The gym - The place we love to hate

We all have a love/hate relationship with the gym, am I right? I don't think there is a single person out there that doesn't want to be healthy.  But, the gym can be a scary place and not to mention expensive!

Tonight I decided to go for a late night run and workout in the gym in my building.  I like to consider myself semi-fit, and I try to get to the gym as often as I can.  Lately, that has been less that I would like, but that is besides the point. I started to think how lucky I am to have a gym in my place of residence.  If I didn't, the cost of a gym membership elsewhere would definitely hinder my drive to workout, in an official gym at least.

Now, I realize I am paying for the gym in my rent, so it really is a cost to me.  What that cost is, I guess I will never be able to figure that out. Depends on how often I use it I suppose.  That intrigued me to take a quick look and what gym memberships cost these days.  Lets take an annual membership for example:

City of Edmonton - $524.00 (Average of 3 levels of facility you go to)
YMCA: $718.25 (This one blew my mind!)

Okay to be honest, I looked up a bunch of other gyms as well (Gold's Gym, Spa Lady, World Health, Goodlife Fitness) and none of those places had their prices anywhere online. So, that doesn't help me at all! Shesh!

Regardless, no matter what gym you go to, it can be very expensive. Unfortunately, from experience, I have seen a lot of people commit to a gym membership, give their all for 3 weeks, then quit or get busy and let their money go unused.  So one tip, just make sure you are dedicated and planning ahead so you don't have this expense become a waste.  Even better, just go for a run outside, create a workout group with your friends in someones basement, or even do yoga by DVD at home.

It's expenses like a gym membership going unused that can help hinder people from becoming financially stable and one step closer to being debt free.  I know it seems small, but expenses like this make a difference in the big picture.

Can anyone else think of an expense that is often overlooked like this one?