Ask the Readers: How Do You Watch Your Movies?

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*** Congrats to our winners! ***

20 Apr. 2010 | 2:56 PM Dory - Watch movies in any way I can get them. Now that it's summer,  I'll be heading to the movie theater more. I love going to the earliest showing to get the best price. But I am also ALL about Netflix (online and through the mail). Hulu is great too, and I'm a slave to whatever TBS or TNT movie appears on my TV over the weekend.

dprice81  I watch movies on Netflix from November until March and then cancel it. But now I have red box app for free promo codes #WBAsk

How do you watch your movies? I love my Netflix subscription, Roku player, and Amazon Unbox account. I also get a great deal of use out of sites like Fancast and Hulu. Together, I'm able to watch a large amount of free to very-cheap content without ever having to leave my home (which is big, since hiring a babysitter with 4 kids is near to impossible).

We want to know how you take in a flick. You can give as much or as little detail as you like. We want to know if you visit the dollar theaters, take advantage of PayPerView, or just wait until something comes to your local library before you enjoy it! By sharing your movie watching habits (as well as how much you think you save each month), you'll be entered to win a $20 Amazon GC.

Feel free to link to a blog post, if you're written on this topic! We'll include it in our post upon the conclusion of our giveaway!

Win a $20 Amazon gift card:

We're doing two giveaways — one for random comments, and another one for a random tweets.

How to Enter:

  1. Post your answer in the comments below, or
  2. Tweet your answer. Include both "@wisebread" and "#WBAsk" in your tweet so we'll see it and count it.

If you're inspired to write a whole blog post OR you have a photo on flickr to share, please link to it in the comments or tweet it.

Giveaway Rules:

  • Contest ends Monday, April 26th at 11:59 pm CST. Winners will be announced after April 26th on the original post and via Twitter. Winners will also be contacted via email and Twitter Direct Message.
  • You can enter both drawings — once by leaving a comment and once by tweeting.
  • Only tweets that contain both "@wisebread" and "#WBAsk" will be entered. (Otherwise, we won't see it.)

Good luck!

Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.

Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


Guest's picture
PL

Netflix rules!  Even the lowest priced subscription option gives you unlimited streaming from their website.  Now all I need is to buy a Roku or similar device so I can watch on my TV.

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DEBBIE

I get my movies from Netflix. They are great and I have watched so many good movies that I would not have see otherwise.

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DEBBIE

I watch movies through Netflix. They offer a fantastic selection and I like they way they recommend movies that may be of interest.

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Candice

Honestly there's only been about one movie a year that's been worth paying the theater prices to go see. I get a lot more out of Hulu now that I have the cable that connects my laptop to the big screen. Yay!

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DEBBIE

I think Netflix is great. I like the way they recommend movies.

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Kathy

It's netflix (love it!) and DirecTV for the hubby and me.  Don't like going to theaters, inevitably I will sit in front of a kid that ends up kicking my seat or behind someone so tall that I can't see the screen.

Guest's picture

I confess, I'm doing it all backwards right now. I cancelled my Netflix because I wasn't watching enough of the movies sent fast enough to make it seem worthwhile. I don't pay for OnDemand movies via my Comcast service, although I could but they already get enough of my money because I haven't cancelled yet. Lately, DH and I have actually gone to movie theatres and paid through the nose. Not good financially, but a lot of fun as a date!

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JB

Redbox! 

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J

We use the library for almost all our movie "needs"- you just cant beat free.  If we just cant wait or  we have a night free, we go to redbox and head home happy!

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Jill

We are member of blockbuster that is like netflix.  However,  I am able to trade in the movies that we watch through the mail for store rentals 4 times a month.  They also send us free rentals in our email box for being members.  On the back of our Dillons/Kroger receipt there is usually a coupon for rent one get one free.  The other day I rented 6 movies for $4.95.  We also browse our local library when we are there and will sometimes find things we are interested int. 

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DanaB

We're Netflix-ers most of all, but we do go to the theater if it's a movie we're really hyped up to see. We love the drive-in during the summer time most of all!

 

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Nicholas

I love my Netflix, both by disc and streaming via my PS3. I have pretty much stopped all visits to the local theater. I am also starting to start away from TV shows and watching them through NetFlix and Hulu. I don't mind waiting for the TV series to be released on disc or streaming... in fact I enjoy watching a show after it is canceled because that means I can watch it straight through without having to remember waht happened last time.

