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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 12:56:34 GMT -5
How long is the commitment?
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Feb 2, 2015 13:14:49 GMT -5
How much are you spending each month eating out?
If joining a gym is that much important to you, could cut back eating out and channel the money to gym membership? It will have dual benefits for you. You eat out less, so health benefits and less weight gain. Plus you can work out at the gym for additional health benefits.
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greeniis10
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Post by greeniis10 on Feb 2, 2015 13:28:04 GMT -5
This is a suggestion to every one, not just the OP: contact your health insurance provider or go to their website. A lot of them these days offer discounts and specials for gym memberships.
I have Federal Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield and I joined their program called "Healthpass". It is $25.00 per month (per individual) and I can go to any gym in my city. Actually, it's nationwide, so if I'm traveling I just go to the website and see what gyms are participating in the area I'm in and go there. You do have to sign up initially at each gym, but you use only the ONE card issued from the insurance program. It's super cheap and handy! (Plus, everyone else thinks you're rich because you belong to every gym in town! just kidding...)
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 13:30:11 GMT -5
How much are you spending each month eating out?If joining a gym is that much important to you, could cut back eating out and channel the money to gym membership? It will have dual benefits for you. You eat out less, so health benefits and less weight gain. Plus you can work out at the gym for additional health benefits. This is a tough question. I recently did the math. Annually, we spend $7k on eating out and $7k on groceries. However, Eating out includes all our catering costs to host parties, and includes if we ever pay for others too. Also, I get reimbursed a good chunk through a side job. Groceries include all Costco runs too.. clothes, gifts, household items, and occasionally a piece of furniture (costco).
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Feb 2, 2015 13:35:10 GMT -5
How much are you spending each month eating out?If joining a gym is that much important to you, could cut back eating out and channel the money to gym membership? It will have dual benefits for you. You eat out less, so health benefits and less weight gain. Plus you can work out at the gym for additional health benefits. This is a tough question. I recently did the math. Annually, we spend $7k on eating out and $7k on groceries. However, Eating out includes all our catering costs to host parties, and includes if we ever pay for others too. Also, I get reimbursed a good chunk through a side job. Groceries include all Costco runs too.. clothes, gifts, household items, and occasionally a piece of furniture (costco).
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Feb 2, 2015 13:42:26 GMT -5
I think I found your problem.
Not that I don't love a good restaurant meal, or done takeout after a brutal day, but I've got no illusions that most restaurant food is healthy. There's a reason it tastes so much better than my own cooking.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Feb 2, 2015 13:44:34 GMT -5
Well, as far as $200/month goes, it's a lot for a gym, but if it's also your entertainment, not too bad. The question is, how much are you honestly going to use the membership? That's what it normally comes down to. My family joined a gym/aquatic center connected to a local school. It comes down to about $63/month and includes free daycare. 3/4 of the way into the year, we've used it a handful of times. So, it's been a bit of a waste for us. It would have been cheaper to pay their daily rate. What can you do? Live and learn. Hopefully, our lives will get a little easier so that we will be more able to take advantage of the membership, which was mostly done to get our kids over their fear of the water. (It definitely helped with that.)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 13:52:09 GMT -5
I think I found your problem.
Not that I don't love a good restaurant meal, or done takeout after a brutal day, but I've got no illusions that most restaurant food is healthy. There's a reason it tastes so much better than my own cooking. Um...yeah. That's a lot of eating out for 2 people. You should try something like MyFitnessPal. It's a free app that you log all your eating into. That alone could be the heart of your weight issues. Could be enlightening!
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Feb 2, 2015 13:56:22 GMT -5
I see a big red flag. If you can't commit to daily walking/jogging, why would you think you'll commit to going to the gym? Before I spent $200/mo on a gym membership, I'd want to make darned sure I had a strong enough desire to change things to commit to making it pay off. I'd do that by coming up with things to be done as a family that don't cost - like walks, etc. If I found I could do that consistently for a period of time - say, 3 months - I'd feel a lot better about plunking down bucks for a gym membership. MOO
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 14:02:43 GMT -5
I think I found your problem.
