Paying a premiunm for convenience

That's what I was thinking.  How much is the round trip costing you and how many times a week are you going?  40-50 in gas plus saving you 2-3 hours of driving a week... that could be worth something.

bts

I like to take my hourly rate (assuming you work 40 hours) and divide by 2. This gives me my hourly waking rate. So if you make $20 per hour you have a $10 per waking hour (assuming you sleep 8 hours) rate. So each trip to the gym is 50 minutes of travel versus 5 minutes. If your waking rate is $10 and you go to the gym 4 times a week for 6 months (26 weeks) your travel expense is roughly $33 per week. Times four gives you $133.33. So the premium is placed either on time or money both of which are scarce resources. For me this would be an easy call because my waking rate would make this cheaper in comparison.

 **edit for other figures**  The price of gas being approximately $2.75 a gallon and the average economy being about 22mpg you will be driving 15 more more miles each way depending on highway travel or your lead foot so that means adding about about another $4 a day times 4= 16* 4 or $64.  So if the difference is less than $64 a month it's easy... the local gym is cheaper.

and that's my .02

maybe something was lost in the translation-  assuming you work one job for 40 hours a week that is your income.  If you divide your income across your waking hours you have a base for figuring out what your free time is worth.  An example would be overtime at $20 per hour would make your free time vs. overtime a $30 per hour decision.  So if you wanted to watch TV over work it would be worth $30 an hour to you.  It's why I ship UPS.  My waking rate determines that the post office with a 20 minute travel (each way) is more expensive to me than the difference between UPS and the USPS. 

still it's my .02 

That's like $1!  Good stuff man.

Assuming my bills are paid and my retirement is being funded, if I have the money and I want something, I buy it and I don't feel one bit guilty about it.  This is why we work and earn money.  To live and hopefully finance some enjoyment whenever possible..... so if you can afford it, why the heck not make things easier and more convenient as a reward for working out so hard and doing something that is great for you?  Enjoy!

Don't underestimate the value of convenience. Which is a better value - an expensive gym you use all the time, or a cheap one you don't go to? Also, you will be able to time your usage to avoid peak hours, thus getting more bang for your buck.

My gym is about 1/2 mile from my workplace. I wear it out.

(but then, what do I know? I buy pre-grated cheese and pay someone else to change my oil)