Pinchin in the gym

January has almost come to end. That means that new years resolution you made might start to fade, the same one everyone makes every year.

Believe it or not, there are pennies to be pinched when it comes to signing up for a gym membership. When I worked at Xtreme Fitness in Toronto I learned about how to deal with pushy sales reps and get the most out your facility. Lucky for you I'm about to school you on the ins and outs of it.

Just to put it into perspective, the YMCA, with its fairly basic amenities, costs about $35 a month. If you knew how to get it, the gym I worked at with towel service, hot yoga, wifi, and multiple locations throughout the GTA, offered a gym membership for $40. Keep in mind this was at the Yonge and Dundas location in the heart of Toronto where gym memberships cost upwards of $100. 

So enough with all the stats. When it comes down it, a gym is like any other sales environment with sales targets and quotas. Reps are constantly pushed to hit their goals and make the sale with relentless persistance and we as consumers can benifit from this sales approach. The end of the month is your best friend when it comes to buying a gym membership because it gives you the power. Sales managers are extremely generous when it comes to discounting the monthly cost in order to hit there target and cash in on the bonus. Students and gov' employees also get a significant discount. 

The sticker price on most memberships is around $70 a month, however with a little planning and research you can save a tonne of money on something that's gonna befit your body.

The first penny I ever pinched

I've always thought about starting a blog but never actually got around to doing it. I want to thank my college prof for making it a requirement for the course I'm currently taking (hope you're reading this Erin).

But enough of me, lets get to the meat of the matter. Having worked retail, food, and service from the age of fifteen, I've gained what I consider to be an above average understanding of the actual value of products and services. I now suffer from the inability to pay full price for anything!

One of my first jobs as a kid was working at the grocery store down the street from my house. As I got to know the people I worked with, they let me in on secrets regarding how to save money on food. This resulted in (drum roll please ......) THE FIRST PENNY I EVER PINCHED. The butcher I worked with, told me how meat was priced and marked. He explained how when new meat comes in, stuff on the shelves was automatically marked down regardless of the expiry date. So on Sundays when our truck came, I'd go talk to John about what was worth buying and end up saving thirty to fifty percent of the original price... for perfectly good meat!

Since then I've always developed and maintained a relationship with the butcher at my local grocery store, I move around a lot so I know a lot of butchers.

At that my friends is the story of the FPIEP. This Blog has been setup for the sole purpose of educating my fellow consumer on how to be smart shopper when it comes to the things we need so we can spend more on the overpriced things we want. It's not about being cheap but being smart.

So if there's a topic you'd like me touch on, feel free to leave a question or comment.