I currently pay $9.99 a month for a gym membership to Planet Fitness. When was the last time I went to Planet Fitness? November. Literally haven’t gone since November.
It’s NOT that I haven’t been working out. We got some really awesome equipment in the exercise room at my office back in December, so I started working out there instead. It’s great because I don’t have to leave the building and I can force myself to exercise before I leave the office for the day. Plus sometimes I can convince a coworker to workout with me. The Planet Fitness I was going to is so overcrowded, it is nearly impossible to get a cardio machine. Plus you have to work out while surrounded by sweaty dudes who stare at you too long if you’re a girl using the dumbbells (Believe it or not, Bros of Planet Fitness, some girls know how to lift). My new workout scenario is not only way more pleasant than Planet Fitness, it is also less expensive . . . or at least it would be if I could just remember to cancel my membership.
The problem is that payment comes automatically out of my account, so it happens without me thinking about it. Every month I see on my mobile banking that the funds were withdrawn and think “Oh, yea I should cancel that.” Then I immediately forget all about it until the next time I see the withdrawal. Also, you have to either call or stop by the gym in person to cancel, you can’t do it online. I am socially awkward on the phone, so that option is out. And I don’t want them to judge me when I go to the gym not to work out, but just to cancel my membership; I’ll feel the need to reassure the person working at the front desk is that “I haven’t given up on exercising, I’m just doing it somewhere else, not because I don’t like them but because this place is free . . . ” I would continually and nervously ramble on for the whole encounter. I’m embarrassed just imagining it. I actually think Planet Fitness knows this about me. They won’t let me cancel my membership online because they know I will not do it on the phone or in person, and they therefore continue to get $10 out of me a month. Touché, PF. Touché.
The point is, I think a lot of us have expenses like my Planet Fitness one. Bills you pay every month for a service or good you’re not really using. Stuff like cable, Amazon Prime, or Audible. The amounts are small so you don’t really mind paying the bill, but you also wouldn’t miss the service if you stopped paying for it. Don’t let automatic withdrawals, social awkwardness, or apathy allow you to pay for something you don’t use. Just think, I could save $120 a year if I canceled that gym membership. Actually maybe I should go do that right now . . .
Kelsey at Casco FCU 