Why We Finally Decided to Join a Gym -- Sometime

Well, not a gym, but an “athletic club”.  And I am getting sooooo anxious to get started.

Spouse was getting ready to join a local chain club; in fact she did join, but luckily they had a refund period.  But it triggered a discussion once she got home.  Sure, the chain gyms had good monthly deals, but with limited access to childcare.  If we were both to join, we’d have to take turns.  Not that we work out together, but it adds a level of complexity to the scheduling that I’d rather do without.

The athletic center is a little farther away, but had always been on our “Some Day” list.  Really nice facility, indoor salinated pools (using salt rather than chlorine), indoor climbing wall, basketball, fitness machines, activities for kids, an outdoor pool during the summer; for an additional cost, the membership will include their tennis courts.

We toured the place, we all love it.  It costs a little bit more; but all four of us can participate.

But there’s a catch.  Membership has a waiting list. 

Once we’d committed to joining, I wanted in.  I want to go.  It’s been several weeks already, and still a some time to go.  We’ve been calling to find out where we are on the list. I think they’re getting annoyed at us.

Why This Is Good

My kids (and my wife, but she denies it) think I’m cheep.  So everyone was surprised when I agreed to this. 

1. I have several workout items at home, and they’re not getting used.
2. The boys absolutely love playing in a pool.  Hopefully they’ll be able to do that more often.
3. I last belonged to a gym before I had children.  I enjoyed it. In my mind, I used to go several times a week.
4. I’ve agreed to clear out the fitness gear.  That includes dumb bells, my bowflex and a nordic track.  That’s a lot of floor space.  Although my bowflex is not the traditional clothes hanger, I won’t need it any more.
5. The locker room has a sauna. 
6. The classes look great. 
7. There is a psychology in using the investment as an incentive to work out.

I’m looking forward to the different class; spinning, yoga, cross-fit type workouts.

This is a collision of all my hot topics; personal finance, exercise, clutter and stuff, family. 

I’m sitting around in the evenings, just wishing to head to the club.

Linkage

• That’s Fit, 55 minutes, 5 days a week
• Lose that Tyre, Weight Loss and Diet Cheat Sheet
• That’s Fit, Exercise may be fountain of youth
• That’s Fit, Healthy Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle
• A Calorie Counter, The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide

Putting our workhorse out to pasture

In typical suburban fashion, we drive a family minivan.  We got a great deal on it ten and a half years ago just after our first son was born.  Before we got it, we drove just one car, and it was just not enough to haul around all the stuff that new parents tend to buy too much of. 

In that time, we put 120,000 miles on it.  There are chips in the paint, the windshield has been replaced twice, four sets of tires, consistent and quality maintenance.  The exterior handle on one of the sliders will open the door but not close it.  It’s been up and down the entire length of the West coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, BC. 

We told ourselves that we’d replace it at 120,000 miles, at 150,000 miles, then 200,000 miles.  We’ve weighed the cost of every repair against the possibility of a down payment for another car.  Was it really worth a $1200 repair to keep the van going compared to using that money and adding a new monthly expense to our spending.  Time and again, we sided with the van. 

And yet, now. 

It’s been running rough.  I made an appt with the dealer we’ve been bringing it to since we got it.  The estimate just for analysis was for a few hundred dollars.  We went into worst-case-scenario overdrive.  Started searching dealer sites and craigslist, looking all evening at different choices. 

Brought it in.  When I did so, I told them, ….it was like signing a DNR in a hospital.  I didn’t even want the estimate to cost much, let alone the cost of repair.   The guy grabbed a diagnostic computer, hooked it up, gave me a couple of possibilities, and told me the mechanic would check and they’d call me with some estimates. 

After a few hours, I got a call from the shop; the suggested repairs would be $750. 

We talked it out, decided not to.  We believe we’ve finally reached the point where there is no ROI (that’s return on investment if you don’t speak corporate lingo) on anything beyond minimum maintenance. 

Next…

Unsure.  The “Committee To Replace the Van” has stated

• Not another van at this time.  I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll need to revisit that once the boys are in high school.
• Preferable not another white car; just changing it up a little bit.
• Not sure about the VW reputation.  The Jetta/Passat wagon is a good example of what I’m thinking of, size-wise.
• Probably not new, but with a loan.  With the savings we’ve been able to sock away, we’ll have a healthy down payment.
• Want to cut down on road noise.  Just a nit.  Tired of having to keep turning up the radio over the drone of tires on black-top.
• Something wagon-ish (I’m a little nervous about losing the cargo space of the van)
• A roof rack, support for a thule or yakima rack.

And that’s as far as we’ve gotten, so far. I will continue to chronicle the process.

• GenerationX Finance, 6 Things to Know Before Buying Your Next Car
• Wisebread, 6 Tools to Save Money on Car Repairs
• American Consumer News, Tips to Avoid Getting Taken for a Ride When Buying a Used Car
• Get Rich Slowly, Why I Drive a 13 Year Old Car
• Bargaineering, How to Buy a Car (Without Getting Screwed)

Image “Out to Pasture” by Orin Zebest via Flikr

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• Do It Yourself Car Simple Repairs (yearn2blog.com)

The Grouchiest 1.5 Mile Run Evvv-Arr

Jogging With My son

I have two kids, both boys, ages 10 and 7. Great kids. Love them to death. They can be a little bullheaded and argumentative sometimes. My older son’s initial response to most requests is “Whhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy”. 

