Enjoy live concerts with buy now pay later—without breaking your budget

In the last few years, the thrill of attending a live concert has come with an undeniable cost. Tours from global superstars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Coldplay have pushed ticket prices to new heights, feeding into what economists now call “funflation.” Even beyond concerts, admission fees for movies, theaters, and live performances have risen 3.9% in the 12 months through June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For many, these higher prices haven’t stopped the desire to attend. Instead, they’ve changed how people pay. Nearly a quarter of respondents in a recent LendingTree survey—23%—said they had used buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans to cover the costs of concerts or festivals. The numbers climb for younger adults, with 37% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials tapping BNPL to secure tickets.

This shift in payment behavior is more than a passing trend. It reflects how entertainment is prioritized in personal budgets, how technology shapes spending habits, and how repayment planning is often an afterthought.

If you’ve built your budget around essentials, savings, and occasional discretionary purchases, the cost of a high-demand concert can throw off the balance. It’s not just the ticket price—it’s also travel, accommodation, food, and merchandise. When these extras stack up, they can easily tip a month’s budget into deficit if not planned for.

BNPL services can make that cost feel lighter in the moment by splitting payments into smaller chunks. The appeal is clear: no interest in many cases, quick approval, and minimal upfront payment. But the reality is that these payments still need to be made—and if you stack multiple BNPL purchases across different services, your future cash flow can get cramped without you noticing.

From a long-term planning perspective, discretionary spending like this isn’t a problem if it’s accounted for ahead of time. The challenge comes when the decision to attend is made emotionally and the payment method chosen simply to make it feel affordable in the short term.

A simple way to integrate live events into your budget without creating financial strain is to think in terms of three spending layers:

1. Survival Layer – This covers essentials such as housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, and minimum debt payments. These must always be secured before committing to optional purchases.

2. Cushion Layer – This includes emergency savings contributions, retirement savings, and short-term reserves for irregular expenses like car maintenance.

3. Future-Build Layer – This is where lifestyle and leisure fit, including travel, hobbies, and yes, concerts. This layer is flexible—it’s where tradeoffs happen without compromising financial stability.

If a concert is high on your priority list, it should live in the Future-Build layer. That means planning for it the same way you’d plan for a holiday: decide on an annual or seasonal entertainment budget, break it into monthly savings, and label it clearly. You might call it your “Beyoncé fund” or “Taylor Swift tour jar,” but the point is that the money is set aside before the tickets go on sale, not after.

BNPL plans offer certain conveniences: no interest for short-term installments, no credit score hit in some cases, and faster checkout when tickets are selling quickly. For time-sensitive sales, that speed can be the difference between getting a seat and missing out.

However, the variation among BNPL providers is significant. While many operate on the standard “four payments, no interest” model, others stretch repayment over months with annual percentage rates (APRs) reaching as high as 36%. Longer terms may also come with late payment fees—sometimes as high as 25% of the purchase value.

From a financial planning perspective, BNPL can be a useful tool for cash flow smoothing when the repayment schedule matches your budget rhythm and you’re certain of your ability to pay. It’s less suitable when it’s used to make an otherwise unaffordable purchase appear manageable.

Credit cards can carry higher interest rates—averaging just over 20%—but they often provide purchase protections that BNPL plans do not. If a concert is canceled, a credit card dispute process can make it easier to recover your money. Some cards also offer extended warranties or rewards on purchases, and according to LendingTree, 65% of concertgoers this year plan to use rewards to offset their costs.

The tradeoff is that carrying a balance on a credit card will almost always cost more in interest than a BNPL plan with zero percent terms. However, for disciplined payers who clear their statement each month, a credit card can combine buyer protection with cashback or travel points, effectively reducing the net cost of the event.

In both BNPL and credit card use, the risk isn’t in the product—it’s in how it fits (or doesn’t fit) into your overall budget. Problems arise when:

• Multiple BNPL installments from different purchases overlap, crowding the same pay period.
• Credit card balances are carried for months due to unexpected expenses or loss of income.
• No dedicated savings exist for entertainment, making each event a fresh budget disruption.

The solution is not to avoid either tool entirely, but to decide in advance which one is best suited to your needs, and to limit use to purchases you’ve already earmarked funds for.

If you choose BNPL for a concert, treat the installments as a bill with the same priority as your rent or utilities. Place reminders in your calendar for each payment date and, if possible, link the BNPL account to a separate spending account funded monthly from your entertainment budget. This creates a natural boundary—once the account is empty, you’ve reached your limit.

You can also use BNPL in conjunction with a savings fund. For example, if your entertainment budget is $600 for the quarter and a ticket costs $400, you might use BNPL to split the $400 while keeping the remaining $200 in reserve for travel and extras. This allows you to enjoy the event without dipping into savings meant for emergencies or other goals.

Before committing to BNPL for any concert, pause and run through these four questions:

1. Is this purchase already in my budget? If not, what will I reduce or delay to make space for it?
2. Will the repayments overlap with other BNPL or card bills? If so, can I comfortably cover the combined total?
3. What happens if the concert is canceled? Do I have purchase protection through the BNPL provider or should I use a credit card instead?
4. Does this choice align with my long-term goals? Will paying for this now delay a bigger priority, like a trip or debt repayment?

These questions shift the decision from an emotional yes/no to a practical fit-check within your overall plan.

Concerts aren’t just purchases—they’re experiences that hold emotional value. Seeing a favorite artist live can be a once-in-a-lifetime memory, and there’s nothing wrong with assigning that value a place in your budget. In fact, planning for these moments can reduce financial stress and increase enjoyment, because you’re not sitting in the crowd thinking about how you’ll cover next month’s bills.

The danger lies in letting FOMO drive the purchase without considering its impact. High-demand ticket sales are designed to create urgency, but that urgency doesn’t have to override your plan. A well-prepared entertainment fund puts you in a position to say yes without hesitation—because you’ve already built the cost into your lifestyle.

When you allocate money to a concert fund, it may mean fewer spontaneous dinners out or delaying the purchase of a new gadget. These are tradeoffs, not losses. In personal finance, tradeoffs are how you express priorities in real terms.

By labeling your fund clearly—naming it after the artist or event—you connect the sacrifice to the reward, making it easier to follow through. Each time you skip a smaller purchase, you can mentally “transfer” it into the experience you’re working toward.

If this summer’s tour announcements have you refreshing ticket pages, remember that there will always be another event. Even if you miss one, a steady savings habit for entertainment will put you ahead for the next. Over time, you’ll have both the flexibility to say yes and the peace of mind that comes from knowing your essentials and future goals remain protected.

Concerts are worth enjoying in the moment—but the moment feels even better when it’s been paid for with foresight rather than scrambling. Whether you choose BNPL, a credit card, or pure savings, the real win is fitting the music into a budget that still keeps the rest of your financial life in harmony.

Entertainment should bring joy, not debt. Start with your budget, know your payment tools, and make every live event part of a plan you can celebrate long after the encore.