To spend £150 a month on gym membership

[froggydoo]

I know it's loads of money - it would be for the whole family ( me DH two DC).

The gym is really close to us, it would give us somewhere to go during the many days of pissing rain during the school holidays and it is on the way to DHs work so he could pop there before or after for a quick swim. It's got tennis courts, badminton and lots of Kids classes.

We already spend about £50 a month going to the council pool.

But Christ it is LOADS of money. I'm soooooo tempted - but several friends have told me I am nuts to even consider it.

AIBU to even consider it?

I am sure there must be better deals than that.

Is the gym made of gold?

Ha ha wish it was made of gold.

Or that the money might make me magically slim and toned......

YABU. £1800 a year?

If you can afford it, and there is nothing else you'd prefer to spend the money on instead, then yanbu.

How old are your kids?

Yeah when you look at the annual costs they are pretty astronomical aren't they.....

But there are lots of people who are members of this gym so SOMEBODY must think it is worth it. I should stress it is for a full family membership....

Kids are 5 and 7.

Older one has ear problem which means she can only swim with great care and major ear pluggage. This means she can't really do big group or school lessons so I was hoping to get her small or even 1 to 1 classes at the gym. I know this might cost extra.

< grasping at yet more straws.....>

Can you afford it? If so YANBU.

You could spend the money on takeaways and trips to the cinema. This will make your family healthier.

If you can't afford it,,YAbu, because you can't afford it.

Watch for contract tie ins.

Is it a David lloyds?

I had assumed they were older teenagers. Apart from the pool, what is there for the kids to do?

£150 per month seems pretty steep if it's mainly just you & DH using it. Still, it's your money, and if you can afford it....

So it's £10 per person, per week, that isn't alot to spend on lesuire/fitness tbh, if you are going to use it weekly.

It is a lot of money. But, it could be worth it. It all boils down to whether you would get your shed loads of money's worth, or not. You have to be honest to yourself as to how much use you would actually get from the membership. If you used the place a lot, then it could be good value. If you use it once a month, it's piss poor.

Also, consider their contract. What is the minimum duration you could sign up for? The last gym I belonged to was a 6-months contract, with 1 month rolling after that. They also offered one-month memberships, at a higher cost than the longer contracts, which allow you to decide if you want a longer membership. A friend took out that membership over the school summer holiday, worked quite well.

It is David lloyds.

We could afford it - although we would notice the money going out and it would mean a pretty basic holiday next year ( but we love our tent so that's ok.....).

It's really just the principle of the thing. On the one hand it would be a great resource and it really is very close to our house. On the other hand, well..... There's the expense.....

The contract thing does scare me a bit.

I'm not sure exactly what it would be - but I know you are tied in...

We are a hundred a month for the four of us for our (pretty basic) gym. It's a martial arts gym and suits us - but I don't think fifty more for the facilities you get in a David lloyds is that much.

AS LONG AS YOU USE IT

And be honest about that.

We were paying that for the 4 of us.

I have cancelled the kids' memberships as they were going so rarely (£30 per month for the two of them)I still take them sometimes, our gym (Nuffield) seems to have 'bring a friend' promos on most weekends.

So now we pay about £120 for dh and me. Vfm for me as I go a lot, not for him as he only goes once or twice per week.

If you would all use it, it's not a waste of money imo.

I'm trying to work out the usage. At the moment we go swimming as family once a week, and I go myself another two times.

Kids also have swimming lessons once a week. Older one wants to do some form of gymnastic class also which I think the gym does ( although not 100% sure tbh).

So if we stayed the same we'd all go about twice a week. £5 each a visit?

Hmmmm - well thats not cheap, but then it's not extortionate either....

My family used to be members at David Lloyd, it was really lovely. I was a lazy child though and didn't use it as much as I should so my Dad ended up cancelling it. I didn't know how lucky I was! Would love to be a member again but sadly can't afford it. If you can afford it YANBU.

You'd need to use it several times a week to get the value IMO. Not just at weekends. And all through the year as well.

You have to sign up for a year I think, but there MIGHT be an early cancellation fee (usually a month's payment) if you want to get out within the year.

Check that all the things you would use, gym classes, swimming lessons, kids clubs etc, are all included in the price.

If they are then yes, I would go for it as by the time you added all of those up plus your swimming then it wouldnt be much more, but for much nicer facilities.

If not, well....dont!

I joined an expensive gym, and I really do get my money's worth out of it. Check the classes though - often they ALL cost more on top of membership.

However, we have an outdoor pool complex. School finishes tomorrow & dd & I will be spending the next 3 months by the pool. We've also found that we make friends there, and she has got pretty keen on tennis (yet another cost, though).

It is pretty much my biggest leisure expense, but means dd & I have somewhere to go, whatever the weather. They also have a free creche there so when dd was younger, it was cheaper than going elsewhere & paying for a babysitter.

DD hates being outside too much - allergies make it quite unpleasant for her, so an indoor activity place is great.

Ask if they do a free trial - lots of places give you a week, so you can try everything out. Then see if your dc love it or not.

YANBU, but think carefully about what facilities you will use and how often REALISTICALLY you will go before signing up for anything other than a flexible contract. I had membership for myself and the kids to a very nice health club in the UK for years - to me paying for the kids was worth it just to be able to use a warm, clean pool with decent changing facilities.

I was going to say it is expensive, but then I saw it is for both you and your DH + kids! I think it is reasonable as long as you will all actually use it.

My current gym is really cheap (£22.50 per month!) but I am moving soon and checked prices of generic Virgin Active gyms and they all seemed to be about £80 per month for 1 person. I mentioned to a couple of people that I thought it was a bit expensive and was told they pay over £100 each for their gyms! So now I actually don't think £150 for all of you sounds that bad, provided you can afford it.

We pay £119 for me, DH, 3 DCs which includes gym, classes, sauna and steam, swimming and swim school for3 DCs.

It definitely is worth it for us, if you think you will use it on a regular basis, then it's worth it.

Make a list of everything you would actually do there, and grill their arses off about the basis of access as gym membership managers are on sales targets and are weaselly about not mentioning restrictions unless asked directly. If the kid's classes are "included" are there ridiculous wait lists, or scrums on enrollment day? Are there court booking fees/ floodlight fees on top of membership fees for racquet sports? Are there any times when children can't access the facilities or when adults are given priority, and do these times suit you?

eg. the David Lloyd near my mums basically forces you to play tennis in ability-grouped hosted fours during peak times (evenings and weekend mornings) - you cant just book a court and play with who you want. For mum that doesnt work as she just likes to play with her 3 mates.

I would say the same as everyone else who has said it's not too expensive if you will use it. Have you haggled them to death on fees/commitment? Most gyms are desperate for new members at the moment and will do deals (especially for a family like you who are likely to come and spend more on things like swimming lessons/cafe etc). Make sure you have pushed them as hard as you can.