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Bliz

We've been subscribing to Netflix for eight years now and change our subscription plan based on our stage of life. With younger kids and teenagers we once had a robust subscription level, but now that we're partial empty nesters - we have cranked that down to two per month for $5 - a great deal.   With a DVR, we never watch a program live, especially something like American Idol with tons of commercials.  We're pretty pathetic, because sometimes we'll start a movie at 9:00ish, watch about half of it, and then continue it the next day.  Otherwise, we're kicking ourselves the next morning for staying up too late.

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Guest

Netflix, DVR, and we rent them.

Guest's picture

My television set (so old I don't remember when I bought it) has an excellent quality screen so I see no reason to buy a new one, even though I can only watch VHS movies on it. All my movies are purchased at Goodwill for a big buck. Because of the changeover to DVDs, big collections of VHS movies are now available and I've been able to pick up some great old favorites. The big problem now is that I own so many movies, their weight is threatening to crash down into the apartment below.

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Lindz

We hook up our laptop to the t.v. and go with Netflix and Hulu.  No cable TV and rarely go to the theater (maybe three to four times a year for a matinee).  As long as you aren't an HDTV/quality junkie you really don't need cable t.v. and expensive devices.  The Godfather is The Godfather, whether on DVD or Blu-ray.

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jared
  1. No cable package, so over the air TV (mainly pbs).
  2. Netflix DVD.
  3. Netflix Instant Watch.
  4. Hulu.
  5. Library
  6. Websites like comedy central.
  7. Redbox

 

I’m not sure why anyone pays for cable anymore.  A few years ago I had everything and was paying north of $125/month.  That’s $1500/year.  You can do a lot of things with $1500/year besides be lazy and get fat on the couch.  The first year we cut out cable, my wife and I saved the money and went to Hawaii.  It was 1000% worth cutting cable for.  Now we limit TV and idle entertainment (TV/video games/etc.) to 2 or 3 hours per week (most Americans do more then that per day).  If there is a show we really want to watch, we get it via one of the other sources above.  I use TV as just a news source or to let my son watch cartoons in the morning (but that’s even limited).

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Guest

I use a combination of Netflix and my local library. I sometimes get new releases faster at the library and especially like it for trying different genres of films that I'm not initially sure I'll like.

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Mike S

Wow, it seems how we do things at home is the majority opinion here. We love the Roku Netflix player, watch broadcast TV, occasional forays into Hulu but not much. Some DVDs. Occasional trips to the movies, especially if it's something the kids want to see that would really benefit from the big screen.

My only post-cable regret is I love old movies and I'm always jonesin' for some Turner Classic Movies. Netflix has some old ones but not in the depth TCM did. If I could buy online access to TCM for some $5 a month I would do it in a heartbeat.

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Zaerath

I love my Netflix Instant Streaming, so that's what I use. Sometimes I watch things on cable, but I try to skip the commercials whenever possible!

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Hope

I don't have a tv or dvd player, so I watch movies on Netflix or Amazon

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Guest - laughingcat

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Last year, we decided to dump the expensive HBO, Showtime and the like from our Dish account and moved over to Netflix.  Most of the programming wasn't to our liking to begin with.

We still can enjoy the series and specials these channels offer, albeit, a bit later than the original air date.  But what the heck! Living simply often means delaying gratification, a nice bonus for the soul in this "on demand" world.

We've never regretted our decision to switch to Netflix Plus, we see documentaries and foreign films that wouldn't come to the rural area where we live.

 

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Guest - laughingcat

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Last year, we decided to dump the expensive HBO, Showtime and the like from our Dish account and moved over to Netflix.  Most of the programming wasn't to our liking to begin with.

We still can enjoy the series and specials these channels offer, albeit, a bit later than the original air date.  But what the heck! Living simply often means delaying gratification, a nice bonus for the soul in this "on demand" world.

We've never regretted our decision to switch to Netflix Plus, we see documentaries and foreign films that wouldn't come to the rural area where we live.

 

 

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Lynda

Mainly Netflix. My fiance and I would watch free tv shows online and visit the dollar theatre every so often (once every 4 months?) and save up to watch movies we really really want to watch in the theatre (like Ironman 2!). We also watch some Asian shows so we have downloaded a specific player to stream it online.

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ATL_Pool_Girl

I love Netflix and my Roku player.  I am on the 4-at-a-time plan and I have about 200 movies/tv shows in my instant queue, so I always have something to watch!  I almost never watch "regular tv" anymore.  We go to the movie theater about once every two months.  I usually have no idea what is even playing in the theaters unless EVERYBODY is talking about it.  That little Roku player has saved me tons of money that I used to spend at Blockbuster.

