After two years of postponed shows and cancellations, music lovers are flocking to big festivals across the country.

While festivals themselves are amazing, the damage they inflict on your wallet isnt.

Travel, lodging, meals, admission and incidentals all add up quickly.

Two women dance at a music festival.

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Save bank and enjoy the experience with these pro tips on how to afford music festivals.

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Save Money on Tickets

The sooner you purchase your festival tickets, the better.

Youll need to plan ahead to get the best price.

Presale Tickets

Presale tickets are the most affordable.

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They usually go on sale anywhere from nine months to a year before the festival.

Youll need a presale code to get the cheaper rate.

Some festivals, like Coachella, let you register for the advanced presale on their website.

Tier Tickets

Miss the presale?

Buy your tickets as soon as possible anyway.

They will only get more expensive as the event nears.

Most festivals release tickets in tiers.

As one tier sells out, the next tier becomes available at a higher price.

For example, whenBonnaroo 2022 ticketsfirst went on sale, a four-day pass cost $299.

But two weeks before the event, the same tickets cost a whopping $350.

And thatsbeforean extra $67 in taxes and fees are tacked on at checkout.

Should You Layaway?

Most layaway programs include additional fees.

Theyre usually pretty modest, between $15 and $30.

Patricio Solano, 35, has nabbed discounted tickets for his friends through festival Facebook groups and message boards.

Its never a guarantee though, and festivals are notorious for scammers.

So proceed with caution.

Which expenses are you responsible for?

Which ones can you split with friends?

Decide how much money youre comfortable spending the entire festival and divide that number across each day.

Overestimate how much youll spend.

No one likes to borrow money from friends or rack-up credit card debt.

But cash is also really easy to lose.

Whether you go cash or card, keep your money on you at all times.

Youll also need to decide where youll sleep and what youll eat without going broke.

We asked a group of dedicated festival-goers on Facebook for their best money-saving tips and tricks.

Think Outside the Box

Here are a few other ways to save money on music festivals.

In return, youll get free access to the festival.

You might even score other perks like free food and tips.

Just double-check to sign up as a volunteer as early as possible because positions fill up quickly.

Enter Contests

When all else fails, sometimes you just need to make your own luck.

Bands, music venues and radio stations randomly give away free festival tickets.

You may need to be caller number X to get a pair of free tickets on the radio.

I went to Okeechobee for free because I entered [around] 10 different online contests, Mucci said.

Rachel Christian is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance and a senior writer for The Penny Hoarder.

Lisa McGreevy is a former staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)

You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…