Finances and Fitness: Where do you stand?

I am one of those people who tries to stay active no matter what. If I go a few days without exercising, I start to feel like a real slob. It is probably because of my parents. My parents are almost obsessive when it comes to going to the gym. They go almost everyday and it has been that way for years and, as a result, my brother and I have become very fitness conscience. My brother will bike everywhere even in the scalding heat to make sure he gets his exercise everyday. I decided to write a post about the costs of trying to stay fit and way you can still budget it in.

I used to belong to a LA Fitness. For those of you who do not know what that is, it is a chain of usually big gyms that are across the country that usually offer fitness classes as well. I paid $40 a month in membership dues. In a year, that would be $480! That is certainly nothing to sneeze at but at this time, I didn’t really consider it a wasteful spending as I went to the gym pretty regularly. My boyfriend is getting more into the fitness groove as well and so it could cost us almost $1000 a year in gym fees for the both of us. Now that I am budgeting better, my boyfriend and I have bought some old fitness equipment off of Craigslist and using it instead of paying for a gym. I have to say that this is an ideal situation for both of us as it motivates us to work out since our gym is right there-not to mention the gas we save on not driving to a chain gym. But even this is not cheap. Below is a list of exercise equipment that we have bought:

Treadmill: $300
Weight machine: $150
Weights: $16
Recumbent bike: $85

If you add it all up, we probably spent around $550 on exercise equipment. Is that a lot? Yes, but it really equals about 1 year of gym dues for 1 person. I believe in cutting back on a lot but your health is something that is a non-negotiable to me. What I pay for fitness equipment will save me thousands more on health bills down the road and its just good for you to stay active.

There are cheaper ways to stay fit. I know there are plenty of gyms that are lower cost. I have seen gyms that charge as little as $10 a month! They are very bare bones but they get the job done. If you can’t afford that, then just step right outside and take a walk. There really is no excuse for not getting some exercise in even if you are living on a budget. As long as you stay with it, exercise has proven to be one of the best ways to stay physically/mentally fit and can save you so much down the road. Making an investment in your health is always good for yourself and your bottom line.