After more than a year enduring construction in our house, we finally have nearly all of the rooms done. Best of all, we finally have an exercise room.
This space had been the kids’ playroom, but, now that they are older, they don’t really need such a big space for holding toys they no longer play with–and which we no longer own. What they need is a “hang out” space, and an area in our new construction is more appropriate for that.
So, I’ve finally got my exercise room and we were able to furnish it on a frugal budget. Here’s how:
The Treadmill: For starters we already owned our treadmill. I was walking on it and watching the “Today Show” on September 11, 2001. So, yeah, we’ve had it for a long time. Naturally, it is in our new exercise room.
Exercise Bike and Elliptical Machine: We have a recumbent exercise bike and an elliptical machine, both of which we purchased for a song on Liquidations.com, where stores send their returns or overruns. These pieces of exercise equipment were on the same palette as the furniture we bought to furnish the kids new hang-out space. Total spent including renting the truck to pick everything up in New Jersey at the Liquidations depot? About $400.
Free Weights: We also have free weights, which were handed down or leftover from earlier exercise purchases (such as the treadmill), a dynaband (from physical therapy I needed for my knees back in 1992), a step, and the Wii Fit.
TV: We set up our TiVo in the exercise room. Thankfully, the newest season of “The Biggest Loser” is on TV again. I have a season pass to record it, and it is my program of choice to watch when I exercise. I can’t justify giving up when I’m watching these contestants go through these grueling workouts on the TV in front of me. I can also watch Exercise TV in this room.
Of course, I still walk my dog on a regular basis as part of my exercise program–freeexercise program, that is–but now that the weather is getting colder and the days shorter, I’m thrilled to have a dedicated space where I can get my heart rate up and continue to ensure that my jeans fit–and not have to drive anywhere or pay any kind of monthly fee (save for the Tivo subscription) in order to exercise.
What kind of dedicated space do you have in your home, if you have one, for exercise?
Most mothers teach their kids to cook and clean. Leah Ingram’s mother taught her to compost. These days she’s passing along this green message to her own daughters as they all try to live a green and frugal lifestyle as The Lean Green Family. She’s the author of “Suddenly Frugal:How to Live Happier and Healthier for Less.” Visit her blog, Suddenly Frugal.
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