Not that I don't love a good restaurant meal, or done takeout after a brutal day, but I've got no illusions that most restaurant food is healthy. There's a reason it tastes so much better than my own cooking. Um...yeah. That's a lot of eating out for 2 people. You should try something like MyFitnessPal. It's a free app that you log all your eating into. That alone could be the heart of your weight issues. Could be enlightening! It's not for 2 people. Normally it's 3-4 eating out (depending if we have the foster or not). I LOVE MyFitnessPal and am very active on there now.
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 2, 2015 14:02:51 GMT -5
So, what do spend on and count as entertainment now?
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Feb 2, 2015 14:03:23 GMT -5
<abbr data-timestamp="1422899576000" class="time" title="Feb 2, 2015 11:52:56 GMT -6"></abbr>I'm a SAHM. Don't know if that hurts me or helps me here I volunteer a ton but could cut back if needed. Also, my main goal here is to make this a family thing. DH is on board but not necessarily with the cost LOL. DD would LOVE it. Instead of spending 2 hours to go out to dinner, we could hit the gym. I think we are just in a rut. DH already goes to a gym consistently, free at work. However it's just a tiny bit of equipment. He loves pools and jacuzzi's and doesn't have that option. I was a member of a gym up until approx 6 months ago.. it was a planet fitness type place and I consistently went however that is not what I'm looking for here. I want more of a source of entertainment, us going as a family a lot, DD getting her classes there and just truly enjoying getting healthy. The gym I'm looking at now I was a member of when I was a child for year or so and I have so many good memories. So what FAMILY perks can you get. Right now you've listed each family member getting something individually out of the gym, but not together. So, what family activities are you going to do there than can't be duplicated in other areas? My city has loads of family activities for free, including nature hikes in city parks, county parks, and other public and private lands. We can also walk to tennis courts, basketball hoops, and a splash park. What time are you talking about substituting hitting the gym vs eating out. If you are eating out from 6-8, I don't know that I would substitute a family activity during that time. But, my kids are early risers (think 5 am early risers), so we avoid doing anything past 4 pm together as a family.
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 14:05:00 GMT -5
I see a big red flag. If you can't commit to daily walking/jogging, why would you think you'll commit to going to the gym? Before I spent $200/mo on a gym membership, I'd want to make darned sure I had a strong enough desire to change things to commit to making it pay off. I'd do that by coming up with things to be done as a family that don't cost - like walks, etc. If I found I could do that consistently for a period of time - say, 3 months - I'd feel a lot better about plunking down bucks for a gym membership. MOO I'm actually walking 3 miles a day right now Mon-Fri. I don't think commitment is really an issue. It's just I want to be excited about working out - really working out, not just walking. I've been doing the walking for 2 years now, but it's just part of my routine walking to my volunteer job. It's not like a real workout for me. I want more.
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 14:06:50 GMT -5
okay, I've already changed my thinking on this. I am going to look at a less expensive gym... and re-evaluate our eating out budget. This doesn't seem as exciting now LOL.
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 14:08:45 GMT -5
So, what do spend on and count as entertainment now? well... quite honestly, we don't really spend on entertainment, but I think we need to. Eating out has always served as our entertainment. Sad, I know.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Feb 2, 2015 14:10:35 GMT -5
I see a big red flag. If you can't commit to daily walking/jogging, why would you think you'll commit to going to the gym? Before I spent $200/mo on a gym membership, I'd want to make darned sure I had a strong enough desire to change things to commit to making it pay off. I'd do that by coming up with things to be done as a family that don't cost - like walks, etc. If I found I could do that consistently for a period of time - say, 3 months - I'd feel a lot better about plunking down bucks for a gym membership. MOO I'm actually walking 3 miles a day right now Mon-Fri. I don't think commitment is really an issue. It's just I want to be excited about working out - really working out, not just walking. I've been doing the walking for 2 years now, but it's just part of my routine walking to my volunteer job. It's not like a real workout for me. I want more. Okay. I was going by this sentence: "I realize we could do free stuff like go walking but the reality is, we don't.", in your original post. I guess you must mean your husband and DD don't, eh? If that's the case, how about just a membership for you instead of a family membership - unless, of course, hubs is ready to really make a commitment, too. You can lead a horse to water ... and all that stuff.
