Since founding Student Debt Diaries, I have received hundreds (if not thousands) of emails from people across the country. Most of the individuals who reach out to me are interested in learning ways that they can earn extra money to devote additional cash to student loans. However, sometimes individuals are interested in ways that people with student loans can save money to devote additional funds to their debt. One person recently reached out to me to see if fitness costs are a worthy expense or if they should be cut in favor of paying down student loans. Although gym membership fees and other fitness costs can be necessary for many student debt borrowers, saving money on fitness costs is vital if you want to devote the most cash possible to student loans.
During my own student debt repayment saga, I do not think I spent any money on gym memberships or other fitness costs. I try to stay in shape, and typically run five times a week (usually six miles a day) and lift weights four or five times a week as well. However, at every stage of my student debt repayment saga, I employed a few methods while saving money on fitness costs.
Nevertheless, I know a number of people who spend several hundred dollars a month on gym memberships and other fitness costs. My own brother, who I roomed with during my student debt repayment saga, spent significant sums of money on fitness costs while we were rooming together. Even though my brother had considerable student debt of his own, he spent money on gym memberships, juice diets, home fitness routines, and other fitness costs. Seeing the money he shelled out on these expenses showed me how saving money on fitness costs can be an important expense-saving measure while paying off student loans.
While I was a student, saving money on fitness costs was easy, since each school I attended had gyms that were free for students. When I was in college, my university had a decent gym that allowed students to complete pretty much any exercise they wanted. The school also had a number of fitness classes, intramural sports, and other free ways to exercise. I was also on the varsity track and field team in college, so I had access to the varsity weight room and the team locker room, which was an added benefit when saving money on fitness costs.
As a law student, I was fortunate enough to attend a law school that had an amazing gym that was free for students. Indeed, Georgetown Law comprises five buildings, and one entire building is a four-story fitness center. The gym had a full floor of weights and cardio machines, and the building even had basketball courts, racquetball courts, and a full pool. As a result, saving money on fitness costs in law school was easy, since I could complete any exercise I wanted for free at this facility.
Once I graduated from school and began paying off student loans in earnest, I had to be more creative while saving money on fitness costs. I always made sure to live in an apartment building that had a fitness center. Of course, not all buildings have fitness centers, and the ones that do are usually more expensive. However, I reasoned that the increase in rent I paid to live in a building with a gym would be worth it, since I would not need to pay for gym memberships.
Usually, fitness centers in apartment buildings are worse than professional gyms, but the fitness centers at each of the buildings I lived in met my needs. I almost never run on treadmills or do any other cardio except for street running. Even if it is freezing out, or raining, I will usually hit the road and run. When I absolutely had to run on a treadmill, I did not mind using a shoddy treadmill in my building’s gym, even thought it did not have any of the frills of equipment you could use at a professional gym.
I also never spent money on exercise classes, and this helped me when saving money on fitness costs while paying off student loans. I usually did push ups, sit ups, and other exercises on my own in my apartment without using one of those fitness DVD programs or an exercise regime you could access online. I did go to a few yoga classes during my student debt repayment saga, but the ones I attended were free events sponsored by local community organizations.
I also rarely spent money on racing fees during my student debt repayment saga. A few years back, two of my brothers got into organized racing so that they could be eligible to run a local marathon. My brothers had to run a number of races in order to be eligible for the marathon, and they spent a considerable amount of money on racing fees. Although it might be worth it to spend money on racing fees in order to have the once-in-a-lifetime experience of running in a marathon, individuals should consider saving money on fitness costs by not running in expensive races.
All told, most people need to spend money on gym memberships and other fitness costs in order to stay healthy. And exercising can be a great way to reduce stress that many student debt borrowers experience. However, there are certain things individuals can keep in mind when saving money on fitness costs while paying off student loans.