Advice Needed + Decision (EDIT)

I haven’t seen my friend Jen since like… Christmas of 2010, I think… She was so busy with her boyfriend, her boyfriend's daughter, work and family... it was ridiculous. Well, she broke up with her (now ex) boyfriend a couple of weeks ago and now has a lot of free time. She wants me to join the YMCA with her.

I decided on Friday to cancel my gym memberships and then buy a treadmill for home. I don't ever go to the gym anymore... When I went to the 24 Hour Gym, I just used the treadmill... nothing else. I haven't been going to Curves at all lately either.

I already canceled my 24 Hour Gym membership which was $25 a month. I tried to call and cancel my Curves membership but the manager was persistent to just put me on a leave for a bit. I won’t be charged but I also have no privileges and cannot go there for anything… on October 31st, I need to let her know if I’m leaving Curves or starting up my membership again. But that’s gonna save me $34 a month for at least two months...

I was going to buy a new treadmill and put it on my credit card. I have one that would have no payments and no interest until December. I would be able to pay it off with my Christmas bonus... However, I realized that with my paycheck this Friday, I was going to put $200 towards my credit card balances. I could take that money to buy a treadmill outright. I found one on Craigslist in my town for $160. It's basically brand new. The lady broke her ankle shortly after buying it and has been unable to use it since. She said she will hold it for me until I get paid too…

So, last time I was a member of the YMCA, I qualified for financial assistance because I really don’t make that much money... I still make the same money and pay about the same amount of bills. With the financial assistance, my joining fees were waived and my monthly fee was $13.80 (it would have been $36ish).

Jen and I went for a tour last night. OMG! The place is huge now. It's like four times the size it used to be... and it's so, SO nice!!! They added a lot of classes including a spinning class. The cardio room is huge. I think they have like 20 treadmills now... they used to have like 5... There is so much equipment!

I really want to join the Y now that I've been there for the tour. It's amazing. I picked up financial aid paperwork and got it all filled out. I'm going to run it by on my lunch hour today. Last time, I dropped off the paperwork on a Thursday or Friday and had a letter in the mail by Monday telling me how much my fees would be. So, I'm hoping I can join by early next week. Jen and I already set up an orientation class with a trainer who will show us how to work all of the equipment. That is next Thursday at 6 as I have to be a member to do the class...

My question is this: would you –
a) join the Y in hopes that your friend will go with you and save the money you would have spent on the treadmill…
b) join the Y if the rates are low enough but still buy the treadmill in case your friend doesn’t go with you so you’d still have something to do at home...
c) don’t join the Y, but buy the treadmill
d) don't join the Y, don't buy the treadmill, go back to Curves

I don’t know what to do!

P.S. For those of you that read my other blog and are going to say "but last time you had a treadmill you sold it because you didn't use it"... I didn't use it because I couldn't. My wiring in my house was messed up and every time I turned the treadmill on, my breaker would trip. That's been fixed and my electrician says he sees to reason why I couldn't operate a treadmill in my house.

Second, Jen get's so serious about weight loss when she does it. About 6 years ago, we were both members of Curves and we went solidly for a bunch of months (like 6)... I don't think she'd ditch me... I think she'd actually go to the gym.

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I talked it over with my mom. She's known Jen about as long as I have... which is 12 years. She said when Jen sets her mind to it, she's serious about weight loss and would be a good buddy to have. I agree.

I emailed the lady with the treadmill and said:

One of my good friends called me and is going through a tough breakup. She asked me to join the Y with her and I’m considering doing so… If I join the Y, I won’t necessarily need a treadmill at home as I can use the ones there. If you can still sell it to someone else, that would be good… Joining the Y and buying a treadmill aren’t both in my budget at this time, but I feel really bad about not taking it after you’ve been so nice about holding it for me. Please let me know if this poses any problems for you and I will try to work something out.

Her response:

Nope! That is perfectly fine :) I am all for girl power and teaming up at the gym! Good for you and good for her for going to the Y! I'll probably just end up hanging on to it, but if in the future you change your mind and would like to buy it, just let me know! Save my email and I'll save yours and maybe we can work something out at another time :)

Amazing! So, I'm going to go ahead and join the Y and do that for a couple of months to see how it works out. Yay! Excitement. Haha.