Gaucho: Savings Inside

Episode 12. In this episode, Marv talks pet savings (thanks to inspiration from Doug’s post on How to Save Money on Pets). Marv also talks about the Top and Bottom 5 times to splurge on a vacation.

In this GauchoCast, Marv talks with Julia of The Frugal Find.

They talk about how Julia got started with The Frugal Find, favorite deals, great deals of the week, Blissdom 2010, the new Apple iPad and more.

In this GauchoCast, Marv shows how it’s nothing new to have a head of state promote a product. In fact, it’s pretty common. Particularly when you (poorly) photoshop artificial results in an attempt to be campy/funny.

Also, stay tuned till the end to see a quick hello from Julia of The Frugal Find. Our good friend Julia will be representing Gaucho at the Blissdom Conference, and next week we’ll be serving up a GauchoCast with Marv and Julia  chatting about deals.

You said you were gonna do it, right? Join a gym and get in shape?

Well, the time is here to follow through on that resolution.

Just Get Going

Now, you certainly don’t need to join a gym to get exercise. There are more affordable ways, such as walking, hiking, running, doing push-ups with your dog on your back — even gardening and the like.

Why Join a Gym?

Many times, people have this idea that they’re going to join a gym and magically change everything in their lives and health. The thing is, you probably don’t need to join a gym. More likely, you want to change your lifestyle, and think joining a gym is just the thing to make that happen. And hey, for some people, it is.

If your climate makes it tough to get outside, or you want access to equipment, pools, or a community that will help in keeping you motivated, then joining a gym can be awesome. Exercise has been proven time and time again to be one of the best things to improve mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being, especially if you’ve been stuck inside all winter.

Plus, if you really love working with free weights and cardio machines, then your inner gym rat may never be satisfied without a gym membership.

How to Get in Shape Without the Gym

Getting in shape doesn’t have to equate with joining a gym. You could take a yoga class, join a local sports club, or get involved with doing something outdoors. There are plenty of ways to work out without a gym.

Okay, if You Must Join a Gym

Gyms can be great way to find the motivation, and the right place, to engage in regular exercise. I’m certainly not saying joining a gym is wrong by any means. If everyone had free access to a gym, we’d all be better off for it.

The problem is that gyms are notoriously sleazy businesses. All too often, people invest money in joining a gym in January, then come March, they become livid over the contract they can’t get out of, billing issues, the disgusting locker rooms, or some creepy dude that’s killing the scene.

So when you go to sign up for a gym, make sure its worth the money by examining some things first.

Your budget. Don’t get oversold. In an effort to attract more members, many gyms waive their enrollment fee at this time of year. If the aren’t, ask if they will. If they won’t, ask if any of their competitors do. Why, exactly, do gyms charge enrollment fees anyway?

Take a look. Hang out for a couple minutes to watch the gym vibe, away from anyone who might be giving you the tour. Are the people the kind of people you can be comfortable working out around? Be sure to ask people what they think of the gym. Don’t sign up for anything until you’ve checked out the lockers and facilities.

Equipment. Does the gym have the type of workout equipment you want to use? Do you need a TV to be entertained while on a Stairmaster?

Location. It might be worth joining the more expensive, or less well-equipped gym if it means saving a long drive and working out more frequently. Likewise, if you’re a middle-aged women looking to lose some pounds, it might be worth driving a little further to go to a Curves than to join a Gold’s Gym that’s full of muscleheads. You’re not saving money on your membership if you don’t use it. Quite the opposite.

Classes, basketball courts, and pools. Are you sure the gym has enough diversity for your taste?

People traffic. What are the gym’s busy times? Will that work for you? Be sure to visit the gym around the time of the day that you will usually work out to get a clearer idea of what your experience might entail.

Ask around. Ask the people that work their how long they’ve been there, ask if there will be any remodeling done and if that will affect your access to equipment, and ask friends, family, and people online about the gym before you sign a contract. Google is your friend — you’ll be amazed at what you can find out about the history of some gyms.

Are Personal Trainers Worth It?
Most of the time, yes. A good personal trainer will help motivate you, should you need it. Most importantly, they will teach you the right ways to go about working out and getting in shape, or educate you further to compliment what you already know.

Also, working with a personal trainer is less expensive than many injuries you might cause yourself by working out with poor techniques or practices.

The Problem with Shopping for Gyms

If you start looking around at gyms, it’s really easy to get frustrated, lose your mind and give up.

