When we were members of a local health club, we spent a vast amount on the membership over the two years of the program, including the monthly fees and the purchase. Was it worth it? As always when you purchase a service rather than a product, you really don’t have much to show for the expense after the membership lapses except some nicely toned muscles and a missing beer-belly.
I reckon we spent over NT$150,000 over that time, and we felt it was money well spent, when we had time to go to the gym. After we found it harder to go, we began to regret the time it took to get there, and the expense of paying for something we didn’t use.
So what’s the alternative? Purchasing fitness equipment is a good alternative, if you are into sports, have space at home, and prefer to work on several machines rather than the whole range. For me, purchasing a treadmill and a stepper would have covered me for most of my typical workout routine. I didn’t do weights, didn’t find them helpful or purposeful at all.
So I could have saved about half the amount by just buying good quality reconditioned models and using them as I would have done. Perhaps putting them in the spare bedroom or garage would have been fine!