Entertainment

Streaming Services You Should Cut Out Now

March 18, 2020 By Trey LaRocca Leave a Comment

When it comes time to reign in your spending, the little things are almost as important as the big ones. While streaming services are nice to have, a lot of the time we end up paying for ones we barely use. Not only that, but a few of them even share common content that is available on other platforms. All of these are things to take into consideration when cutting some out to save money. To help make the decision a little easier, here are the streaming services you should cut out now.

The One You Forgot You Had

We have all done it. Maybe it started as a free trial, or just the one you snagged to binge on particular show, but they both ended the same way. You were checking your bank account, and you were hit with the “oh yeah” moment. Oftentimes this comes after months of paying for it without knowing it. Now, what some will do is say “well I paid for the month, might as well keep it and see what’s on.” Don’t be that person. If you forgot about it once, you’ll do so again. Cancel your subscription and enjoy the time you have left with it.

The One You Only Watch One Show On

Sort of ties into the top one, but this is for those who intentionally keep those subscriptions running. If you only watch one or two shows on the streaming service, there is no reason to keep it running year-round. If the premier of a season really sneaks up on you, it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to start your plan back up and watch to your heart’s content. Don’t waste $200 on something that should only need to cost $15-30.

The One With A Bunch of Projects “In the Works”

The name of the game for most streaming services is original content. The quality and quantity of exclusives is what really sets each one apart from the others. If you end up paying for one that is slow to put out new stuff, you can always cancel and start back up when they have actually finished a few things up. None of the big services really have a problem getting content out, but when it comes down to the wire, count out the original series that you actually must see as they come out on each service. Whichever has the lowest number can go for now, and you can catch their “in the works” projects as they come up.

At the end of the day, this decision will be different for everyone. For this reason, I have refrained from naming any specific services. I personally only subscribe to two streaming services, because I only watch a few shows. I understand that others have a lot of different things they like to see, though, so my recommendations won’t exactly help much. Just keep these factors into account, and make sure you aren’t just buying up every service until you end up essentially paying a premium cable bill.

How to Find Cheap Super Bowl Tickets

January 31, 2020 By Amanda Blankenship Leave a Comment

While the world won’t know which teams are headed to the 2020 Super Bowl until Sunday, February 2, people are already working to secure tickets. For some, whether their favorite team is playing isn’t as important as being there for the big game. However, if you want to see the event live, tickets are usually pretty expensive. Luckily, there are things you can do to secure relatively cheap Super Bowl tickets.

Be a Season Ticket Holder

Current season ticket holders for any NFL team have the best shot at only paying face value for Super Bowl tickets. The NFL distributes a set number of tickets to each team, with the most going to the AFC and NFC championship winners.

The teams that become the AFC and NFC champions secure 17.5 percent of the available tickets each. Season ticket holders for those team usually get the first crack at them, after certain other VIPs (like owners, managers, players, and players’ families) get their tickets.

In 2020, the Miami Dolphins get access to 6.2 percent of the tickets, as the host team gets more than the remaining 28 teams. Everyone else divvies up 33.6 percent, meaning each of those 28 teams only gain access to 1.2 percent of the available tickets. Again, after VIPs, season ticket holders likely have the best odds of getting a reasonably priced ticket.

Usually, the teams hold a lottery drawing to determine which season ticket holders get a chance to buy tickets. They draw names until their available pool is sold out.

The NFL controls the initial destinies of the remaining 25.2 percent of tickets. They make their way to various partners, sponsors, media organizations, and networks.

Shop the Resale Market for Cheap Super Bowl Tickets

If you aren’t a season ticket holder, then heading to the resale market is your best option. People who purchase tickets but aren’t able to attend the Super Bowl will sell their tickets through various exchanges, giving anyone a chance to buy them.

It’s important to note, if you were hoping to find cheap Super Bowl tickets selling at or below face value, that isn’t going to happen in nearly every case. The secondary market sets prices based on the principles of supply and demand and, for the Super Bowl, demand always exceeds supply.

However, by shopping around, you may be able to find seats for less with one resale site than on another. Additionally, the price for tickets may fluctuate as teams are eliminated during the playoffs. The strength of a teams fanbase plays a role. Similarly, season ticket holders whose team is in contention today but doesn’t end up in the Super Bowl may be offloading their tickets later, impacting supply at that moment.