So, we’d been discussing with him how to be a little more active.  Christie had talked to him recently about the couch to 5k program, since she was thinking about starting the sequence herself.

So I took both boys out today.  The younger on his bike riding along while M and I did the intervals for the first week of the couch to 5k program.

Even though it had been described to him in explicit detail, he balked at having to warm up, he balked at jogging after the warm up, at walking after the jog, and so on.

But, just like getting them actually move the toothbrush when its in their mouth, or close the door they just came through, wipe the spilt milk from the table or floor, and so on, I just try (and sometimes fail) to remain calm and give direction.

• How to stop yelling at your kids at Stepcase Lifehack
• Lunchmeat Safety Standards at boing boing.
• How to Start Running – Without Feeling Like a Failure at Stepcase Lifehack

 

Goal Choice: Mopping or New Shelf

The laundry room floor is as muddy as the rain-sogged front lawn. 

On the other hand, I have no where to put the vegan cookbooks I’ve been starting to acquire.  They get shoved around, get in the way, shoved into another messy pile.

Today…

Get the boys up and ready for school, get to work, leave work to meet the boys after school, work while making sure they're getting their homework done, make dinner, take care of the dishes, get the boys ready for bed, put them to bed, break up the arguments, spend 10 minutes each trying to get them to do the two minute tooth brushing job, read to them, confiscate the gameboy being hidden under the pillow, and so on.

In the midst of all that, how to get something, anything, productive done, with little chance of getting to more than one.

Well….

The dirty floor is not a primary traffic area, and it will just get dirty again anyway.  so up went the shelf.  As long as we don’t drop the clean laundry on the floor, we’ll be fine.

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• Five Little Home Improvement Projects for 2010 (blisstree.com)
• Method Revolutionizes Laundry Detergent with New Technology and Design (eon.businesswire.com)

2010: On My Way to 210

Image via Wikipedia

A year ago, I was in bad shape.

An herniated disk was the worst of my problems.  Having escaped the  bounds of my vertebrae, the disk tissue was compressing my sciatic nerve.  Overnight, I went from mind-numbing, crawling-on-the-floor, screaming-in-pain agony to complete numbness in my left leg, hip to toe.   There were one or two other health issues afflicting me; the only other one that was causing quality-of-life issues is a middle-aged thing ( I turned 40 last April), and that would be anal fissures.

Luckily, quite luckily, both issues were resolved non-surgically.

Due to these problems, my weight ballooned.  I had once told myself that I would never exceed Homer Simpson’s weight of 239 lbs.  (That’s his usual weight not counting the episode he intentionally got to 300 lbs to get on worker’s comp allowing him to telecommute.)  I know that I was above 240 lbs, and I believe I peaked at 245.

Getting From There to Here

1.  Started running.  Trained for and completed a 10k in September.  Then I got swine flu and pneumonia, and so I’ve only run twice since.
2. Over the summer, became a vegetarian, then a vegan.

Those are the two big factors.  By November, I was around 220 lbs.  I’ve been as low as 215 lbs.  After travelling for the holidays, I checked the scale, completely paranoid that I’d gone back above 220.  But no.  Even after the many fantastic meals at my in-laws, I’m still 218 lbs.

Link Love

• MacDaddy over at Get Fit Slowly shops for some wardrobe updates to highlight his weightloss.
• He also provides a year-end wrap up.
• FrugalDad provides a Frugal Diet Plan for 2010
• Mary encourages weightloss by small steps on John Is Fit.
• Michael, also at John is Fit, discusses mindset in weightloss.
• Matt, at FiveCentNickle, writes on the financial impact of obesity.
• Chris Pirillo offers 50 weightloss tips.

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• How Goes My Weighhtloss (the-enobling-journey.blogspot.com)

Links to Some Money-Related Articles

Just a quick post to point readers to a few recent articles I’ve seen that I think are relevant to some of their life-changes.

To disclaim, I am not a financial professional, and have neither verified nor validated the suggestions in these articles.  Please consult with your own financial advisor to determine if the suggestions for your own needs.

• Some tax tips for children and newborns, from cashmoneylife.
  
• Strategies for Retiring in bad times, from The Family Wallet
  
• Living cheaply in the long term, from WiseBread
  
• Also from WiseBread, 6 pay-down strategies for debt.
  
• Essential Year-End Money Moves from Lifehacker.
  
• The Good Human provides 10 Ways to Convince A Non-Green that Going Green Saves Money.
  

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• Time to rethink your ties to bonds (financialpost.com)
• From the Tips Box: Car Savings, Dog Tracking, and Theme Security [From The Tips Box] (lifehacker.com)
• Seven Steps to Supercharge Retirement Savings: Independent Financial Professional Provides Strategies to Take Charge of 401(k) Accounts (prweb.com)