How much can you actually afford to pay to watch an episode of Game of Thrones?

Most people are terrible at accurately assigning value.

When valuing purchases, there is often a misalignment between the cost that feels right or comfortable and the logical value if you actually do the math. HBO just announced another price hike, and I can’t think of a better example to illustrate this point.

So let’s start there.

(caveat, I Googled all these stats. You’re welcome to fact-check.)

How much can you afford to pay for an episode of Game of Thrones?

According to the US Labor Dept., the average American makes just over $54,000 annually. Call it 45k after taxes. Let’s use that.

The average American spends roughly 3% of their income on entertainment or $112/month.

Assuming you work 40 hours per week, sleep a regular schedule, and about half your remaining time is filled with laundry, cooking, errands, etc., you have ~150 hours per month that you could watch Game of Thrones.

With $112 to spend and 150 hours to fill, the effective budget/hour is ~$0.75. At that rate, you need to watch just over 11 episodes of Game of Thrones per month to break even. Anything after that saves you effectively $0.75 per episode for another activity.

So, with this context, when HBO raises their price by a buck, they are essentially saying, “You need to watch another episode to justify it.”

Another $1 per month might feel terrible, but if you can objectively do the math and understand how much the service is worth to you, it might not be so bad after all. Heck of a better deal than a movie ticket, popcorn and a soda anyway.

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