The Only Cheap Super Bowl Tickets Are…

As you can see, calling any Super Bowl tickets cheap is pretty hard. However, it is possible to get your hands on tickets without paying a bundle; you just have to win them.

Radio stations, media groups, news outlets, and a variety of other entertainment organizations often hold contests where Super Bowl tickets are the prize. Food and beverage manufacturers or restaurants and businesses that sponsor the NFL or the Super Bowl may also offer some up in sweepstakes or contests.

While your odds of winning may be low, if you do get chosen, you could end up with free tickets. However, you will have to pay taxes on the value of the tickets when you file in 2021, so keep them in mind if you are lucky enough to win.

Do you have plans to score cheap Super Bowl tickets? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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5 Tips for Hosting a Cheap Super Bowl Party on a Budget

January 30, 2020 By Amanda Blankenship Leave a Comment

Millions of people around the country are preparing to kick back and enjoy one of the biggest sporting events of the year – the Super Bowl. In some cases, Super Bowl parties are massive affairs involving dozens of partygoers, full food spreads, décor, and more. Whether your party is going to be big or small, finding ways to save money is always a wise move. If you need to host a cheap Super Bowl party on a budget, here are five tips to help you get started.

1. Consider a Potluck

Since food can be one of the largest expenses for any Super Bowl gathering, hosting the event as a potluck can help you stretch your budget. Plus, most partygoers will be happy to bring a dish, as it is a small thing to do to enjoy time with friends, family, and the big game.

Now, if you want your potluck to go smoothly, you may either want to assign dishes or have people announce what they want to bring in advance. This can help ensure that you don’t end up with half-a-dozen veggie platters or every attendee just bringing chips, as you can intervene if there is not enough variety or keep all of the items aligned with a theme.

Not only is a potluck cost-effective, but it can also reduce the amount of stress you experience. After all, not having to create every dish yourself is a huge weight off your shoulders.

2. Make It BYOB

If you want to have a party with adult beverages, making your Super Bowl party BYOB (bring your own booze) may be your best option. Alcohol can great incredibly expensive, so requesting that everyone bring their own can be a gamechanger for your budget.

Plus, you get the added bonus of not hearing any complaints about what kind of drinks are or are not available. You do not have to worry about anyone’s taste but your own, as they can bring what they want to drink.

However, do make a few conveniences available. For example, make sure you have plenty of ice, cups, stir sticks, corkscrews, bottle openers, and similar items on-hand and highly accessible. If you have a cocktail shaker or other barware, consider making it available as well if you are okay with the items being used during a party.

Additionally, clear out your fridge as much as possible or have a cooler filled with ice at the ready. That way, your guests can cool their drinks easily once they arrive. You may also want to give attendees a way to mark their drinks, such as a Sharpie, so they can identify which ones belong to them with greater ease.

3. Figure Out What You Have

Instead of heading straight to the store, take a moment and see what you may already own. Go through your cupboards to see what food and drink items are there and plan your menu around what you’ve already bought. Then, check closets or storage areas for decorations you may have kept from other events or a previous Super Bowl party.

Any time that you can use an item you already own is an opportunity to save money. Do not plan your shopping list until you take full stock of what you have on-hand. Otherwise, you might buy something you did not actually need.

4. Seek Out Coupons and Sales

Certain foods are incredibly popular during the Super Bowl, so stores and manufacturers offer deals to entice you to buy specific options. Before you shop, take some time to review sales flyers and find coupons. Go through your mail, get the Sunday paper, or get online to see what may be available and then plan your purchase from there.

Additionally, if you have a rewards club or other members at your supermarket, make sure to check for any unique deals that may be available. If you aren’t a member, then signing up may be wise, as it really can help you save all year-round.

5. Consider Delivery or Takeout

If you are hosting a large party, sometimes opting for delivery or takeout is actually a smart choice. Many pizza places and similar restaurants that offer takeout or delivery may run specials in conjunction with the big game, so you could actually score a pretty great deal if you compare your options.

Plus, by going with delivery or takeout, you do not have to dedicate any time to cooking. Instead, you can spend time with friends and family or handle other tasks you need to finish.

If ordering out doesn’t seem like your thing, check out these easy, cheap Super Bowl recipes.

