shiny toy with a price, you know that i bought it.
the eras tour, weddings, and throwing some caution to the wind.
8 days.
in 8 days, i’ll be driving to philadelphia with my best friend to see taylor swift give the performance of a lifetime. bonus? phoebe bridgers is her opener, another artist i’ve loved for years.
between the slurry of texts planning what to pack and itineraries, there is also another feeling. the realization that if we sold both of our tickets? we’d stand to make close to 1,000+ each. (or MORE) sickening.
it’s tempting to reason that it would be a smart financial move to sell these tickets, or to not have purchased them to begin with. for transparency - we spent 1,160.95 total back in November, not including the 87.08 travel insurance i opted for in case of cancellation or some kind of emergency. our tickets, unbeknownst to us at the time, is the ready for it..? VIP package - which includes various taylor swift merchandise that was shipped to me yesterday. that means each of us spent approximately $625 on this show, not including our Airbnb.
as someone who is getting married this year, i can attest that this the cost of my ticket is equivalent to a deposit on a wedding vendor. and there’s a lot more that i could probably have done with that 625 dollars, including just save it.
in recent years i’ve become a lot more honest with myself and others about my financial situation. a lot of this is because i firmly believe that once you have a partner, you should be open about your spending habits and debt. in my case, i have close to 90k in student loan debt that i will be paying off for a large portion of my life, depending on what the debt relief program shakes out to be (once a decision is finally made.) i grew up house poor, and while we always made it by- we certainly struggled. at 26, the only savings i currently have are in my retirement accounts, as i’ve had to spend what nest egg i had to fund my wedding.
what this means is that i have a strict spending plan up until october seventh. i have monthly saving targets so that i can be sure to have enough to pay off my share of our vendors in september, as well as enough for our honeymoon expenses. every day i track what i spend, and budget out my paychecks carefully. sometimes that means less goes toward the things i’d like, and more goes to paying off my monthly credit card bill. knock on wood, i’ve never been late on my bills, ever. but i do use a decent chunk of my credit, around 30%. in the same vein, i recognize the inherent privilege having a good line of credit is, as well as a steady paycheck as a cis white woman in a suburban area.
nevertheless, as i was opening my vip package, my mother reminded me exactly what she thought of this concert, joking “all for 625.00” it’s hard not to feel the sting of comments just like this, swirling around on the internet and from everyone i know who would never pay this much to see their favorite artist. the side of me that is financially conscious and aware of what i have to do to live within my needs is screeching.
but, you know what?
life is short. like, really short.
two years ago my grandfather passed away in his own bed with his children and grandchildren surrounding him. i think about how he always made the smart decision. whether it was squirreling away any spare change to his bank accounts, saving for retirement early, or working three jobs just to put dinner on the table, he sacrificed everything for the sake of family. and i know that if he was here to comment on it now, he’d tell you firsthand that he’d do it all over again, just to ensure the security of his kids and my grandmother, who is now living on her own.
but i also know he would’ve loved to see ireland, where i’m going on my honeymoon. he wanted to go to alaska. he had dreams that mattered, too, that he put aside for the sake of the people he loved. and i know there will be plenty of time for me to do that in my life as well. but there won’t ever be another october seventh wedding, or an eras tour. those things happen once in a lifetime.
paying for an experience that will live in your memory for the rest of your life outweighs the desire to save a couple hundred dollars. you can do that on groceries. as lacking in spontaneity as i am, i firmly believe that sometimes you should just let yourself dance like you’re 22.
love always, xo
strega