So, if you read Chris' blog, you know that we are not going to Las Vegas and I probably won't be seeing The Police afterall. We really are flat broke and in debt.
Which is why I joined a gym today.
Seriously, I am completely in knots about this. Truth be told, by the end of the year, with the family membership I purchased, we will have spent as much on the gym as we would have for the two of us to go to LV and see The Police. This is still money we don't have. Why do I do this?
Well, it comes down to several things. First, Chris and I need to exercise. Period. We are generally lazy and prefer hobbies that are fairly sedentary. This is not working well for our kids, nor do we feel it sets a good example. We don't want to ruin them before they even go to school.
And honestly, we both don't mind exercising, as long as it is fun. For years, we have said that we want to join a swim and raquet club, because I love to swim, and Chris loves to play raquetball. And we both like to do the other thing as well. But those places are expensive... and they generally don't have much for the younger set.
Now a new gym is opening in Cary, and it has pools (indoor and outdoor), courts (raquetball, squash, and basketball) and all the normal gym accoutrements. It also has a large child care area. It's expensive (a bit pricier than the Y), but it's luxurious, and that alone will (hopefully) motivate me to go back again and again.
It doesn't open until May, and we have 30 days to try it and see if we can really squeeze our money's worth out of it. Our hope is that it will give us opportunities for more family time, despite the fact that in some cases (anything not pool-related), we will be plopping them in child care... again... like we do five days a week. I wonder if I even want to be a parent sometimes. Here I am, trying to do something that will set a good example AND make me healthier, and yet all it seems to be doing is pushing the kids into someone else's care... again.
But then again, Athena will run around like a monkey in the playground... and does she really need me there to enjoy that? I don't know.
If you are wondering how we will pay for this... well, so are we. We will probably pre-sell half of our hockey season next year. The only reason I'm not talking about selling off the whole thing is because we already paid about 50% in three years ago during the lock-out. This is the final year of our commitment (our money from that season has been earning interest for us) and if this gym thing works out, we may give up our treasured third-row seats forever.
Daycare costs are going down for us, since Athena is moving up into the "potty-trained room" this year, so that will help as well. And we are going to give up eating out as much and also cut back on our power use, if possible. We are so horrible about leaving lights on and random shit we never use plugged in all the time.
Hopefully that will equal more than what we are throwing at this fitness center and we can actually afford to keep the kids in clothes and shoes.
And what's in this for you, dear reader? Why, perhaps I will be able to compete with Amy's naked locker room stories... one can only hope not.
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9 comments:
I feel you on the broke thing, however, we are lucky to have no debt -- besides our mortgage of course.
We've been careful to not get credit cards or anything like that. The only thing we have in the way of credit is a gas card from Shell and there are no Shell stations in our area...so that works out great. We just use it for trips.
I want to cut our expenses too, but to do so I'd have to itemize all my spending and frankly, I think I would come out of that badly...
Oh, you're on woman with the locker room stories. I don't know that you can ever truly beat me, since my town is so small I can see the women I see naked around town. Just yesterday, I pointed to a woman and said to my husband, "I've seen her boobs. They are very small, so small they just hold themselves up."
Not eating out all the time will substantially give you more money. When we lived in Chicago David would probably eat out between 15-18 of his 21 meals a week. When we moved to Alaska and started living together, I wouldn't let hime do it, mostly because we couldn't afford it and partly because I don't enjoy eating out all the time. He still hates me for that, but does admit that he realizes he was spending quite a bit of money.
Dream Dinners has helped us eat at home more. It has really saved us. It was just an impossible task to get anything on the table in time to give the kids a bath and get Marcus to bed. His bedtime is 7pm, and after getting the kids, I walk in the door right at about 5:45. I mean, I'm good, but not THAT good.
I suspect my locker room stories will not be so much about nakedness as much as it will be about plastic surgery. This place is in Cary, and it's a pretty pricey place. We're going to see all the trophy wives and their beautiful children. I'm guessing that will be motivation for Chris to keep going at least.
Sweet.
hot, naked, plastic filled rich women?
that'd definitely keep me AWAY!
Are you kidding? They should put that in the marketing literature.
yeah, I'm less interested in the naked locker room stories than the naked locker room pictures... ;0
You skirthounds
Well photos aren't going to happen, so isn't hearing a woman tell stories about other naked women the next best thing?
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