05 Mar

Money Saving Challenge: Quit the Gym in March

We want to help you save money every month this year. That’s why we issued a twelve-month challenge that provides a step-by-step plan through which you should be able to save a minimum of £750 ($1200). Each month, we provide you with tips and insights that you can use to cut back on spending in one particular area. If you use these monthly tips all throughout the year, you can actually save a lot more in 2010 than this small target goal. We’ve already provided tips on giving up TV and going on a diet. This month we challenge you to quit spending money on fitness memberships.

March’s Challenge: Quit the Gym!

We all know how important it is to exercise properly. When we think something is important, we are willing to spend money on it. That’s okay when it’s necessary but it’s actually not necessary to spend very much money on exercise. In fact, you usually don’t need to spend any money at all. You can give up the gym membership, yoga and dance classes, workout DVDs and expensive transportation to fitness retreats. You can work out at home and in your own neighborhood. You don’t have to waste money on working out when it’s something that you can easily enjoy for free.

How to Do It

Saving money on fitness is actually really easy. First, you need to identify where you spend money on workouts. For some people, identifying the financial culprits is really easy. If you have a gym membership then you know exactly how much money you spend on that each month. However, don’t forget that there are other workout expenses that are less obvious. Some of the other expenditures you will want to look at include:

• Private instruction and clubs. It should go without saying that joining fancy tennis clubs or getting a personal trainer is a really expensive way to workout.
• Fitness classes. Do you pay for dance lessons, yoga classes or time at the pilates studio? Is there a way that you could give these up and still get the same workout benefits in your own home? Are there free or donation-based classes in your area? Could you get a group of friends together to do crunches instead of hitting the pilates studio?
• Sports teams. A lot of people join local sports teams in order to get in their exercise. This is a terrific thing to do but some teams are pricier than others. If you have membership fees or you’re part of a team that spends a lot of money traveling to games or going out together then you might want to look into other local teams that don’t cost as much.
• Workout DVDs. Many people have an entire collection of workout DVDs to help them stay on track with their fitness goals. Do you really need to watch a video to remember your workout? Instead of buying a new video, put on your favorite upbeat music and get in groove with your own body.
• Gas. The money that you spend on transportation to get to your workouts can end up costing you a pretty penny. This is especially true for people who travel long distances to go hiking, rock climbing or skiing.
• Equipment. What type of equipment do you purchase for your exercise? Do you have gym equipment at the house, gear for your outdoor adventures or just one too many workout outfits hanging in the closet? Look at all of the places that you’re spending money on fitness and make an honest assessment of where you could cut back.

Once you’ve figured out where you’re spending money on working out, you need to do two things. First, you need to give up the expensive stuff. That’s actually the easy part. The hard part is finding a replacement for this expensive exercise. There are many exercises that you can do in the comfort of your own home. You can also walk and run in the local area. Make sure that you find something that you like to do and are going to stay motivated to do. Although you will ideally give up all ongoing exercise expenses, you may find that your personal goal is just to reduce expenses by a certain percentage (such as half). Staying in shape will help to prevent expensive health bills down the line so you don’t want to slack on working out just because you’re changing your routine so that it costs you less.

How Much You Can Save

Like with many of our challenges, the amount of money that you can save in March depends a lot on how much you are already spending in this area. Someone who is spending a fortune on gym memberships and who decides to give that up entirely is going to save more than someone who has already reduced exercise expenses to a minimum. However, it shouldn’t be too tough to meet this months’ money-saving goal of £60 ($100). Some examples:

• An average monthly gym membership fee costs anywhere between £30 and £100 (~$45 – $150).
• Yoga and dance classes cost an average of £10 (£15) each. If you only take two classes per week, you’re spending about £80 per month.
• Canceling a single fitness retreat would likely allow you to save as much or even more than this month’s money-saving goal.

Tips for Saving More

Are you ready to really push your limits with this challenge? Here are some ways to make sure that you save even more on fitness:

• Give up the protein bars and health drinks. Do you spend a lot of money on these items to give you energy when you are working out? You can eat much less expensive normal foods, drink regular water and derive the same benefits.
• Look at how exercise is really costing you. Some people don’t realize that the wrong types of exercise can do more harm than good. For example, running is great for a lot of people but can be too hard on the joints for other people. If you require painkillers, soothing ointments or sports massage due to exercise injuries then giving up those forms of exercise that cause these problems is not only frugal but also healthy.
• Get smart discounts. Use promotional codes and take advantage of free classes in the area to get in your exercise without spending a lot of money. You have to be careful, though; make sure that the discount doesn’t come with any strings attached (such as an expensive monthly contract).
• Barter for your workouts. Put some time in at the front desk of your local yoga studio or trade equipment time for cleaning the gym in your building.
• Save money by making money. Sell that old gym equipment, your excess workout clothes and those unnecessary fitness DVDs to make a little bit of extra cash this month.

Things to Consider

• Exercise IS important. We mentioned this earlier in the article but it’s worth stressing. You don’t wan to give up exercise; you just want to change your routine to make it more frugal. If you can’t find a way to cut back on workout expenses without cutting back on exercise then you might want to think twice about doing this challenge. Too little exercise can lead to health problems that end up costly in the end.
• Special circumstances may require special expenses. There are some times when it pays to see a personal trainer or to get DVDs and books to learn about a specific situation. People with chronic injuries or women who are pregnant may need to pay a little bit for this extra help to learn how to exercise properly. Just shop smartly.
• Make sure that giving up a membership doesn’t cost you money. If you’re already committed to a contract that you can’t get out of then you’ll want to hold off on doing this challenge until your contract is up. Use what you’ve already paid for in this case if you really want to be frugal.

Alternatives to the March Challenge

Some people won’t be able to do the March challenge either because they don’t spend much money on exercise or because one of the “things to consider” here prevents them from saving a lot of money in this area. Alternatives to the March challenge if you’re one of these folks include:

• Give up a subscription of membership. Many people completing March’s challenge will be giving up their membership to a gym. Give up your membership to something else or your subscription to an expensive service to save the same amount of money as other challenge participants this month.
• Extend February’s challenge. February was all about eating healthy while saving money; extend that goal into March to keep on saving money while staying fit.
• Put your fitness obsession to good use allowing it to make money for you. Walk other people’s dogs this month for some extra cash. Teach some Saturday fitness classes for kids. Offer personal training to friends based on your experience with a specific form of exercise.

Other Blogs on Frugal Fitness

• Wisebread writes about 25 1/2 Ways to Reach Frugal Fitness
• RecessionWire has 8 frugal fitness suggestions
• Clever Dude says drop the gym

Are you participating in our challenge? Tell us about your struggles and successes!

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