Comments on: 10 Ways to Cut Your Fitness Membership Costs

By: Andrew Hallam

Andrew Hallam — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 01:30:13 +0000

I’ll admit: I’m way too cheap for a gym membership. For more than 20 years, I’ve done chinups off tree branches, and at playgrounds; pushups on grass; ab exercises wherever the ground is soft and I don’t look good enough to look like a showoff, so I can do it in public!
Kerry, I have been enjoying your blog. You are from Kelowna, yeah? I live in Singapore, but I used to enjoy bike racing around the Kelowna area. I remember a mini stage race that we used to do in the mid 80s: a road race in the morning, culminating in a time trial up a beautiful mountain with switchbacks at the beginning, then straightening out (without lessening the grade) to a finish at the top. I believe it was called Knox mountain, or something like that. No gym membership for that either. Loved those days as a kid!

By: Yeshanu

Yeshanu — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:37:01 +0000

Coming really late to this, but here’s my two cents worth:

If you already belong to a gym, try negotiating a discout anyhow. If they say they can’t do it, tell them you can’t afford the fees and have to quit.

I was a member of a well-known chain, and ran into financial problems. I tried to quit. They immediately offered to reduce my fees by 1/3. I took that, but later had to quit because I got laid off. They came back with an offer that reduced the fees again–if I’d decided to stay, I would have been paying half of what I’d originally paid! I have that rate available for another month and a half if I find a job by then, and it’s less than $30 a month.

By: New iPhone LinkStuff Edition

New iPhone LinkStuff Edition — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:46:53 +0000

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By: The Rat

The Rat — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:25:33 +0000

I just recently changed to another gym because they were offering a 3-month pass for under $50 and I jumped for it!

Nice post

By: Festival of Frugality #215 « Pragmatic Environmentalism

Festival of Frugality #215 « Pragmatic Environmentalism — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:50:52 +0000

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By: DC @ Dollar Commentary

DC @ Dollar Commentary — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:26:30 +0000

Here’s another one for y’all; Trial memberships. While you’re not actually a member, many gyms offer the first month free or at least a free trial period. Conceivably, if you’re really strapped for cash but are addicted to working out, you could just hop from gym to gym, never paying a membership fee of any kind. Not incredibly honest, but there it is.

By: guinness416

guinness416 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:07:09 +0000

I’ve got a couple for you.

Friends of mine rent in an apartment building with an indoor pool. It’s a building with a lot of elderly people so the pool doesn’t get much use, we’ve had it more or less to ourselves the couple times we’ve used it. Cost: zip zero.

We’ve been playing tennis in a school gym for like $90 for ten weeks for the last couple winters (free summaer parks is a better deal, obviously, but hey). It’s not US Open quality surface but definitely beats the annual fee + monthly fee + court fee + dress code some of my friends have at their club.

And to your point 9, I found a squash club in a rec centre not far from where I live. It’s in an area some would call pretty dodgy (quite poor, run down, the centre is well hidden, etc) but has great facilities and is very very cheap!

By: Chiot's Run

Chiot's Run — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:05:19 +0000

I used to have a gym membership and loved we. We went every day. But we moved about 10 years ago and the closest gym in probalby 30 min – too far to drive. We have a treadmill & some weights in the basement that get used quite often. My favorite way to stay fit is running/walking outside and gardening. I grow my own food so I save on my grocery bill and my gym membership bill.

By: Friday Fiscals: Five-year-old daughter edition | Mighty Bargain Hunter

Friday Fiscals: Five-year-old daughter edition | Mighty Bargain Hunter — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:12:24 +0000

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By: Kingdom

Kingdom — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 05:56:52 +0000

I completely agree with the home gym concept! I have no excuses for not working out because my treadmill is in my living room! I never have to wait to use the equipment, I can listen to whatever music I want (or watch TV), and I don’t have to worry about all the crazy germs on the machines and in the locker rooms. It is incredibly convenient to jump into my own clean shower after a work-out. I bought some inexpensive free weights but recently got some resistence bands that are even more versitile. The cheap tradmill works great for only about $800. It has already paid for itself in about a year, considering how much I use it!