Bonus Tip: Get An Accurate Headcount

Just make sure that, before you order, you get a fairly accurate headcount. That way, you can estimate how much food you will need so you can find a deal that best suits your needs. Otherwise, if you order too much food, not only are you spending more than you needed to, but the leftovers may go to waste if you can’t finish them in a timely manner. If you didn’t order enough, you would risk needing to make an emergency food run during the game or disappointing your guests, both of which are not ideal.

Ultimately, all of the five tips above can help you host a great Super Bowl party on a budget. Consider giving one, a few, or all of them a try and see which options are best for you.

Do you have any tips for hosting an amazing Super Bowl party on a budget? Share them in the comments below.

If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.

How Much is a Super Bowl Commercial?

January 29, 2020 By Amanda Blankenship Leave a Comment

More than 100 million people will be tuning in for the Super Bowl this year. On top of ticket sales, viewers spend billions on merchandise, food, and alcohol for the big game. Another number that generally gets a lot of attention is the cost of an ad that airs during the event. How much is a Super Bowl commercial this year?

The Cost of Super Bowl Commercials

Can you believe that a Super Bowl commercial only cost $37,500 in 1966? In fact, Super Bowl ads were just half their current price 12 years ago. Take a look at a timeline of the cost of a Super Bowl commercial below.

Much of the fluctuation in the cost of a Super Bowl commercial has to do with the number of people who will tune in. As mentioned above, around 100 million people will watch the game this year. However, the very first Super Bowl only expected 24 million viewers. As the popularity of the event grew, so did the price tag for advertising.

How Much is a Super Bowl Commercial in 2020?

In 2020, Super Bowl commercials are priced up to $5.6 million. This is just a slight hike from last year’s $5.2 million price tag for a 30-second ad during the big game. On top of that, the average price of a ticket to the Super Bowl comes in around $7,000.

More Americans are betting on the Super Bowl this year as well. It is estimated that 26 million American adults plan to bet on Super Bowl LIV, wagering over $6.8 billion. That is a 15% increase from last year’s game.

There is no doubt the Super Bowl impacts the economy in a huge way every year. Billions of dollars (and 1.38 billion chicken wings) are circulated around this single event.

Photo: Mike Mozart

How to Win Super Bowl Squares During the 2020 Game

January 28, 2020 By Amanda Blankenship 5 Comments

The big game is just around the corner. It won’t be long before you’re sitting in front of your TV watching the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs playing Super Bowl LIV to see who becomes the 2020 champion. You may even have put a pool together for the game with money or alternate prizes for some added fun. Here’s how to win Super Bowl squares (or at least better your odds).

How Super Bowl Squares Work

If you participate in Super Bowl football squares pool and it’s done correctly, there really isn’t any way to better your odds of winning. This is because the numbers for the game will be randomly assigned after all of the spaces in the game have been filled. This will mean that nobody knows which numbers they have until after they have already chosen squares. This ensures that those who receive the most coveted spaces do so randomly.

How to Win Super Bowl Squares

The key is that there’s no way to better the odds if the game is set up correctly. The reason that many times it’s possible to better your odds is that often these games aren’t set up correctly. You can do this by understanding the odds of what number combinations are most likely to appear from past Super Bowls. By knowing the number combinations with the greatest chance of appearing, you can choose those slots giving you a distinct advantage over those who join the pool later or don’t understand that some squares are much more likely to win than others.

When football squares are set up correctly, all participants must choose their square (among the white squares from the image above) before the 0 – 9 numbers for both teams are written (the grey squares in the above image). The mistake that happens more often than it should is that the 0 – 9 numbers are filled in before people choose their squares. When this happens, you can choose squares which are much more likely to pay than those that aren’t because you know exactly where they are. Even if you know nothing about football, you have a good chance of winning by knowing the numbers most likely to appear. Here are the numbers you need to know:

The simple rule of thumb is that you want squares that have the numbers 0, 7, 3 and 4 in them and avoid squares that have the numbers 2 or 5 in them. If you have your choice, you want to pick one of the five following combinations:

0-0
7-0 (0-7)
3-0 (0-3)
7-3 (3-7)
0-4 (4-0)

Looking at all the past Super Bowls, this is how often all the numbers have appeared: “0” has appeared 101 times (26.9%), “7” has appeared 78 times (20.7%), “3” has appeared 58 times (15.4%), “4” has appeared 39 times (10.4%), “6” has appeared 31 times (8.2%), “1” has appeared 23 times (6.1%), “9” has appeared 17 times (4.5%), “8” has appeared 10 times (2.7%), “5” has appeared 10 times (2.7%) and “2” has appeared 9 times (2.4%).