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jared

1) No cable package, so over the air TV (mainly pbs).
2) Netflix DVD.
3) Netflix Instant Watch.
4) Hulu.
5) Library
6) Websites like comedy central.
7) Redbox
8) We may go to a theatre showing every 6 months or so.

I’m not sure why anyone pays for cable anymore.  A few years ago I had everything and was paying north of $125/month.  That’s $1500/year.  You can do a lot of things with $1500/year besides be lazy and get fat on the couch.  The first year we cut out cable, my wife and I saved the money and went to Hawaii.  It was 1000% worth cutting cable for.  Now we limit TV and idle entertainment (TV/video games/etc.) to 2 or 3 hours per week.  If there is a show we really want to watch, we get it via one of the other sources above.  I use TV as just a news source or to let my son watch cartoons in the morning (but that’s even limited).

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Carmen

We don't watch a lot of movies.  Frankly we have a good-sized DVD library - but we never watch it.  We'd prefer to watch on tv (yes, even with commercials).  I suppose that's so "the man" can flip to other stations and see if something "more important" is on.

Guest's picture

My top two fave ways to watch movies are Netflix and Hulu. I also like to go to the theater as much as I can, I'll go on the weekend and the first matinee of the day is only $6 so I treat myself to one film Saturday and one film Sunday...and I'm spending the amount I'd pay for just ONE evening showing.

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Joann Macneill

I try to make fee movies on cable like HBO i try not to order pay per views cause I hate when the charge shows up on my bill.

Watch for free is my moto....

 

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Ziggy

Redbox! $1 per DVD is hard to beat. They also send you codes for free rentals.

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aeko

don't have cable, use netflix with Roku, also stream to the computer.  Have not been to the movies in years.

 


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Eric

I use netflix, both the dvds and streaming video. My work has discount tickets for the movie theaters and I go to the first showing on saturday morning for their "Before Noon" special.

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Eric

I use netflix, both the dvds and streaming video. My work has discount tickets for the movie theaters and I go to the first showing on saturday morning for their "Before Noon" special.

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Guest

I used netflix with the dvds and streaming. Occasionally I'll buy the discounted theater tickets at work. I always go the first weekend showing which is a discount at the theater chain closeby. 

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gina

I watch movies at home on HBO and Showtime

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CentsInTheCity

I use New York City's public library.  There's a branch down the street from work, so I can put up to 10 movies on hold and then pick them up during my lunch break.  NYPL has a large selection of movies and if I remember to get a hold on as soon as a new movie comes out it usually only takes a couple a weeks or so to arrive.  Usually I get 1-2 new movies per week, which works out perfectly as I only watch on the weekends.  If I wanted a movie right away I could always go visit a branch and pick one out from what is available.

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kim

Always Netflix. We have roku too. It's great for watching whole episodes of TV shows. We have no movie rental place in town now, so this is definately the way to go. We rarely go to the movies unless we get a gift card. We also have a family-run movie theater in town that we try and patronize as they work really hard at only having G, PG and PG-13 movies only.

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Suzy Gulbranson

I love Redbox! My 13 year old son is learnimg my frugal ways and walks to the library with friends to check out movies for free! We splurge occassionally at the theatre for special movies like Alice In Wonderland 3D or How To Train Your Dragon 3D but eat before we go and sneak in snacks, the kids have to use their allowance money though or sometimes I treat them to the movie tickets and my son will treat us with popcorn and a couple drinks to share! I do collect Disney movies and buy them for myself and gifts for my sons on DVD and now Blu-Ray or I look for the good old Disney Classics at used movie stores or pawn shops. I always search for coupons online first though and combine them with store coupons! Sometimes I order thru Disney Movie Club when they have a good sale but have also used Amazon and Ebay

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Deb

Hulu mainly, occasionally supplemented by Redbox flicks.  Especially if I have a free code!  We used to pay $18/month for Blockbuster's version of Netflix... I figure we're saving over $200 by dropping that.  We are going to the movies this month, though- for under $20 at KMart, I got 8 11 oz bags of chocolate, 2 Ironman2 tix, & 2 Fandango tix to the movie of our choice.  Score!

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Clayton

We have an antenna on our TV, and occasionally see movies, and have netflix and streaming set up through my xbox.  so we probably spend a total of about $275 for the entire year on watching movies.  That is 10 a month for netflix and the rest averages out to about one movie a month for two.  That's not bad for the entire year considering some people pay that much within a couple months.

