So you may or may not have noticed a lack of posts (especially those written by me) lately. I have to admit that I’ve had a major case of blogger block. It’s rather ridiculous I know, but the stress of back to school combined with a lack of sleep the night I spent with my grandmother at the hospital and the extremely hot weather and a gazillion screaming little girls at the Justin Bieber concert completely wiped me out last week!
Even if you didn’t notice, the King of Free did. You see, in addition to a lack of blogging I went almost an entire week without running (which is kind of crazy for me). I couldn’t breathe when I went outside and I refuse to run when the heat index is in the triple digits. I’m just not that die hard. Even still, you can imagine my surprise when the King of Free came home on Friday and announced he was heavily considering using the last of a recent bonus to purchase a family fitness center membership from a local church. He checked it out and decided it was well worth the $100.
 |
| Give me a few more weeks and I’ll look like this! |
Now I know what you’re thinking . . . the Royal family is going soft. They’re not as hard core with the whole frugal living thing as they once were. And while that may or may not be true, I can tell you that even with less than a week of the gym membership, I’ve been much more productive both online and at home (I think partially thanks to an insane kickboxing class that I took at 515 AM on Monday AM which was uber fun!). And the King of Free is also been at work earlier than usual and more productive, too. Regardless of your thoughts, it was the best choice for our family. When we first endeavored to get out of debt, our gym membership was one of the first thing we kicked to the corner. And oh how I have missed it! The King and I don’t go out to eat, we don’t go to the movies, we don’t do concerts, we don’t do much of anything date-wise that costs money. However, we LOVE to work out together. And I’ve really missed it. Even if we’re in different areas of the gym the majority of the time, it’s still nice to walk a few laps together and know we’re both on healthy track.
Fitness Centers at churches and other religious organizations seem to be a very common trend right now. Most people don’t realize that you don’t have to be a member of the church to have a membership to the fitness center (although that might save you a few bucks). They’re oftentimes smaller and sometimes have extra hidden fees (childcare, classes, etc.); however, they’re also oftentimes MUCH more inexpensive than a traditional chain gym like L.A. Fitness, Bally, Cardinal, and the like. And if you don’t go at least you know the money is going to a church. Plus the particular facility we joined has open gym time where you can shoot baskets with your older children and they can even run the track with you or work out with parental supervision, depending on their age. The Eldest Princess is thrilled about the opportunities.
We all splurge and save in different areas. And in the long run, this should save us more in medical costs, clothing costs, and wasted time. I always like to fully disclose our path so you don’t feel like I’m a poser. It’s rare when we choose to spend on something that’s not absolutely “necessary” but this is one of those occasions and I couldn’t be happier. It’s like a Royal Gift.
Have you tried out a fitness center connected with a church or religious organization? What are your thoughts?
www.queenoffree.net
