going to lose my business because their landlord wants to make more money. I doubt most of the shoppers who go to this upscale mall will alter their shopping patterns, but they might. Gelson's is overpriced already, and people willing to buy groceries there won't fuss over paying a dollar for an hour of parking.
I'm also no longer going to visit a particular gas station I've gone to a lot, because for some reason, they are now pricing their gas at a much higher rate than other local stations. Maybe they were losing money at the lower pricing they were using before. Maybe the owner just wants a new car. I don't know and I don't care. Even if I'm only saving $2 a week by going elsewhere, that's a crisp Ben Franklin every year in savings.
The point? Little things add up. If you're spending $4.50 on that fancy coffee every day at Starbucks every day of the week, that's over $1,640 annually. Cut that in half and get a less expensive coffee and that's $820 in your pocket. You can do a lot with 8 Ben Franklins.
Just some food for thought.
I like going to movies when I can at AMC theaters because I am a member of their frequent-user club. Every time I spend another $100 on films over the period of weeks or months, I get a $10 credit to be used at the AMC theater. So it pays to go there over other similarly prices theaters. But now the Westfield Century City mall is charging for even the first three hours of parking. Never mind that they've had three hours of free parking there since back in the 1970s. As for those people who go to the AMC, they will pay $3 for the first three hours and with validation, $4 for the first five hours. After that, it's another dollar for every fifteen minutes.
I have choices. I can go to the AMC theaters in Santa Monica and the reduced price of parking may make it worthwhile, especially since their ticket pricing is $1 lower than Century City. I could go to the South Bay Galleria, where I can park for free for an unlimited time and pay that lower price. The gas to drive 22 miles is much cheaper than the $4 I'd save. That's just the AMC alternatives. There's always the Landmark Theater, or the Rave theater.
So the AMC at Century City is going to lose my business because their landlord wants to make more money. I doubt most of the shoppers who go to this upscale mall will alter their shopping patterns, but they might. Gelson's is overpriced already, and people willing to buy groceries there won't fuss over paying a dollar for an hour of parking.
I'm also no longer going to visit a particular gas station I've gone to a lot, because for some reason, they are now pricing their gas at a much higher rate than other local stations. Maybe they were losing money at the lower pricing they were using before. Maybe the owner just wants a new car. I don't know and I don't care. Even if I'm only saving $2 a week by going elsewhere, that's a crisp Ben Franklin every year in savings.
The point? Little things add up. If you're spending $4.50 on that fancy coffee every day at Starbucks every day of the week, that's over $1,640 annually. Cut that in half and get a less expensive coffee and that's $820 in your pocket. You can do a lot with 8 Ben Franklins.
Just some food for thought.
posted by me at 3:10 PM
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