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 2, 2015 14:17:09 GMT -5
So, what do spend on and count as entertainment now? well... quite honestly, we don't really spend on entertainment, but I think we need to. Eating out has always served as our entertainment. Sad, I know. Is it that you don't do it because you don't want to spend the money, or is it because some of you are natural homebody that wouldn't want to hang at the gym anyways.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Feb 2, 2015 14:22:18 GMT -5
I see a big red flag. If you can't commit to daily walking/jogging, why would you think you'll commit to going to the gym? Before I spent $200/mo on a gym membership, I'd want to make darned sure I had a strong enough desire to change things to commit to making it pay off. I'd do that by coming up with things to be done as a family that don't cost - like walks, etc. If I found I could do that consistently for a period of time - say, 3 months - I'd feel a lot better about plunking down bucks for a gym membership. MOO I'm actually walking 3 miles a day right now Mon-Fri. I don't think commitment is really an issue. It's just I want to be excited about working out - really working out, not just walking. I've been doing the walking for 2 years now, but it's just part of my routine walking to my volunteer job. It's not like a real workout for me. I want more. You can really workout at home and get great results. neilarey.com/programs/30-days-of-hiit.html No equipment needed. If you want to work out, workout. You don't need a gym to do it.
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 14:22:46 GMT -5
well... quite honestly, we don't really spend on entertainment, but I think we need to. Eating out has always served as our entertainment. Sad, I know. Is it that you don't do it because you don't want to spend the money, or is it because some of you are natural homebody that wouldn't want to hang at the gym anyways. We'd be spending a LOT more on entertainment/travel if money was not a factor. So I guess it's that we don't want to spend the money. But we are sort of homebody's in a way too. However I think we'd all enjoy hanging out at the gym.
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moneymom
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Post by moneymom on Feb 2, 2015 14:24:54 GMT -5
I'm actually walking 3 miles a day right now Mon-Fri. I don't think commitment is really an issue. It's just I want to be excited about working out - really working out, not just walking. I've been doing the walking for 2 years now, but it's just part of my routine walking to my volunteer job. It's not like a real workout for me. I want more. You can really workout at home and get great results. neilarey.com/programs/30-days-of-hiit.html No equipment needed. If you want to work out, workout. You don't need a gym to do it. There's something about being physically at the gym that motivates me. The super loud fancy stereo system, the cable TV's everywhere (we don't have cable), the motivating factor of all the other sweaty people working out... it just works. I have tried doing a video in front of my TV and felt like an idiot. I can't explain it but it's not something I enjoy at all, therefore I'm not motivated to work out here.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Feb 2, 2015 14:26:53 GMT -5
There's something about being physically at the gym that motivates me. The super loud fancy stereo system, the cable TV's everywhere (we don't have cable), the motivating factor of all the other sweaty people working out... it just works. I have tried doing a video in front of my TV and felt like an idiot. I can't explain it but it's not something I enjoy at all, therefore I'm not motivated to work out here. All that is the exact reason I'd like to stay OUT of a gym please. I like doing it at home on my schedule. And when I start slacking it's not costing me money
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 2, 2015 14:32:32 GMT -5
Is it that you don't do it because you don't want to spend the money, or is it because some of you are natural homebody that wouldn't want to hang at the gym anyways. We'd be spending a LOT more on entertainment/travel if money was not a factor. So I guess it's that we don't want to spend the money. But we are sort of homebody's in a way too. However I think we'd all enjoy hanging out at the gym. So you don't want to spend money here or there for entertainment. Or go to the free stuff for entertainment. But committing 200 a month for entertainment where you'll most likely each be doing something separate from each other sounds like a good thing to spend money on? I personally don't get it.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Feb 2, 2015 14:53:12 GMT -5
I see a big red flag. If you can't commit to daily walking/jogging, why would you think you'll commit to going to the gym? Before I spent $200/mo on a gym membership, I'd want to make darned sure I had a strong enough desire to change things to commit to making it pay off. I'd do that by coming up with things to be done as a family that don't cost - like walks, etc. If I found I could do that consistently for a period of time - say, 3 months - I'd feel a lot better about plunking down bucks for a gym membership. MOO I'm actually walking 3 miles a day right now Mon-Fri. I don't think commitment is really an issue. It's just I want to be excited about working out - really working out, not just walking. I've been doing the walking for 2 years now, but it's just part of my routine walking to my volunteer job. It's not like a real workout for me. I want more. Add some running to your walking?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 2, 2015 14:56:30 GMT -5
Would I still be "grounded" if I considered spending $200 for a family gym membership??