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Clayton

We have an antenna on our TV, and occasionally see movies, and have netflix and streaming set up through my xbox.  so we probably spend a total of about $275 for the entire year on watching movies.  That is 10 a month for netflix and the rest averages out to about one movie a month for two.  That's not bad for the entire year considering some people pay that much within a couple months.

Guest's picture

Dan Mattson (Doctor Dollar) here.  I wrote several tips in my blog on how to do cheap movies.  Check it out at http://wp.me/pMBEM-5.

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bulapdx

We love netflix. I'm still on the free month (quickly ending) but we have seen many movies via the computer and through the mail. The variety and availability has been great and allows for much flexibility. Plus, I've watched movies that I never would have considered liking and have actually enjoyed and learned a few things from documentaries. TV series on dvd are great as well.

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Beth

I just use netflix - no cable and only rarely going out to the movies.  Between the watch instantly and the huge selection movies to get in the mail, I don't need anything else.  And whats really great about it is I get more of the content I want for less than half the price cable would be.

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Drew

We use a variety of programs to watch our movies, mainly through the Xbox 360.  Of course there's Netflix with instant streaming for starterse, as others have mentioned.  But we also use a program called Tversity (http://tversity.com/download/) to stream anything from my desktop computer to my TV.  In addition, we use a program called PlayOn (http://www.playon.tv/playon) which also allows access to Hulu, Netflix, and a handful of other Internet content.  All are great cheap resources to get the most we can for the buck. 

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Jan

Mostly Netflix, altho during Oscar season I'll go to the theatres for matinees only. Our public library's DVDs are too scratched - I always have problems watching them!

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Brenda

REDBOX!!!!  $1.00 per night, you can reserve online, and there are boxes everywhere!

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CVS

We do Netflix (with Watch Instantly filling in the days we don't have discs) and hulu.com for tv shows. We occasionally see movies in theaters- usually flicks we want to see in 3D. Overall we don't spend too much time watching tv/movies, but then we aren't paying much for it either :)

Guest's picture
DEE

FREE $25 RESTAURANT.COM GIFT CERTIFICATE WHEN YOU JOIN NETFLIX. I JUST JOINED AND REDEEMED MY CERTIFICATE FOR THE HOUSE OF BLUES IN ORLANDO FL TO USE DURING  MY DISNEY VACATION.

MUST GO TO RESTAURANT.COM AND CLICK ON THEIR AFFILIATE NETFLIX.

Guest's picture
DEE

FREE $25 RESTAURANT.COM GIFT CERTIFICATE WHEN YOU JOIN NETFLIX.

GO TO : http://giftcard.restaurant.com/index.asp THANK CLICK ON THE BUTTON ON BOTTOM OF PAGE.

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Kayla

My family gets our movies from Netflix! It is a very awesome company. I get two movies at a time for a very low price. I save lots of money because I don't have to pay late fees. I can also watch them on my own time. Sometimes buy used movies from a recycled dvd store. Pretty neat can get a new release for 1/2 the price! :D

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Elaine

I love Netflix and I tend to watch most of my movies and television that way.  There are a few things that I watch on Hulu or from YouTube Channels as well.  I also use the library or borrow from friends.  I rarely go to the theaters anymore.

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Isaac

I watch my movies with Comcast's OnDemand feature, it's great!

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MH

I definitely watch all my movies via Netflix. I'm a big fan of Watch Instantly because I never know what I'll be in the mood for!

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cwaltz

I watch alot of TV on Hulu. For movies we watch redbox or blockbuster since the drive in no longer runs movies. We have 4 kids so the movies for all of us would likely mean taking out a second mortgage. I do take the kids to regal during the summers and  recently kroger ran a digital choice reward that will allow me to take  our younger 2 to How to Train a Dragon.

Christine

dazed1821@aol.com

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Matthew McElhaney

I watch an instant watch movie or television shows on Netflix about 3-4 times a week. With the hard copies it depends on what movie I have, and how much i want to watch it, or watch something else on my queque. Apart from Netflix I watch television on cable via my DVR, or if I forget to tape it on the site Yidio which typically has shows up commercial free on the night they played which is faster than Hulu. I only go to the theaters when my friends are going, and I REALLY want to see that film, otherwise its mostly Netflix

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Tammy S

We are Netflix people - Love it!

When you count the JUNK you tend to buy when you go to the theatre, we probably save about $75 a month! Thanks!

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katie

I watch movies from the library. They are free, it supports my local library and I get to see movies that I might not rent normally but are really good. I love it!