As I drove back home from shopping at Home Depot and Lowe's today on Route 23 North, I noticed that the Butler Blockbuster Video store is empty and under construction for the next business that will occupy that space. As of yet, I am not sure what that new business will be.
I knew this was coming, but to see it empty made me a little sad. I used to get so many great videos at that location for Friday nights and plan a quick pizza dinner with an evening of fun and adventure. However, with the rising cost of everything, including movie rentals, here is what I have done to save money on videos and hopefully you will be able to save money as well.
I think just about everyone in the Kinnelon and Butler area has an Optimum Rewards card. If you don't believe it, check out the Pathmark Mall parking lot starting from 4:00 PM until the theater closes each and every Tuesday. You can't find one parking space available. If you have to go food shopping during that time, it would be easier to go to another store. But, you can get two free movies on Tuesday nights and four other movies during the week for $7.50 each.
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This is a great deal since Kinnelon 11 charges $10.75 for a regular movie and more for a 3D film to rent glasses. The issue is that with everyone jumping on the bandwagen, you need to buy your tickets ahead of time or you will find that the movie you wanted to see has been sold out after you have patiently waited on the long line.
This has happened to me more times than not and I have learned my lesson. I purchase my tickets a few days before the Tuesday show that I want to see and apparently, so do many others since the lines have been cut down dramatically over the last few months.
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If I miss a movie at Clearview Cinemas in the Pathmark Mall, I order them from the Morris Automated Information Network system or http://www.mainlib.org/ which is a consortium of 36 libraries and the Morris County Library. If you wait just two - three months after a movie has left our local theater, you may order it on the website listed above.
If it is not available, you are sometimes allowed to reserve the DVD when it becomes available. You may have to wait a few weeks for a popular movie to become available and other times, you get all of your movies within a few days of one another. There is no control over that portion of the free DVD service, but I have never had a problem with getting too many of them at one time.
You need a valid library card from your local library and once you order a movie, book or audio book, you can ask that it be sent to your local library free of charge. The great thing about ordering these DVDs from the library is that you have the rental for seven days! That's a fantastic additional bonus to renting the DVD for free.
Even though I will always fondly remember spending a great deal of time trying to choose a few videos for my weekends from Blockbuster Videos, I now know that there are many inexpensive and free ways to see movies in our area and I have been taking advantage of our exemplary library system in Morris County. You should, too.
