3 Ways Football Fans Can Save Up During the Off Season

If you love football, you're no doubt in good company. Many people specifically look forward to winter and fall and aim to keep their calendars clear so they can cheer on their favorite teams without interruption.

If you're a football fan, you may want to go see your favorite team in person. But that's an expensive prospect.

The average price of a 2023 NFL ticket is $377, according to TicketSmarter data as cited by USA Today. And reading between the lines, if that's the average price of a ticket, for good seats, you might easily end up spending $1,000 or more on a pair of tickets.

Even if going to see your favorite team live isn't in the cards, to you, football season might be all about hosting gatherings. And there's a cost there, too, from ordering pizza and wings to loading your fridge with beverages for guests.

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If you don't want money (or a lack thereof) to get in the way of your football fandom, then it's a good idea to do what you can to boost your savings account balance during the off season. Here's how.

1. Limit your non-essential spending

If you're a general sports fan, then there's temptation to spend money all year round. But if football is your favorite sport, then it could pay to cut back on other sporting events -- and leisure spending in general -- to save up for the NFL season.

Along these lines, you may want to limit what you spend on expenses like restaurant meals and takeout during the year. The cost of prepared food tends to be far greater than the cost of grocery purchases. Cooking your own meals during the off season could free up a lot of cash for football season.

2. Pick up a side hustle

Working a second job can seem like a drag when you already have a full-time position you're holding down. But if your bills eat up most of your income, then a good way to be able to enjoy football season is to work a side gig. The money you make there won't be earmarked for ongoing expenses, so consider it your personal football fund.

If your goal is to save up a lot of extra money, you'll need a side hustle that's sustainable. So you may want to focus on gigs that are flexible and fit nicely into your schedule.

That could mean finding something to do from home, like data entry or telemarketing (yes, that's still a thing), or driving for a ride-hailing service as you please. Committing to something like a tutoring gig may be tougher because it could require you to be in a certain place at the same time every week without much leeway.

3. Bank bonus cash you come into

You may come into money at different times of the year, like when the IRS issues your tax refund or you receive a bonus at work. If you don't need that cash for bill-paying purposes, then you can add it to your football fund.

That said, before you allocate that money to your favorite hobby, think about whether your car or home might need repairs. It's perfectly okay to use bonus cash for football-related purposes when you don't have other pressing needs. But if you know you're coming up on an HVAC repair, you should really allocate your bonus money to that. It's not going to be any fun hosting football parties in a freezing cold house without working heat.

Being a football fan has the potential to be expensive. But you don't have to write off your plans if money is limited or tight. Instead, do your best to save so you're able to make the most of your favorite sport.