Cost of Living and Glastonbury

[gooner1990]

12 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

It’s really tough … I pick home shopping and about 1 in every 6 customer picks is the value range , where previously at a guess it was more like 1 in 20 . People are really starting to feel the pinch now and that’s before the worst of it . 
 

People shouldn’t be embarrassed to be struggling unfortunately that’s the way things have gone now and there will be so many that it’s impacting … sounds daft but there are always sympathetic ears around here if people require it 

As I've probably alluded to on here in the past I go to a heck of a lot of football Aug-May (then festival season kicks in 😄 )  I have now started to plan to deliberately miss games due to not having enough spare cash and some of the ones I am going to I will now drive with a few friends to cut costs down rather than getting the train and it also means I don't drink if I'm driving so save even more. 

 

[Neil]

21 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

with the current cost of living crisis , the bank of England raising Interest rates and Inflation at record levels , what are peoples thoughts on ticket purchase in oct and balance payments in April ? where will people cut cloth if they need to ? will it be gigs or festivals that go ? realising i missed a workers option so please give the general feeling amongst paying mates 

glastonbury is fantastic value entertainment, i started going instead of an expensive holiday and have kept that up. 🙂 

[ogriff]

After having kids Glastonbury has been my one escape that's just for me (the Mrs has been a couple times, both muddy and generally finds it too big and scary!), I've massively reduced the amount of football (on which note, @gooner1990, assume you're one and the same from the old AWIMB??), rugby, gigs, comedy I go to. G is for me, and a chance to reconnect with my people.

That said, a combination of bringing COVID home from the festival this year and infecting the whole family (that went down about as well as a bucket of sick) and the cost of everything impacting on my ability to put away £100 a month JUST for G (ticket+coach+any replacement camping gear+sundries+spendies gets close to a grand even before the likely ticket increase) is making next year look a bit tricky.

I took more food and booze last year to try and reduce the cost, but the weight of carrying that from Ped-A damned near finished me off before the festival had even started (well into my 40s now...).

[gooner1990]

3 minutes ago, ogriff said:

After having kids Glastonbury has been my one escape that's just for me (the Mrs has been a couple times, both muddy and generally finds it too big and scary!), I've massively reduced the amount of football (on which note, @gooner1990, assume you're one and the same from the old AWIMB??), rugby, gigs, comedy I go to. G is for me, and a chance to reconnect with my people.

That said, a combination of bringing COVID home from the festival this year and infecting the whole family (that went down about as well as a bucket of sick) and the cost of everything impacting on my ability to put away £100 a month JUST for G (ticket+coach+any replacement camping gear+sundries+spendies gets close to a grand even before the likely ticket increase) is making next year look a bit tricky.

I took more food and booze last year to try and reduce the cost, but the weight of carrying that from Ped-A damned near finished me off before the festival had even started (well into my 40s now...).

Yes it is me, I haven't used that site for about 10 years now, possibly longer....

[Crazyfool01]

19 minutes ago, Neil said:

glastonbury is fantastic value entertainment, i started going instead of an expensive holiday and have kept that up. 🙂 

I don’t think many would argue the ticket price on its own isnt great value … it’s the added extras that mount up …. And sometimes things have to be cut that might not be seen as essential 

[gooner1990]

16 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

Whilst the festival remains good value for money it’s the added extras that mount up … working it might become an option for me depending on how things go , I’ve not taken the option yet despite being heavily persuaded to as I see it as my one holiday a year . This year however at the festival I spent under £100 but that did mean I took all my own drink and some food in . 

I just did some totting up

Ticket: £285

Coach and other travel costs: £60

Alcohol and food brought with me £50

Narcs: £200

Alcohol at festival £150

Food at festival £60

 

Total = £805

That's some loose workings out so its not totally accurate, I also bought a new self inflating mat for £130 but I won't include that as I will keep that for years to come.

[balti-pie]

2 hours ago, Avalon_Fields said:

I’ll do what it takes to afford to carry on doing the things that mean the most to me, Glastonbury being right up there. Fortunately I’ve already virtually stopped drinking at home so that alone equates to the cost of going, and for other reasons am cutting back lots on live gigs. I’ve always averaged about one a fortnight and I’m thinking I’ll be saving the cost of about 2 Glastonbury trips by next year.

Drinking much less has a few excellent effects - firstly the saved money, the improved health, and also the very underrated benefit of turning you into a comparative lightweight, so you get a lovely buzz off two pints whereas it would have taken four or five to do so previously. Its an absolute winner! 

[philipsteak]

9 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Drinking much less has a few excellent effects - firstly the saved money, the improved health, and also the very underrated benefit of turning you into a comparative lightweight, so you get a lovely buzz off two pints whereas it would have taken four or five to do so previously. Its an absolute winner! 

And remembering everything rather than it just being a vague fuzzy recollection of possibly having fun

[balti-pie]

Just now, philipsteak said:

And remembering everything rather than it just being a vague fuzzy recollection of possibly having fun

Yes! though i forgot to say that, which somewhat undermines the point of having improved memory . . . 

