Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

I’ve sold off a chunk of my early season games to offset the cost of my games, but I only sell them to friends at cost to be nice and share the fun. I’m sure later in the season if the Caps do well, I’ll put them up on StubHub. There’s all kinds of fees and whatnot to forward re-issued tickets and stuff like that through the official TicketMaster route so I prefer to just mail them or hand them to people in person.

The main thing is that I spent $9 on a Diet Coke and soft pretzel before Saturday night’s game. I ate some leftover pasta before we left so I wouldn’t be stuck eating a $9 chicken finger basket with fries at the Phone Booth. Instead my boyfriend and I went to La Tasca for dinner after the game. (Menu at the downtown location is shorter than at the Clarendon location, btw.) It wasn’t cheap, but since we didn’t too much and limited ourselves to one beer each, our check was only $50.

Add on the metro ride ($2.70 round trip, per person) and an $8 cocktail and it comes out to $72.40 and that does not include the ticket price (FWIW, about $35 for the pair).

I will say though, the game was boring when the Capitals couldn’t convert any power plays into read goals. But at the last 5 minutes it got crazy exciting and the Caps ended up scoring an empty net goal and winning by two.

I worked from home yesterday and again today. I spent absolutely nothing yesterday because I didn’t leave the house at all. I didn’t even run to the mailbox because that would mean I’d have to put on some shoes.

This morning I took my car into the shop to get inspected, change the oil, and rotate and balance the tires. Estimated damage is about $150.00. I suffered greatly the day before because I didn’t have any caffeine in the house, so I walked back home and picked up a coffee and a lottery ticket. (Why do people at the lottery register think you’re crazy because you only want one ticket? I go for cheap thrills here. Just one please.) Less than $3 and I can still feel a low-grade headache forming.

I sold off some of my hockey tickets (5 early season games) and deposited some checks. I’m pleased because that will cover the cost of the tickets and save me the money of buying stadium concession food and Metro rides for those games. It also happens that the amount of money will cover the cost of the car repairs.

Also, I reduced my unreported liabilities this morning, or rather yesterday in the unchecked mailbox. I got a ticket from DC earlier this summer for not having DC tags on my car. Park enough in front of your boyfriend’s house and suddenly they assume you live there. I contested the ticket and the fines by their mail-in adjudication service and won. Mind you, I sent them a copy of my VA driver’s license and VA registration to prove that I’m still happily a Virginia resident. (I say unreported liabilities because I never put this onto my net worth sheet, but technically I should have.) I received a letter from DC’s Parking Ticket Adjudication Board aka ‘Hearings by Mail’ and it is my proof that I no longer owe them $200.00.

The plan today for lunch at home is leftover pasta and maybe a snack at Wendy’s on the way home from the dealership. I wish I could have spent no money two days in a row, but que sera sera. I’m glad to have one true No Spend Day this month.

I realize that it’s summer, but last week, I was able to move my hocket seats to a better spot in the Verizon Center.

How did I do it? EASY!

I’ve got a friend who is leaving DC for California, who didn’t renew his seats. The new ticket rep I have has both of our accounts. I just rang him up and said ‘Bobby M has moved out of town. Can I have his seats? They are Section XYZ, Row G’. Sure enough, I got them! Okay… I did have to wait on hold while the rep checked with his manager to find out if it was ok to do the move before the special ‘Select A Seat’ event this week.

Don’t feel bad I took my friend’s tickets. Bobby’s seats were back in the pool of available seats because he didn’t renew them on time. He left for CA two weeks ago. I was merely capitalizing on the inside knowledge. Yes. Pun intended.

Next season: HOME ICE for 2 periods and a new hockey t-shirt!

(Kolzig put his house on the market so I’ll have to buy an Ovechkin shirt. I was going to buy one last year but I seriously thought he’d be leaving for another team in 2 years. Good for Leonsis for making a smart move.)

Well, at the beginning of the season, I thought these tickets were too expensive and a waste of money. How fast things change after dumping a crappy coach and making some key trades after the All-Star game. (I hope they can re-sign Federov.)

You have to understand something. I am not an NHL hockey fan. I like to watch hockey. I really don’t actually care who is playing. Because I don’t have any friends who play club hockey in DC, I decided to buy some professional league tickets last season and give it a try. It was fun enough that I thought I should buy season tickets for 2007-2008 to have something to do with a boyfriend who likes sports. I actually hate the Southeast Division because I don’t know any of the teams. I grew up in Philly and there is still a small pull at my heartstrings for the Broad Street Bullies. These expansion teams in Florida don’t mean anything to me at all.

When deciding to get tickets, I calculated which seats were the cheapest/best value for me and bought them. I figured out that I could miss 13 games and still come out ahead on the face value of the tickets. I sold off a bunch of games at cost to friends and gave away a bunch as birthday presents and gifts to friends. At $30 a pair, that makes a nice present without being ridiculously generous. I think I only wasted about 4 games worth of tickets out of 41 regular season games and 4 pre-season games.

Of course, by game 35, I was sick of going to The Phone Booth, aka the Verizon Center, and eating their concession food. I sold off the last three games, with some mild regret. My tickets for the last regular season game on Saturday night went to a friend who is a huge San Jose Sharks fan. He misses pro hockey and I was glad to unload the tickets. However, when I found out I could have put them up on Stub Hub for $200 apiece, I was naturally kicking myself. That’s one-third of the price of my season tickets! It was really exciting and I kind of miss not going, but at least my friend is someone who can appreciate what the Caps have done this season.

As a season ticket holder, I have purchased my playoff tickets already. There are privileges to having season tickets. The perks are ok. Special invitation-only events where you can meet the players, etc. I bought 100-level seats for the Penguins-Caps games for a me and a friend who is a Pittsburgh native at a steep discount. I also got 4 100-level seats for free and shared them with another couple that holds season tickets in the 400-level.

I waffled on renewing since I bought the tickets with a boyfriend I am no longer dating. However, I decided to renew the tickets for two reasons: 1. I wanted to secure my playoff tickets. 2. I found that I like hockey enough to want to go again next year. It also helps that my new boyfriend also enjoys hockey and also has the money to share the expense of tickets with me. We have the opportunity to upgrade seats later in the year at a Select-A-Seat event, where you get to see what seats are open and move. I happen to like my row and section, but we’re talking about springing for 100-level seats because we can afford it and there is a different level of energy down in the bowl of the stadium. I’m staring at my budget and trying to make an extra $100 a month for making this happen.

Really what I’m trying to express here is GET THE RED OUT and GO CAPS! Sure, it’s costing me a lot of green, but I have really enjoyed watching Ovechkin do some amazing things, and Semin turn into a pivotal player (he was about to get traded for lackluster performance if he didn’t turn it around this year). Kolzig got his 300th career win, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I am really ambivalent and I still nurse some distaste for the Caps since I didn’t grow up with them, but I have playoff fever like everyone else in town and I am SUPER EXCITED for the team. I never thought my investment in hockey tickets would give me this much enjoyment. Hockey is as volatile as the stock market.

It was worth the money though. Every penny.

ps- If you are in DC, please be aware there is a new 10% tax on sporting tickets. It’s bumped up the price of my renewal by $120. Might want to budget that in. FWIW, I went from a monthly charge of $100 to $114 from season to season on the extended payment plan.