The new thrifty

MSN Money Today has an article about "15 overpriced things we hate paying for".

With Americans feeling the force of the recession, some charges have grown from minro annoyances to pet peeves. Readers tell which goods and services just aren't worth the money.

I can actually relate two experiences just yesterday where we went out of our way to avoid handling fees on event tickets. David Cook is in town on Monday (I saw a tweet about it) at The Showbox in SoDo. Instead of buying them online we stopped by the venue during box office hours and only paid $2 handling per ticket instead of a LOT MORE via Ticket Master.

And this was on the way to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the IMAX Theater at the Pacific Science Center. Normally we would always order tickets in advance to avoid the line. We decided to go to a 4:10 pm showing and arrived an hour early to be sure we got tickets - and good seats. We did pay for the parking garage ($7) but saved more than that by avoiding online handling fees.

Of course, it helps the film has been out since July 22nd and the crowds have diminished. BUT it was the very first time we were sitting on the floor at the very front of the line for an IMAX showing. We sat there and tweeted and surfed the web on our PPCs, so we didn't feel like we were wasting our time.

And the film is pretty good! Loved the 3D in particular. Technology has come a long way, baby!