You’ve probably seen lots of news articles over the past few days about Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and the struggle to get tickets. Unfortunately I’ve found myself caught up in all the ticket buying craziness! My sister and I love Taylor and have been fans since she released her second album Fearless. Going to her concerts has been a major bonding event for us over the years.
My sister and I have a seven year age gap, so as you can imagine, we haven’t always gotten along. But we’ve always been able to bond over our shared love of Taylor Swift’s music, so it was important to me to get tickets for this tour.
I Got Tickets, But They Were Expensive
I did manage to secure tickets, but the whole ticket buying process was a mess! Although I had a presale code, I wasn’t able to actually purchase tickets because of all the technical issues with Ticketmaster’s website. Earlier today I found out that the general sale was cancelled, so my only chance at getting tickets was to buy a pair from resellers.
Since Taylor is one of two artists I ever want to see in person (the other is a pop punk band that charges about $30 for tickets), I caved. I paid about $850 for two tickets in the nosebleeds earlier this afternoon. Ouch! My wallet hurts just thinking about it. I didn’t have savings to cover this because I honestly didn’t think Taylor would do a nationwide tour right now.
Her last tour got cancelled because of the pandemic and only had two stops – one in Boston and one in LA. I thought she would do something similar for Midnights because of lingering COVID concerns, which would make it impossible to get tickets. For reference, when Harry Styles did a one-night musical event, resale tickets sold for $11,000. That makes my $850 tickets look like a bargain!
For now, I took the money out of savings. But I’m going to do a credit card offer to get a sign-up bonus to help offset the cost, and may look into bank account bonus offers as well. I also got an unexpected $380 check recently, so that will cover about half of the price of the tickets. My sister offered to pay for her ticket, but I think I’m going to give it to her as a Christmas gift. We usually don’t exchange gifts, but she’s been having a tough time lately and I want to treat her to an unforgettable night out.
Going Easier On Myself
Before I started working with my therapist, I would’ve beaten myself up endlessly about this ticket purchase. Even though I can afford it and am going to find ways to replace the money I took from my savings, splurging like this still would’ve flared my financial anxiety. A few months ago, I probably would’ve been sitting in bed crying right now. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to sit down and write this post, so I’m pretty proud of my progress!
I’ve realized that taking a balanced approach to finances means that sometimes I won’t make the absolute wisest, most frugal decisions. Sometimes I’ll splurge on a concert ticket or a nice dinner out even though I’m trying to get out of debt and put myself on a good financial path. I’m a human, not a robot. I still have to live my life and enjoy myself a bit on the road to debt payoff, or else I’ll burn out. So I’m trying to go easier on myself and find financial balance.
How do you find financial balance in your own life? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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