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 live in the states so it is slightly different and different currency but we pay $190 per month for the gym for our whole family.

I used to pay for DD to do afterschool activities in different places - everything is private here - no subsidised stuff.... and we were racking up $250 per month at one point. Now she just goes to Lifetime (our gym) and she does free afterschool activities there - she can choose from rock climbing, yoga, zumba, football, crafts and swimming. So I justify it as actually it is saving us money - and in the summer it is amazing with a great pool etc.

£150 seems fair enough for four people, but I agree to check what is included.

YANBU if you can afford it. YABU if you can't.

It sounds like you know the price but not much more. You need to ask for a full tour, a copy of the class timetables (& how often they change, how far in advance you can book them, whether they are usually over booked, wherher children can attend etc)

Most gyms also allow a free trial (one day / one class) and you should ask for that for the whole family so that you can see how the facilities work for each of you.

In terms of the contract, negotiate. I have never paid the full joining fee for a gym and usually manage discounts on the monthly payment and/or a shorter contract than normal (i never sign up for longer than 6 months because I'm lazy and know that despite best intentions I'll get bored and stop going) If you wait until the end of the month there are usually membership deals as they try to meet targets for that month.

Ultimately though, if you can afford it and will use it, YANBU. I pay £50 for mine. DP pays more than that for golf/climbing membership and we pay extortionate amounts for DS to swim. Combining it all sounds like a good idea.

Have you got a virgin gym near you? Family membership would be around 100 at ours and that includes creche time for the dc so may mean you can use it more than if you have to find dc free time to go?

Hi all - thanks for the replies. Lots of good points.

I'm going to see if we can get a tour around and also a trial visit.

Im not that interested in looking at other gyms - because this one is so close to our house that it's pretty much this or nothing. I know I could pay less elsewhere, but I can't see the point in paying for something which you have to drive for 20 mins to get to.

But I like the idea that we could just walk to the gym from home or school and then walk home.

If you will use it often enough to get your moneys worth then of course you should do it. May turn out cheaper in the long run when you think of the kids classes, swimming and your gym time being included in that. It is good to spend your money on healthy activities, many families would spend a lot more on takeaways (including a lot of the people telling you not to waste your money). Money spent on health is an investment, it can never be a waste unless you don't use it.

"I know I could pay less elsewhere, but I can't see the point in paying for something which you have to drive for 20 mins to get to. "

I totally agree. There's a gym opposite my house and although it's fairly expensive for what it is (£35 per month single membership, no pool and only a few classes) I love it because I go 3 x a week without fail as it's so easy to go.

DH goes to virgin, when he can be bothered, but has to drive, park plus racks up petrol costs.

Go for it if you can afford it, I would love to have family membership somewhere and have something we could all do together at the weekends

Be aware that swimming lessons and tennis lessons are charged on top of membership fees, as is the crèche. However there are usually good free things for the u 12s at weekends- eg boxfit- and they do try to tie these in to the class times. Most adult classes are included ( again not tennis lessons). The cafe at ours is quite good and the outdoor pool is lovely. Use their showers and save your hot water too.

wow, makes me pleased I am moving somewhere where the council gym is £25 a month per adult.

Doesn't seem expensive to me, I used to pay £80 per month for my virgin active membership plus I pay £50 for DD's gymboree, and DH doesn't have a gym membership.

I am planning on joining David Lloyds soon but on a weekend only membership - £20 per month for me and £5 on top for DD

I actually think that 'expensive' private gyms offer good vfm compared to council ones, particularly given that you usually have to pay per activity in public gyms, whereas the private ones tend to be inclusive. Depends if you would really use it enough. Might be a good investment if it means you're all fitter.

Yanbu if you can afford it. Do check out the local authority facilities though so you can compare and contrast the cost and facilities! We pay about £55 a month for both of us, it's cheap and cheerful but does the job- we have a David Lloyd near us and I could not stomach paying £100+

What does that include, Christelle?

I used to have a family membership at David Lloyd and thought they were quite good. In addition to the pool they had badminton/tennis and once a week a special arts club for kids so may be worth considering if your gym also has these facilities. I used to take the kids to art club and spend an hour or so in the gym myself. I think if it's just the pool that your kids are going to use it may be a bit expensive, but at the end of the day you know how much you're -hopefully going to use it.

If you can afford it and you're going to consistently make use of all the facilities, then go for it. I don't know if anyone's asked this (skimmed the thread) but is it the David Lloyd?

We had been members of DL for years. DS 5 and 7 also. We scrapped it a couple of months ago for various reasons.

1. The swimming pool wasn't particularly child friendly. It was quite deep, and youngest DS is a nervous swimmer, he likes to feel the bottom. He couldn't do that in this pool. They loved both our local swimming pools,and kept wanting to go there instead!
2. All the classes for kids were very expensive. They tried the taster tennis class. So many kids they barely hit a ball. It was 150 for the two of them for a term. A local club was nearly half the price, and much smaller class size.
3. They were doing lots of classes away from the gym with school friends,e.g. golf and rugby.
4. Although DH used it a lot, I had a bulging disc and was unable to use it for a long time. I prefer going for a good walk anyway!

But if you feel you would use it, I think £150 ok.

Do it!
We are members of DL and we get more than our money's worth
There is crèche too, so I can go to classes in the morning rather than late at night when I am exhausted!

I love my DL membership and there are free Saturday and Sunday activities for kids too.
I do 3 classes a week which would cost 30 quid at least !

we do - yes at DL's and yes, it is totally worth it IF you use it. We love it. The kids things are great - at ours there are two 'club nights' - thurs and fri 6 - 7.30 which is great if we want some time together - we go swimming then sit in the bar for a bit; they also have film nights, arts and crafts sessions and sports sessions - dh and I go at least four times a week and so it works out really reasonable. I am a Fan grin]

As others have said it all depends if you'll use it.

Particuarly consider whether it is worth getting the family membership if your family varies in how much it uses the facilities. If you use them a lot but have to drag the rest of the family along, it might be more cost effective to get yourself a membership and then just pay as you go for the rest of the family.

If you do find you don't use it enough to make it worthwhile, then either up your usage or cancel it (and check the cancelation terms before you join) my DH ended up paying out for his (though it wasn't quite as expensive) for ages after he stopped using it after moving workplaces (it was handy for his old one). He didn't want to cancel it because he felt he ought to use it and it represented him wanting to get fitter. I think that's an easy trap to fall into with something aspirational, you don't want to cancel it even if it isn't working out practically but you have to. This was years ago though and it was £30 a month.

I think if we had a bit more money coming in, we might take up a membership option with the council, my DH would get a discount and they are building a new pool at the moment. But I'm cautious because we aren't terribly into fitness, so would need to make a bit of a lifestyle change to make it worthwhile.

Hey, I am a personal trainer and I would say £150 p/m for your family is a decent price as I have paid close to £90 just for myself in the past.

no i don't think £150 pounds is allot for a gym. I am a member with David Lloyd and its really good there you get what you pay for! The gym that was there before asked for allot more for a family membership than they do.

Err this thread is a year old