One year for the price of one month

People who know me know that I make working out a priority.  I have belonged to a gym almost continuously for 30 years.  I also am a regular walker and especially enjoying walking with my (now ex-) co-workers at lunch.  During job transition (christened Hell in the Hallway by Deborah Mourey), I think it is especially important to stay healthy and deal with the stress and anxiety that comes with job search.

For the last few year I belonged to my local YMCA.  We had a family membership so that my husband and children could take advantage of the many resources it offered.  It is a beautiful facility that had been built about 5 years ago.  It had lots of activities for the entire family.  But I was the only one going on a regular basis.  The kids went when we initially joined but slowly tailed off their visits. My husband had a tendency to go only when the weather was cold and snowy.

I was paying $90 a month so I could go workout at the Y, which is more than I had ever paid in my life.  Years before I had belonged to another gym which was not as conveniently located. I had been a member for quite a while so I had a good rate of $299 per year which I thought was  a fair amount to pay and worked out to about $25 per month.  That gym didn’t have amenities for the kids and it was not someplace my husband wanted to go.  For a little while I carried my old gym membership while going to the Y.  But eventually we agreed it didn’t make sense for me to keep paying for the old gym so I dropped my membership.

Shortly after I lost my job I heard about a new gym in the area called Planet Fitness.  In April they ran a campaign advertising $10 a month rates with a small ($19) joining fee.  I went to check out the gym in Henrietta and they seemed to fit my needs.  They had lots of equipment, not the highest end equipment, but the pieces I was used to using at the Y.  They don’t have a pool or classes or daycare for your kids, none of which I was interested in anyway.  There was no commitment which meant I could stop my membership at any time without a penalty.  For the $10 per month I could only go to the club I joined, but there weren’t any others that would be more convenient for me to go to so this was not an issue.  My husband and I  both joined, figuring the $20 per month was way cheaper than the $90.

I’ve been going to the Planet Fitness in Henrietta now for about 3 months and I’m very happy with it.  The only thing that I don’t like is that it is about 10 minutes further away than the Y.  I can live with that to save $80 per month.

Right now Planet Fitness is running a special, $99 for an entire year!  That’s just over $8 a month! That’s about what I was paying per month at the Y.  I can’t imagine getting it any cheaper anywhere else.  So if you’ve been thinking about joining a gym and you live close to a Planet Fitness, go check it out.  This special is good through July 22, so don’t drag your feet.

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