A Penny Saved

My roommate and I went to go see Beowulf at the local movie theater last night. When we arrived, we were somewhat disappointed to discover that the ticket price had gone up $1.00–from $3.00 to $4.00 a person. I had a coupon for a free small popcorn with every ticket purchase, so we got two bags. Our total for the evening came to $8.00 for a movie and popcorn for two people. If we had gone out to see the same movie in my hometown in Fairfax County, Virginia, it would’ve cost at least three times as much. We love going out to the movies–yes, there are more frugal ways of having fun, but because it is so inexpensive, we go about twice a month.

A lot of things are just much less expensive here. Yes, we have a terrible job market to compensate, but if you can manage to get a job, it’s a wonderful place to live.

I’m always shocked at how low housing prices are here. My roommate is looking to buy a house. He’s got his eye on one in a good neighborhood: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen, living room, about 950 sq. feet, not including an unfinished basement. It’s a fixer-upper, but that’s not a big deal for him. He spent his last few summers helping renovate a friend’s basement into a fully finished apartment and fixing up a similar fixer-upper purchased by a married couple we know: there’s not a lot he’d need to bring in a professional for. The asking price for the house? About $40,000.

Wow.

Did I mention that I love living where I do?