Here is my 0.02, which goes against the grain of what many are saying.
Before my hips went south, I joined a gym where my (single) membership dues were $99.13/month. At the time, I was making a whopping $35K/year and it was a HUGE chunk of my budget - just about the same as my food budget and it hurt to pay it.
Because it hurt so much, I used the hell out of my membership, and was probably in the best shape I was ever in in my life. I partook of every single activity that I had the most least amount of interest in because I knew that if I didn't, the money would be thrown away.
The advantage of this particular gym was it was not a meat market. Most of the members were professionals and some highly notable people in the city (including many of the SA Spurs). When you went there to work out, you worked out and didn't socialize. The high cost kept out the riff raff. It sounds elite, I know....but dammit it worked for me. I hated leaving that gym, but had to when I moved.
I joined the most expensive gym in the city I moved to, but found that it was waaaay easier for me to piss away $40 than it was $100. Something about those 3 figures and it hurting to pay it drove me to use it to the max.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Feb 2, 2015 14:57:27 GMT -5
If you belong to Costco they have a wonderful deal with 24hour Fitness. 2 year membership is around $350 which works out to about $15/mth.
I joined back in November. Although I hike about 5mi 3x a month it's not enough for strength training or cardio. Therefore in addition to the hiking I'm taking classes 2x week. Really enjoying it!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 2, 2015 14:57:46 GMT -5
I see a big red flag. If you can't commit to daily walking/jogging, why would you think you'll commit to going to the gym? Before I spent $200/mo on a gym membership, I'd want to make darned sure I had a strong enough desire to change things to commit to making it pay off. I'd do that by coming up with things to be done as a family that don't cost - like walks, etc. If I found I could do that consistently for a period of time - say, 3 months - I'd feel a lot better about plunking down bucks for a gym membership. MOO Because many times, the conditions outside are not amenable - nor is the location.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 2, 2015 14:59:57 GMT -5
well... quite honestly, we don't really spend on entertainment, but I think we need to. Eating out has always served as our entertainment. Sad, I know. Is it that you don't do it because you don't want to spend the money, or is it because some of you are natural homebody that wouldn't want to hang at the gym anyways. What I found was that (since I lived alone) that I needed to force myself to get out of my home. Even if I didn't use it to socialize, it got me OUT.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Feb 2, 2015 15:16:58 GMT -5
Is it that you don't do it because you don't want to spend the money, or is it because some of you are natural homebody that wouldn't want to hang at the gym anyways. What I found was that (since I lived alone) that I needed to force myself to get out of my home. Even if I didn't use it to socialize, it got me OUT. That's why I suggested just taking an exercise class. It forces you to get out every week, and it tends to push you to work out harder.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Feb 2, 2015 15:20:46 GMT -5
I don't see a whole lot of staying grounded in any of your posts. You talk about not going on vacation but spending $7k on eating out. I mean really you can eat out and go on vacation and still spend less than $7k. It isn't an all or nothing proposition. There just seems to be no balance in your life. You say your priorities are one thing, but what you are spending suggests they are clearly something else entirely.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Feb 2, 2015 15:22:12 GMT -5
Um...yeah. That's a lot of eating out for 2 people. You should try something like MyFitnessPal. It's a free app that you log all your eating into. That alone could be the heart of your weight issues. Could be enlightening! It's not for 2 people. Normally it's 3-4 eating out (depending if we have the foster or not). I LOVE MyFitnessPal and am very active on there now. I pay for 4 to eat out. And I'm still boggled by the $7,000 a year.
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