In late July 2024, my dad, my son Samuel, and I went to a New York Yankees game at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. It was awesome. But it was also costly. However, this Yankees game was a sound, intentional spend on our part!
So let’s take a look!
A brief review of intentional spending
Intentional spending is the concept that one is intentional with the money that she or he spends. Meaning that any purchase is well thought out and carries an intended purpose.
To round out this definition, we do need to define the opposite of intentional spending – unintentional spending.
Unintentional spending is what most of us (present company included) do most of the time. It’s a bit of a reflex. We spend out money without really focusing and even thinking about if what we spend it on is making us happy.
And research has shown that humans are incredibly bad at predicting what will make us happy – especially with our purchases.
You can see a great example of a past intentional spend of ours here.
And while that intentional spend was really geared towards Selenid, this one was all me!
The build up
My son Samuel is obsessed with baseball. At any given time you can find him in our house with his glove throwing a baseball or outside swinging a bat.
I’m a huge Yankees fan and as a result/concerted effort, so are our kids. Samuel has been begging us to go to a Yankees game for over a year.
I can distinctly remember going to a game at Yankee stadium with my dad as a kid and totally being in awe. So, when the season started, I planned to take him. And for reference, our middle son Emery did not want to go, which is fair.
Anyway, into July we got and I still hadn’t planned anything. I looked at the schedule and only a few weekend home games remained before school starts.
So, I bought 3 tickets for me, my dad, and Samuel to go to a game a couple weeks later.
The cost
I wanted to make this the most amazing experience possible. So I bought 3 seats in the Champions suite which is right next to the field on the first base line along the Yankees dugout. It has private bathrooms and all inclusive food service.
Cost: ~$4,000 total
Of course we needed a hotel for a night as well.
Cost: ~$400
Then we decided to drive back and forth rather than fly for some time flexibility. So we needed gas and parking.
Cost: ~$250
And then we bought souvenirs. Jerseys for Samuel and Emery. A short for me and my dad. Baseball cards. And a sweatshirt for Selenid.
Cost: $500
Plus food. Food fair in Brooklyn for lunch one day. Korean BBQ for dinner. Hotel restaurant for breakfast.
Cost: ~$300
Grand cost: $5,450
Not cheap. But remember how intentional spending works. For any cost, think if the joy you will get from the spend will be greater than the cost. In this case of the Yankees game, the joy definitely projected to be greater than the spend.
But was it?
The experience
It…was…incredible.
The seats were amazing. 5 rows back. Before the game, we toured Monument park and got to meet Aaron Judge’s mom randomly.
We then went to the outfield for pregame warm ups and Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ star pitcher, gave Samuel a ball!
The game itself was good as well. Ultimately the Yankees lost which stinks but we saw a mammoth Aaron Judge home run and a Juan Soto double. The ball girl gave Samuel another ball. We ate a ton of hot dogs and other snacks and absolutely had a blast overall.
Worth every penny!
Why do I share this?
Well, for two main reasons:
- It was a really fun experience! And…
- Spending money is good. Remember, money is worthless except for the joy it can bring you, your loved ones, and the world at large. It was an amazing honor to be able to give this experience to my dad and son. And it was a dream for me as well. What could be better!
So yes, you need to establish yourself on the firm road to financial freedom. Do that by savings 20% of your gross income and investing in index funds for the long term.
But once you do that, make sure to enjoy the journey!
I’m still not in the Die With Zero camp, but I need to remind myself about just these things every once in awhile!
For more on intentional spending as a doctor, check out these posts:
- An Updated Formula to Practice Intentional Spending for Doctors
- 9 Strategies to Curb Overspending on Amazon
- Exploring the Time Value of Money for Physicians
- Should Doctors Die With Zero?
What do you think? Was this Yankees game worth the spend? What was your latest intentional spend? Do you believe in intentional spending? Do you want to die with zero? Let me know in the comments below!
This is freaking awesome man. I’m glad you had such a great experience! And to meet the woman who birth aaron judge is just as spectacular. Do you feel though you would’ve had a great experience still spending half as much or even a quarter as much? Do you think that spending so much on your son spoils him and you worry that your kids might get used to a higher level of lifestyle and flying first class where they will be less appreciative of things in the future?
Thanks Rikki! I think we would have had a ton of fun still of course but not sure we would have had such a customized experience which certainly added to it. And yes that is always the concern with our kids! We spend a lot of time talking with them about how we get to have such things in our lives and the hard work put in. Much of what they have is more frugal so they see both sides!