How I Could Have Saved $80 Last Week
Last year I got a gym membership for the first time in my life. It was great at first. My company was giving me $50 per month to spend on and thing health/fitness related. So I signed up for a very nice gym at $60 per month.
It was great because I showed up early and felt like I had the whole place to myself. I got into weight lifting again – something I hadn’t done since hight school. (My dad was actually the high school weight lifting teacher).
But then a lot of changes occurred, I moved and switched jobs so I stopped going to that gym. At first I went to the same gym at its other location. It was still nice, but a lot more crowded. It had way more machines and cardio equipment, but unfortunately less free weights. I ultimately stopped going and cancelled my membership.
I missed it though and wanted to get back into it… but at home. So I started looking into building my own home gym setup.
My Home Gym Setup
I monitored the local classifieds for deals on olympic weight sets. I might have gone overboard. I wrote a python script to send me a text every time something new was posted to that category. I ultimately found and purchased a set bench press set than came with the bench, barbell, and olympic weights for $250.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get the bench into my basement. It was a heavy duty welded bench that I couldn’t take apart. It’s okay thought because I didn’t really want it. I’m actually trying to sell it now just to get it out of my garage. I really wanted just a plain bench and a power rack which I could use for bench presses.
I also wanted to find a power rack cage so I could do squats safely without a spotter. I wasn’t having any luck with the classifieds. I mentioned to my older brother that I was looking for one and he said he bought one just a couple days before at Dick’s.
So I started looking around. I went to Dick’s and saw the one he purchased. It was listed for $499. I sent him a text to find out what he paid. $399 plus he had a coupon for 20% off. Dang! I didn’t want to buy it anymore.
On the way out of the store I saw flyers so I grabbed one and saw that it was still on sale for $399, so I went back in and bought it.
Coupons By Email
My brother said he got the coupon from an email. It seems my inbox is always full so I try to limit the amount of mail I get. But in hindsight it sure would have been nice to save another $80 on this power rack. So I have since decided to use the following strategy…
Sign up to receive newsletters that send coupons via email from the stores I shop at. Create filters to automatically archive them. Then, when I happen to be in the market for something big like this, search my archive folder for these coupons.
I have a friend that does this with GoDaddy. They are always having some kind of sale. Whenever it is time to renew a domain, he searches his email for “GoDaddy” and inevitably finds a coupon code to use at checkout to save.
Every dollar counts. I hope this little tip helps you keep more of your dollars!