5 Frugal Tips for your Dream Home Gym

5 Tips to Build your Dream Home Gym without Breaking the Bank

The pandemic made most people find creative ways to do the things they love the most, including working out. If you’ve missed the gym but aren’t ready to go back into that atmosphere quite yet, it’s easy to build your dream home gym without breaking the bank.

Here are 5 simple tips.

Keep it simple 

Don’t go overboard, building a killer gym overnight. Not only will you likely buy equipment you won’t use, but you’ll go way over budget. Instead, start small. Think of the workouts you must do that aren’t non-negotiable in your mind and budget for those pieces of home gym equipment.

Aim to buy one piece of equipment at a time to see how often you use it and if you’re seeing the results you desire.

Get creative with household objects

Just because the gym you belonged to had all the bells and whistles doesn’t mean you can’t improvise at home. Think about objects around your house that can double as workout equipment.

Chairs are great for bars for balancing or even a spot to sit to do sitting exercises; paper plates can replace sliders, and gallon water bottles can replicate 8-pound free weights as a few examples.

 

Figure out how you’ll work out

Will you come up with your own routines or will you stream workouts from a gym or streaming service?

This will add to your costs, so figure it into your budget. If you don’t want to use some of your budget on streaming workouts, check out YouTube, they have millions of workout videos you can use either to get you started or to keep you structured.

Pick one room in your home to create the gym

If you want to make sure you use your gym equipment, pick a room in your home and dedicate space for your home gym. You don’t have to build a new area or renovate – just clear out an area of a room or an entire room if you have the space.

Some people add small pieces of equipment to their family room or office and others use garage or basement space that they use only to collect clutter.

 

Use a cashback or rewards credit card to buy equipment

When you’re ready to buy equipment, use the most beneficial credit card to make your purchases worth it. Cashback or rewards credit cards pay you for your purchases. Look for the credit card that will pay you the most as each credit card pays different percentages of cashback and/or rewards based on the category you’re buying in. HOWEVER this really only makes sense if you pay your credit card bill every month on time. Otherwise the fees means that it isn't worth it at all.

Final Thoughts

Start small and build your home gym carefully, being mindful of your budget and also the benefits of having a home gym. It’s a big switch to go from working out with a group of other like-minded people to working out on your own.

Don’t go overboard right away – improvise with household items and buy only the equipment you know you need to have an effective workout. As you get used to working at home and you save enough money or have the right credit card to buy the equipment, you can build up your gym to make it your dream gym.