[Ayrshire Chris]

1 hour ago, gooner1990 said:

As I've probably alluded to on here in the past I go to a heck of a lot of football Aug-May (then festival season kicks in 😄 )  I have now started to plan to deliberately miss games due to not having enough spare cash and some of the ones I am going to I will now drive with a few friends to cut costs down rather than getting the train and it also means I don't drink if I'm driving so save even more. 

 

Must admit I’ve decided this year, no away or cup games, just the games on my season ticket for me now.   The cost of tickets and transport etc to these other games has become too much, anyway  most of them are televised live. 

[geoffboycott]

19 hours ago, Punksnotdead said:

It's still good value, but I'm afraid it's out of my price range nowadays. I couldn't possibly justify paying for 2 festivals a year & I've chosen End of the Road as my one.

Same here, EOTR was my 'backup' last year as I didn't get a ticket for Glastonbury, but tbh, I had such a good time, I'm fairly certain EOTR will now be my annual festival.  I can't justify the cost of doing more than one, particularly with the current financial crisis that is set to only get worse over the next year.

Edited August 5, 2022 by geoffboycott
it's not impending, it's here.

[stuie]

I work Glasto and will continue to do it this way.  It's not about the cost but I treasure the whole week on the farm.   The work slows down my antics and forces me to take a break from time to time! 

I generally do a couple of other festivals as a punter but I don't see that changing unless my income is severely affected. 

There's a lot of other things I'll give up first - new clothes, lunches, meals out, random nights, gigs, holiday etc. 

 

[gooner1990]

39 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Must admit I’ve decided this year, no away or cup games, just the games on my season ticket for me now.   The cost of tickets and transport etc to these other games has become too much, anyway  most of them are televised live. 

I share my ST with my brother as he lives in London its much easier for him, my main issue with Arsenal games now is not only are most of them on TV is most of them aren't even on a Saturday anymore....so many games are on Friday nights, Sundays or Mondays) just means living where I do now I can't make a lot of them anymore unless I'm prepared to use up heavy amounts of annual leave, which wasn't a problem when I was single but now I'm not it just doesn't really work anymore.

Love the away games, but again, cost of going to them has shot up and I'm limiting myself to four before the break of the World Cup (tonight at Crystal Palace being one of them!)

[paulshane]

1 hour ago, gooner1990 said:

I just did some totting up

Ticket: £285

Coach and other travel costs: £60

Alcohol and food brought with me £50

Narcs: £200

Alcohol at festival £150

Food at festival £60

 

Total = £805

That's some loose workings out so its not totally accurate, I also bought a new self inflating mat for £130 but I won't include that as I will keep that for years to come.

roughly the same here, I reckon going to the festival costs me about £700-800 all in.

as a once a year treat (ticket permitting) I can afford it, I don't go away for a week on the beach etc, so this is my summer holiday.

 

 

[gooner1990]

4 minutes ago, paulshane said:

roughly the same here, I reckon going to the festival costs me about £700-800 all in.

as a once a year treat (ticket permitting) I can afford it, I don't go away for a week on the beach etc, so this is my summer holiday.

 

 

Its not cheap is it!

I did Truck Festival two weeks ago 

Ticket + parking £150

Narcs £150

Booze and food for campsite £30

Booze in arena £100

Food at festival £50

Total £480

 

So I spent roughly £1,300 inside a month on going to two music festivals!!! 😮 

 

I'm also blanking out going to Liam Gallagher at Knebworth (and staying over) and I'm going to two days of Reading Festival later this month.  I won't be repeating similar in 2023 that's for sure!!!!!

[fred quimby]

1 hour ago, philipsteak said:

And remembering everything rather than it just being a vague fuzzy recollection of possibly having fun

Not always a bonus 😉

[balti-pie]

i was looking at nabbing a sunday ticket for Reading for RATM - theyre sold out, but things always appear last minute - its £93 for a day ticket, and parking is a scarcely believable £37.50 for one day (which makes glastonbury's £50 for weds to mon seem so much more reasonable) so all things considered ive sacked the idea off before it even got off the ground. Smaller indoor gigs below £20 is much more on my agenda. 

[Hugh Jass II]

9 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

i was looking at nabbing a sunday ticket for Reading for RATM - theyre sold out, but things always appear last minute - its £93 for a day ticket, and parking is a scarcely believable £37.50 for one day (which makes glastonbury's £50 for weds to mon seem so much more reasonable) so all things considered ive sacked the idea off before it even got off the ground. Smaller indoor gigs below £20 is much more on my agenda. 

£37.50 to park?!? Is it the same price for the whole weekend?

Going for the day on the Saturday and getting the train down from London and making sure I'm on the last one back.

[balti-pie]

43 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

£37.50 to park?!? Is it the same price for the whole weekend?

Going for the day on the Saturday and getting the train down from London and making sure I'm on the last one back.

