Is Joining the YMCA Worth the Money?

Sometimes I do something in life that makes me want to shout from the rooftops advising others to do the same thing. Why? Apparently I like to help people. Who knew? In all honesty, I don’t like to see people struggle. I like to see people happy and content, and nothing makes me happier than seeing people work together as a family, save a little money and have a lot of fun at the same time. My husband and I recently did something we were a bit unsure of, and it’s turned out to be the most amazing thing.

We joined our local YMCA. First and foremost, it’s brand new. I literally opened on May 1. It’s less than five miles from our home, and it’s so convenient. I wasn’t all excited about it in the same way that so many other people around here were when it broke ground; but now I get it. For $59 per month, our lives have changed for the better.

It’s not a lot of money at all. Is it worth it? It is to us. We love it, but let me just back up a moment here. I think that people fail to realize that facilities like this in their own neighborhood are so much more than just a YMCA. It’s a place where our family has been spending some serious time, and we are benefiting from it in a serious manner.

Our local YMCA has a gym, classes such as spinning and yoga and much more, a family pool and even an enjoyable zero-entry pool with water slides, life guards and family fun time. There is childcare, and there is a lobby with coffee, water and just a place to spend some time socializing. It’s been the most amazing thing for several reasons; and I’m going to share those reasons with you.

Family Bonding

Pools are pretty much in every back yard in Florida. However, they’re not zero-entry pools and they don’t have water slides. With two-year-old twins to care for on top of our older girls, this is something we’ve learned to love in the past few weeks. We can spend an hour or so on a weekend morning sitting by the pool while the kids play and we can just enjoy them without having to get in with them. They love to sit in the shallow water and play with their toys and splash; that’s priceless family fun we get to have. We bond over something so simple, and it’s been fun.

Great Health

So, the kids don’t work out with us when we go into the Y. However, they get to go to the KidZone, and that is awesome. They get to climb the awesome play set, play with other kids and they get to have a good time. We get to hit the treadmill, take a class, lift weights or do any number of things that are making us feel good about ourselves. We love it, and we think that it’s so important that we have good health in our family. So far we’ve been every single day during the week for an hour; and we are looking and feeling good because of it.

Parent Night

Now, I’m going to tell you that this is something that does not mean that much to us in that we have our own sitters that are always happy to be a part of our kids’ lives when we want a date night. The YMCA has parent night. This is every other Friday and one Saturday per month (mornings on Saturdays) where you can pay $6 per child if you are a member to have them watch your kids for four hours. You can leave the site during this timeframe. You can go to dinner. You can grocery shop. You can go to a movie. You can go home and lie on your couch and not listen to anyone talking to you at all. You can do anything you want.

The point is that now you’re also having a date night of sorts while your kids are being cared for in a place they love by people who are trained to care for them well. They only take kids 3-12, and they have to be potty-trained. The twins don’t make it yet, but our big kids love it and it gives us a chance to spend some quality time with our babies. There’s nothing bad about that.

In short, we’re paying $59 per month to exercise each and every day in fun classes and with people we enjoy. We are working out together without interruption, our kids are having fun and they get to spend more time with us here. The entire community is loving this place, and I think it’s worth it. I speak so highly of the YMCA that I wanted to share it with you so that you can save a little money on sitters every other weekend, on exercise and on joining an expensive gym.

Photo by Getty Images