A woman spent a year saving to buy tickets for Taylor Swift’s final Era’s Tour show – by recycling bottles and cans.
Katherine McKenzie, 31, became a fan of Taylor Swift after the popularity of the Era’s Tour in 2023 led her to dive deeper into the artist’s discography.
Katherine began recycling plastic bottles and metal cans for loose change in November last year.
In just 12 months, she managed to save $905 but the rising cost of resold tickets meant she was just shy of the minimum $1,045 needed.
However, just when all seemed lost, Katherine heard from her sister-in-law’s friend who was able to offer her two $11.15 restricted view tickets for the tour’s final show.
Katherine, a cat groomer in Victoria, Canada, said: “It was such an amazing turn of luck.
“I had worked so hard and had been looking forward to the experience for a whole year.”
Katherine came up with the idea after remembering a time from her childhood where she pulled off a similar scheme.
Katherine said: “In fifth grade I was totally obsessed with Elvis and my mom said if I could save money for my plane ticket, we could go to Memphis.
“When I was a kid, there were limited ways to save money so I thought of recycling bottles and cans at plants where they give you money for handing it in.
“I saved for months and months and eventually saved enough for us to go.”
Katherine started with a few friends helping her out by giving her empty plastic bottles and cans
Four months in to it, Katherine discovered she was pregnant but this didn’t deter her and she carried on.
Katherine said: “It didn’t take me long to decide to keep going with the plan.
“I knew I would be pretty heavily pregnant by the time the concert but that didn’t stop me.
“It did change my collecting tactics however as I knew I wouldn’t be as active towards the end of the pregnancy.
“I reached out to a neighborhood Swiftie Facebook group when I was still more mobile and asked if anyone had any garbage they’d be willing to give me.
“The response was overwhelming and I was soon making weekly trips collecting everyone’s garbage, organizing the recycling then taking it to the plant.”
In in 12 months, Katherine saved a whopping $905 but the rising cost of resold tickets meant she didn’t have enough.
But in a stroke of luck, Katherine’s sister-in-law’s friend had spare tickets and she was able to buy two $11.15 tickets for the tour’s final show.
Katherine said: “It was so frustrating to think it wouldn’t have worked out at all so I’m just happy I got to go with my sister.”
A decent chunk of the money left went towards merchandise while at the concert.
Katherine said: “We spent a total of maybe $208 on merch that night.
“The rest of the money will go towards our savings for a deposit in a home in Vancouver and likely towards raising our new arrival who is due on New Years Day!”