Why?

First of all, they make it all a terribly confusing process. When you sit back and look at it, gym memberships are one of the strangest consumer shopping experiences out there. They often hide their prices, and funnel you into talking to pushy staff people, who, without fail, will tell you they’re not salespeople — even through they get paid a commission based on their membership sales.

If you purchase a membership, be realistic about how often you’re going to use it — and what you’re going to use. Gyms sometimes charge for how frequently you work out there, or charge more for access to certain areas, classes, additional locations, time periods, etc.

Some of the greatest people I’ve ever known work at gyms or are personal trainers. Still, it seems everyone I know has had an experience where they were all psyched up to join a gym and get into a regular workout flow, then got turned off from joining by a pushy, and sometimes insulting, salesperson. Do not let the people selling memberships goat you into buying the full package if you’re not going to use it.

Remember, you want to get in shape — and save money. There’s nothing they’d like more than for you to buy the top-of-the-line package and never come in to work out. That’s just free money for them.

If you don’t find the right fit for you, its okay to give up on joining a gym. Just don’t give up on getting fit. Stay resolved.

In the fourth installment of the GauchoCast, Marv shows you when it’s time to break up with your clunker and how to seek out the best deal on a new ride.

Gauchocast 4: How To Break Up With Your Car from GauchoCast on Vimeo.

Saving really is something you have to think about carefully in order for it to benefit you.

I noticed something quite interesting about it when I was grocery shopping with my fiancée. Every 2 weeks we go shopping, we have a list of things we want and need. As we’re walking down the isle picking up our items she sees an item that is neither something we need nor is it on the list. I really don’t recall what the item was and that’s irrelevant, but it was something we never had. I turned to her and asked, “Do we need that?” Her reply was, “No!” I then asked, “Do we even have it on our list?” Yet again the answer was, “No.”

Even though that item is on sale, how is it saving if you’re buying something you don’t need and never budgeted for? At the end of the day, you’re still going $x over your budget, and while psychologically you think you’re saving on the discounted item, you’re obviously not saying if you’re going over your budget. This is why merchants and manufacturers have sales — because it gets people to buy things they don’t otherwise need. When you have a budget of $10, then through sales, discounts, etc. you spend $8 and save a total of $2 — then you really understand the idea. That’s really saving money.

So the point of this story is that in order for you to truly save, you must stick to your list and budget. First, define your wants and needs, because they are completely different. Get coupons and discounts on things you need. Look for sales on things you want.

Those are my thoughts and conclusion based on this story. What are yours?

All my life, my Dad tells me stories all the time about how he got this deal or that deal. It’s always for electronics, TVs, spark plugs, other car-related things, stuff for his boat, home improvement tools, how he fixed something on the cheap, and so on. It’s seriously his favorite topic.

You know what scares me? Now, I’m actually starting to understand why he tells me this stuff.

Take Sunday, for instance. He’s telling me about this deal on antifreeze … and I start thinking, “Why is he telling me about this antifreeze deal?”

But then I realized two things:

1. It’s actually a good deal
2. Winter is coming up and it’s a good time to stock up on antifreeze

So, anyway, my Dad says, “Go visit Prestone.FasterReward.com.”

“You’ll find a buncha rebates there. The one you want is the Prestone Buy 1 Get 1 Free Antifreeze/Coolant. Mine was right on the label on the front of the coolant. It said ‘Prestone Buy 1 Get 1 Free Antifreeze/Coolant.’”

“So I take two coolant and I says to the guy, here’s my coupon, thank you very much, and he gives me 2 for 1. No questions. Took it right off the label in front of him. This was at Wal-Mart. It’s 2 for 1 and I think Wal-Mart has the best price, so you can go there if you want. You want to play it safe, you go to this website, you get your coupon and apparently you should be able to go anywhere that carries the Prestone and get this Prestone deal. You can get any two you want, doesn’t matter, 50/50, whatever. But I think Wal-Mart has the best price.”

So there ya have it, folks. Stock up for winter. Stuff doesn’t go bad, right? It is good to have on hand and you won’t beat that price — for real. I’m sure all the auto stores must be accepting it, too. So you’re bound to be able to use it near you. Read the details over at the link. The offer expires at the end of February 2010.

And, please, don’t worry. I have plenty of these stories to share. Solar panels are a hot topic, no pun intended. Maybe the next So Dad Says story will be about the new solar panel he put on the house.