Just looked, yep its £37.50 for a weekend and £37.50 for a day 😆 i seem to recall the car park being a right bloody hike down the river as well (albeit i havnt been since 2009, i was spectacularly drunk and cant remember much apart from my first ever three day hangover) 

[Zoo Music Girl]

Being completely honest I don't think the cost-of-living crisis has really hit us yet. I make a decent wage, as does my partner, and we both worked all the way through covid and saved a fair bit by spending nothing. Did make me realise how much I spend on shit though! That still hasn't really been eaten into fully but as we get out and do more I'm sure it'll start to run out. We don't have kids, though, which makes a huge difference to many. I have friends who are already really feeling it.

I'll definitely be trying for next year but if I ever find myself struggling financially (entirely possible, especially as I'm freelance) it would be one of the first things to go. There was a long period in my 20s where I basically did fuck all as I was so skint - unfortunately eating and rent just has to take priority. I also think I'd probably rather have a few smaller, cheaper things scattered through the year rather than one big thing.

Covid has definitely impacted how I feel about this stuff too. I never thought I'd be able to go so long without going to gigs or doing anything fun these days and actually I coped OK. So I know it can be done if needs be. Again, lucky to live with my partner and not alone.

Will be interesting to see what happens to gigs and festival marker once people really start to cut back. It's going to be tough times for the industry for sure.

[Suprefan]

Let's do this one:

 

Flight: £1500 ( bought in 2019 and was honored on re book for 2 people )

Ticket: £570  ( 2 people )

Worthy View : £325 ( for 2 people ) 

Train and Coach ticket: £150 ( 2 people ) 

Money spent at festival: £300 or so a person

 

I have a more detailed list of expenses but wont get into that. So yeah, cost a bit coming from across the atlantic.

 

 

 

 

 

[Zoo Music Girl]

22 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Let's do this one:

 

Flight: £1500 ( bought in 2019 and was honored on re book for 2 people )

Ticket: £570  ( 2 people )

Worthy View : £325 ( for 2 people ) 

Train and Coach ticket: £150 ( 2 people ) 

Money spent at festival: £300 or so a person

 

I have a more detailed list of expenses but wont get into that. So yeah, cost a bit coming from across the atlantic.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I wouldn't even contemplate a festival in the US to be honest. That's out of my price range!

[efcfanwirral]

On 8/5/2022 at 9:13 AM, gooner1990 said:

As I've probably alluded to on here in the past I go to a heck of a lot of football Aug-May (then festival season kicks in 😄 )  I have now started to plan to deliberately miss games due to not having enough spare cash and some of the ones I am going to I will now drive with a few friends to cut costs down rather than getting the train and it also means I don't drink if I'm driving so save even more. 

 

I've decided to try not paying for football at all this season (different to not going - my dad and uncle have season tickets so obviously when they cant go I will use those). I deliberately chose not to buy tickets for the first two home games and will be moving house Derby weekend which would be my biggest temptation. This is more about setting my stall out ahead of the bad times, I can afford it now but know I probably shouldn't. After failing to get a season ticket at first I was just like "well I live near now so I'll just go to every game anyway" but have completely turned around on that, though cup games always tempt me. 

Good job I didn't drop £50 on Chelsea today though...my uncle went on a last minute holiday so I've got his ticket!!

23 hours ago, balti-pie said:

Drinking much less has a few excellent effects - firstly the saved money, the improved health, and also the very underrated benefit of turning you into a comparative lightweight, so you get a lovely buzz off two pints whereas it would have taken four or five to do so previously. Its an absolute winner! 

I'd get excited and just drink all the usual amount anyway and end up with a terrible hangover! 

Edited August 6, 2022 by efcfanwirral

[charlierc]

23 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Its not cheap is it!

I did Truck Festival two weeks ago 

Ticket + parking £150

Narcs £150

Booze and food for campsite £30

Booze in arena £100

Food at festival £50

Total £480

 

Probably says a lot about how long ago 2019 was in a sense of everything that's gone on that I don't recall what I paid for Truck Festival, but given I'm substituting alcohol costs (I don't really drink, certainly not at festival prices) for the hotel I got off-site, it's probably about the same kind of price range.

I was already considering 2023 as a year to be selective with gig going as I have a few different and very expensive options I want to pursue as my 30th birthday present to myself but I suspect the environment is going to be a very different challenge to what was expected. Could even yet change further, if probably for the worse.

[Mr Boo]

On 8/4/2022 at 9:13 PM, danmarks said:

So is that basically a year of doing nothing 'fun"? That would kill me. (Well it would make me so miserable my depression would kick back in and i would wish for death anyway). I know again that its all sorts for all people but my lifestyle at the moment needs little rewards often to keep me vaguely balanced

 I absolutely take my hat off to anyone who is able to focus on the big one

 .

I agree mate, you need things to look forward to, luckily it isn’t difficult to make you happy- a few beers, music and good conversation.

Obviously you are welcome over ours anytime and the beers will flow and the music will be great (unless you start putting on folky flute solos) 😊

Edited August 6, 2022 by Mr Boo