Football on a Budget
Enjoy Football Season on a Budget
It's kickoff time and what better way to celebrate football season than to be frugally festive? Tailgate parties, fan gear, and even game-day tickets don't need to deflate your wallet. We discovered bargain techniques to help fill your football-on-a-budget needs without any costly penalty flags.
Here's how to score in football on a budget.
Cheap Tailgating.
Tailgating is essential to any game-day gathering. By definition, tailgating is cheap. But you can still shave prices and do so in style.
One strategy is to host bigger bashes and save on bulk meats from a club store such as Costco. A grill comes in handy at moments like these and September happens to be the right month to find good deals on grills. Infrequent tailgaters might prefer to run the play with a portable, throwaway grill that needs only a match to fire up.
Football on a budget also demands versatile and filling snacks, such as tortilla chips and cut up veggies, and dishes you can prepare at home, such as deviled eggs and dips. Make sure fans' appetites are well sated before the game begins to avoid reaching for pricey temptations while the clock is ticking.
Finger foods are customary on game day, which means utensil costs are almost nonexistent. But you'll still need paper products, so check out the local dollar store for napkins, paper plates, cups, and the like.
There's certainly no need to buy, or even bring, folding chairs and storage containers if you host a football-on-a-budget tailgate. Use the car – the seats, the trunk, the roof, the hood are all efficient, no-cost substitutes – and turn a trash can into a cooler.
And finally, a true frugal tailgating host will always park in a free, but legal, location.
Cheap Football Tickets.
Football tends to attract diehard season ticket holders but there's ample opportunity to snag football tickets on a budget. Online ticket sites, such as Cheap Tickets, is a good place to start. Access to pre-sales via fan clubs and other promotions can also help you catch a long football ticket pass. Check reseller sites such as eBay and Craigslist, too.
Let us not forget the scalpers. Timing is everything here because ticket prices drop substantially after kickoff. Moreover, it's customary to bargain for an even better deal. If you're really entrepreneurial, you could purchase discounted tickets ahead of time and then scalp them at a higher price on game day. Reserve one for yourself and after tallying up your profits, you might have turned the game into a freebie.
College teams have a certain appeal for dedicated fans of football on a budget. The tickets, in-stadium food prices, and fan gear are all cheaper at this level compared to the major league. Ticket Liquidator is the right address for cheap college game tickets.
If none of these tips pan out, you can savor the action by watching the game at a neighborhood bar.
Cheap Fan Gear.
Even if you're committed to football on a budget, you can still get into the spirit with fan gear. Styles are relatively consistent from year to year, and items left over from last season are always bargain buys. Amazon stocks a large selection of accessories and men's and women's team apparel at half off. Fans Edge also offers marked-down NFL and college attire in the post-season months. Local stores are likely sources for cheap fan gear, as are online sites selling second-hand goods. Alternatively, create your own fan gear and see what others are doing at social media sites such as Pinterest.
