The cost advantages of having a home gym

After having a home gym in our house, I knew that it was an obvious advantage for a number of different reasons. The first is that it is much easier to walk down stairs than drive to the standard gym. And while the upfront cost of the items in the gym may take time to make it worth it, those dedicated to saving money and becoming healthier see the results eventually.

The reason I thought about putting this article together is a great piece that I recently read at Five Center Nickel. The article talks about how similar finances and fitness are, which really is true. I think above everything, you have to be disciplined in both areas. In money, you can’t just buy anything you want. In fitness, you can’t eat everything you want. Check out the article for a lot of other interesting factors that make them similar.

When my wife and I moved into our house nearly two years ago, the one main thing that we wanted to have was a gym in a room. We had the advantage of having extra room because we currently do not have kids and were able to dedicate a large room to putting this together. Room is essential in having any type of dedicated area to working out and improving your fitness.

While we had talked about this before, what really made it happen was the fact that we got a great deal on dumbbells at a fitness store that eventually closed. We were able to buy 12, 15, 20, 30, and 40 pound dumbbells for under $50. That great deal alone may have really ended up pushing towards our home gym.

Over that time, we bought a stairstepper for $175 thanks to Craigslist (The guy had it originally listed at $500) and it has gone strong that entire time. We also purchased a weight bench ($150), 50 pound dumbbells ($40), a dumbbell rack ($80), a bar and 300 pounds worth of weights ($100), and eventually a brand new treadmill with an extensive warranty ($800). While the up front costs of these were not cheap, we were confident that we were going to use them.

All told, we have spent nearly $1,400 on gym equipment and supplies. Considering most of the equipment that we purchased was new, we had to use coupons, gift cards, coupon codes, and just about everything else you can think of to save money. And when looking back, that actually is a lot of money. But we tried to buy quality equipment that would hold up over time. We didn’t want to buy a $200 treadmill at Wal-Mart with no warranty. I put a lot of research into the treadmill before buying it.

So how long did it take us to recuperate the costs associated with the home gym? Lets say that my wife and I find a gym that we like for $30 per person every month. While I know many gyms cost much more, I am going to estimate on the very low end. Pretend we got a fantastic special for the two of us.

While there is different equipment offered at other gyms, we have purchased everything we need and want to workout. If there was more room, there would actually be a few more pieces that I would like to add. But until we get a basement that we can put our equipment in, this will work.

Anyways, the $60 per month would eventually be more than the original $1,400 at just about the two year mark. While we didn’t have the treadmill all two of the years, we will have closed on our house two years ago next month. That means that while we are just about breaking even, we still have all of the equipment to use. As long as we continue to take care of it and not beat it up, it will work for years.

The main cost advantages really won’t come for the next few years. My wife and I don’t plan to quit working out anytime soon so say we are able to use the current equipment another five years before upgrading it. If we could last that long, it would end up saving $3,600 over that time period. And again, $60 for both of us is on the low end. That doesn’t count gas, time driving, and increases in fees.

The one thing to be wary about is that if you are going to spend a thousand dollars for a home gym, you need to make sure you are going to use it. So many people end up using their exercise bike as a place to set clothes and push their weights into the garage to never use them. The only way that you can make this worth it overall is if you plan to use it for an extensive period of time.

As mentioned before, it really depends on if you have the room, the money, and the desire to have a home gym. If you don’t think that you will use it, then it may be smarter to continue/start going to the actual gym. While it may cost more, your physical health is something that you have to worry about your entire life. The cost per month may add up but it is worth it to stay in good physical condition. The health benefits are worth it but if you think you can make it work in your house, it could be a great time saver from driving to the gym.