Take Note of This And Good Luck!

By understanding that the 0-0 square (or any of the others mentioned above) is much more likely to appear sometime during the game than the 2-2 square (or any other square not mentioned above), you can greatly increase the chanced that you’ll win one of the prizes given away. It’s important to note that these are the odds, and that doesn’t mean the above numbers are guaranteed to win. They simply suggest that going by past Super Bowl games, which numbers are much more likely to appear and which aren’t.

With the above knowledge, you could take advantage of any game put together where the 0-9 numbers have already been written on the sheet before filling in your square(s) and increase the likelihood of winning. A better course of action, at least in my opinion, would be to point out the flaw in the way the game has been set up. The game can then be properly set up so that it’s random and nobody has an advantage over anyone else when the numbers are chosen.

Finally, for a handy printable Super Bowl squares chart, go here.

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How to Play and Download a Free Super Bowl Squares Printable Chart

January 27, 2020 By Amanda Blankenship 3 Comments

The 2020 Super Bowl is coming up soon. Two teams that don’t typically appear in the season’s biggest game are playing: The San Francisco 49ers and The Kansas City Chiefs. As the game approaches, many people are beginning to play Super Bowl squares. If you’re not quite sure how to play but want to get an office pool started, here’s a step-by-step guide (plus free printable Super Bowl squares).

Step One: Print the Super Bowl Football Squares Chart

First, print a 10 square by 10 square chart. Use this link to print your free Superbowl squares chart.

Step Two: Set a Price for the Value of the Squares

If you decide to make a friendly wager on the game, you need to determine how much each square on the chart will be worth. Each participant will need to pay this amount for each square they place their name in on the chart. The amount for each square is completely up to you – adjust it according to the group of people you’re playing the game with. Below are a few examples of amounts you could determine each square to be worth, and what the total pool for that amount would be.

10 cent squares would create a total pool of $10.00
25 cent squares would create a total pool of $25.00
50 cent squares would create a total pool of $50.00
1 dollar squares would create a total pool of $100.00
2 dollar squares would create a total pool of $200.00
5 dollar squares would create a total pool of $500.00
10 dollar squares would create a total pool of $1000.00

If you don’t want to bet cash on the Super Bowl, you may consider giving away small prizes to the winning square holders. Typically, you’ll award these prizes after each quarter.

Step Three: Assign Squares

Next, you will need to fill in the 100 squares inside the chart. As long as it is easy to determine who has claimed which square, you can organize this any way you want. The most common way to do this is to have all those participating initial the square(s) they want for the game. You can also assign each participant a color and allow them to color in the squares they’d like to claim.

The number of squares each person gets depends on the number of people playing the game. If you have 10 people playing, each would pick 10 squares (5 people playing, each would pick 20 squares, and so on).

Step Four: Randomly Assign Numbers

Have people fill in their squares before assigning numbers. Then, assign numbers 0-9 on the top and side of the chart. It is more likely for the end score for either team will end in a 0, 3, or 7 than most other numbers. For this reason, you’ll want to assign the number after people have colored/initialed their squares to provide everyone with the same odds of winning.

Step Five: Decide How to Award Prizes

There are a wide variety of ways to award prizes. You can decide which is best for you and the group you’re playing with. Most games give out a small amount at the end of each quarter, with a bigger prize for the participant that has the winning square at the end of the game. Below you’ll find some of the different ways you can award the prize money. For those who are giving away predetermined prizes rather than money, you should also determine how these will be awarded.

Ways you can payout prize money for super bowl squares

Step Six: Determine the Winners

In order to determine the winner, you need to look at the last number of the score for each team. For example, if the score is Kansas City 14 and San Francisco 13 after the first quarter, you would look for the “4” column from the Chiefs side, and “3” column from the 49ers side. Once the two columns have been determined, you run the lines together until they meet at a square which is the winner. You follow the same process with the scores at half-time, the end of the third quarter, and the final score.

Readers, are you participating in Super Bowl squares or any other Super Bowl game? Let us know your plans in the comment section below!

Photo: Erik Drost