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Why walking is a luxury and I have a gym membership
By Meg | January 7, 2008
It’s that time again. If you’re like many people, one of your New Year’s resolutions was to get healthy and loose weight. I admit, it was one of mine. I plan to get back to the gym and get something for my money. Yes, I have a gym membership. Yes, it costs a lot (but it is one of the best in the world). I know that there are a lot of frugal people out there who would call me crazy and say that I can just exercise for free; I know because I read the comments on frugal blogs.
Well, I don’t really care if they call me frugal or crazy. This isn’t a “frugal” blog, and definitely not a “must save every penny because I’m poor and missing payments” blog. It’s a “trying to save money in easy ways that almost anyone can do while feeling and looking richer/classier because I’m not quite desperate yet but I need to get the debt down” blog. (Aren’t you glad I didn’t choose that as the tagline, though!)
Nevertheless, I would like to explain why I pay for a gym membership. More importantly, I’d like to explain why “just go for a walk” isn’t always the best advice.
Why walking is a luxury
I grew up in the country, the perfect place to go for a leisurely walk, right? Sure, if you like walking in the sand, cars occasionally whizzing around on the wrong side of the road, and packs of stray dogs growling at you. That wasn’t the worst of it, though.
One thing about living out in the country is that you come to realize that no one will hear you scream. So, I was terrified when I went walking one day and was approached by a group of men in a white van. I am soooo not making this up. The guys in the back opened the side door and asked if I needed a ride. I said no, I was out exercising and was almost home (which I wasn’t) and that my mom was expecting me back any moment. They kept asking as I kept walking. Fortunately, they left me alone after a couple minutes. I had a few other close calls like that, but that was the worst — and one of the last times I went walking there just to walk.
So, that’s the first thing I think about when people suggest going for a walk. I wonder how many people who really can’t afford a gym membership have a safe place to walk.
Why I have a gym membership
Fortunately, my husband and I can sort of afford a gym membership ( “sort of” because we are in debt, but we could afford it by cutting back elsewhere).
Here’s why we aren’t giving up our gym membership quite yet:
- It’s safer. If I so much as stub my toe, people will see.
- It’s climate controlled. I hate walking in the heat and walking in the freezing cold is a picnic either.
- It’s open 24/7. This is why we went with this gym and not cheaper ones in the area. We’re night owls and it’s nice to be able to exercise at 3am.
- There are lots of different equipment to keep me from becoming bored.
- Once I’m there, I know I’m going to workout. I’m not going to get distracted or head to the fridge.
- If I decide to become more social, I can join the group classes.
- There are professionals there to set up the machines for me and show me how to get the most out of my workout.
- O.k., it is a bit of a status symbol here to have the gym’s card on one’s key chain.
I admit, I haven’t gone a lot in the last few months. There have been a lot of things going on. However, we were going fairly regularly for the first few months and I hope to get back into that schedule.
Why I still went for a walk
Ironically, last week I was thinking about how walking is a luxury and decided to go take a walk. It was a lovely, overcast day with temperatures in the 60s. My husband was with me and we just decided to walk around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes. We didn’t focus on burning calories or anything and I didn’t even change out of my skirt, blouse, and ballet flats. We just walked.
Then the other day I got my new boots in and decided that I’d see how comfortable they really were (they’re flat boots, in case you’re wondering). It was in the 40s, but I decided to bundle up and head out anyway. There’s a new Indian market nearby that I’ve been wanting to investigate, so I headed there and bought a few bags of spices. Then I headed next door to the new Mexican restaurant and grabbed a take-out menu.
I’m still a bit nervous about walking by myself, but we live in a fairly safe neighborhood with such niceties as paved roads and even sidewalks along a lot of the roads. I really enjoyed walking, especially now that I have realized what a luxury it is.
Tags: Body, Health, Priorities, Saving Money, Spending Money, Weather
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February 2nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Maybe it would be an idea to head away from the residential neighborhoods and remote roads and walk along some moderately trafficked road? Also I found that if you are running, just start jogging lightly, whenever a car is approaching, they will never offer a ride.
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Welcome Early Retirement Extreme!
Thanks for the tips! I think that would help! Back where I grew it wouldn’t help much because there just aren’t many well trafficked roads, but where I live now there are.