Personal Finance

Just a single personal training session at a gym could cost you as much as $60-70 per hour. For most people, even once-a-week personal training would be an unsustainable expense for their budgets. And, self-directed workouts at a gym with a membership aren’t exactly cheap either. But, you can find ways to save money at the gym and find gym membership discounts that can help.

How to Find Gym Membership Discounts

If you’re trying to get in shape or lose weight, there are several ways to accomplish your fitness goals without busting your budget.

Take Advantage of Free Trial Offers

Nearly every gym out there offers a free trial period for potential members. This may just be a 3-day pass or you might be able to workout cost-free for an entire month. This can be a big help before deciding whether or not you want to sign up for a paid membership.

Gyms offer these trial memberships ‘free of charge’ to entice more people to check out what they have to offer by means of health and fitness amenities, so it’s a win-win approach for both sides.

You’re not under any obligation to sign up for a membership after the free trial period concludes. And, don’t waste your money unless you loved the experience and truly believe you’ll come back enough to make the monetary investment worth it. However, you also shouldn’t abuse the free trial system at gyms in your area just for the sake of saving money by indefinitely avoiding a paid membership.

No Initiation Fee

When you’re ready to sign up for a gym membership, the club’s employees will try to charge you an initiation fee. If there are several gyms to choose from in your area, then do some comparison shopping before agreeing to anything.

You should continue to shop around if you already completed a free trial run and now they’re pressuring you to sign up for a paid membership. There might be other gyms with better amenities, prices, or promotions in your area that you might not know about yet.

If another promising gym in your area has a lower monthly membership fee, or if they don’t charge initiation fees, then bring this up to the folks at the other gym you’re considering. Try to negotiate the price down to something more reasonable for your budget.

Don’t always assume that the price advertised is your only option. Sometimes, they’ll waive the initiation fee altogether, and you can start working out for the cost of the first month’s membership fee.

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The following is a guest post by Joslyn Ewart, the author of “Balancing Act: Wealth Management Straight Talk for Women“. If you’d like to submit a guest post on Money Q&A, please check out the site’s guest posting guidelines.

Financial transparency in marriage is either fairly straightforward because the couple is comfortable with one another’s financial attitudes and values, or it can become a couple’s worst nightmare because they do not understand their spouse, at all.

And like so many things in life, how to approach the experience of financial transparency effectively depends on a number of things, such as the financial wherewithal each spouse brings to the marriage, the money messages each spouse was taught, and the personal finance values of each partner.

For the purposes of the following perspective, our scenario will assume that the couple has learned to accept differences between them and values working together without one spouse controlling the other by assuming financial omnipotence in the relationship.

Within this framework, financial transparency can be established and nourished as follows:

• Conduct regular conversations about money, pinpointing needs and interests
• Identify financial resources–your income/expenses; what you own/owe
• Organize financial documents/information and update quarterly, as needed
• Be certain there is easy access to all financial materials
• Set achievable goals: goals for saving, spending, sharing, debt, family protection
• Determine a plan for achieving your goals; consider short and long-term needs
• Prioritize the steps you intend to take
• Decide how to monitor progress toward achieving your goals
• Fine-tune your planning, if needed

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The following is a guest post by Kenn Goldblatt, the author of, “The Pro Se Litigant’s Civil Litigation Handbook“. If you’d like to submit a guest post on Money Q&A, please check out the site’s guest posting guidelines.

The legal industry is the only activity I know where if you make a mistake, you pay. If your attorney makes a mistake, you pay. If your paralegal makes a mistake, you pay. Also, if the opposing attorney makes a mistake, you pay. And if the judge makes a mistake, you pay.

So understanding the civil litigation process can help you avoid expense-causing mistakes and help you keep your lawyer on track – or keep yourself on track if you opt to proceed pro se and represent yourself.

If the lottery worked the same way, the store clerk would tell you to go outside and buy your ticket from an agent. And, the agent would tell you that he or she would take your money. But, they wouldn’t guarantee that you would get a ticket – or get any money if you win.

Understanding the Civil Litigation Process

These days, more and more individuals are deciding for a variety of reasons to represent themselves. In fact, in state and federal courts across the United States, about five million individuals are handling their own civil cases of various sorts.

Whether or not they will be successful and prevail depends on a number of factors, not the least of which is understanding precisely how the civil litigation process works and how they can produce the documents they need to convince the judge that they should win.

Typically, judges loathe pro se litigants because they come to court believing what they learned in sixth grade – that if you just come to court and tell the truth, everything will be all right. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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The following is a guest post by Rachel Cruze, who you may know also as Dave Ramsey’s daughter. An incredible speaker and author in her own right, Rachel has a new book coming out in October, “Love Your Life, Not Theirs“. If you’d like to submit a guest post on Money Q&A, please check out the site’s guest posting guidelines.

Some of the most difficult conversations you’ll ever have will probably involve money. For example, consider these statements:

“How much did you spend on that dress? You didn’t even tell me about it!”

“Retirement is only five years away, Dad. Do you think you’ll be ready?”

“Josh, I can’t keep loaning you money if you aren’t going to pay me back. Sorry, I know you’re my brother, but I can’t do it again.”

Ouch. Those are probably going to be difficult discussions, right? But even though they’re difficult, those money conversations are absolutely necessary.

The Importance of Talking About Money

In my upcoming book, “Love Your Life, Not Theirs“, I discuss the seven money habits you need to live the life you want. One of them is simply this: Talk about money, even when it’s hard.

What should you do when . . .

Your husband won’t stick to the budget? Talk about it.

Your parents aren’t prepared to live a comfortable retirement? Talk about it.

Your brother won’t stop asking you for money? Talk about it.

Yes, it won’t be easy. You may even have “words” or shed a few tears. But, ultimately, it’s one of the habits you have to practice to have a healthy relationship with money.

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