Subscriptions, one by one

a gym membership costs 4,200 over ten years.

At roughly 35.00 a month, a gym membership is 420 a year, 4,200 over a decade and 8,400 over twenty years, at today's price and before increases. Here is the receipt and what the same money is in real things.

SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPT

worth-one · single item

a gym membership35.00/mo

Per year420
5 years2,100
10 years4,200
20 years8,400

10 years buys ≈
• 14% of a 30,000 car
• 1,400 coffees at 3
• 52 weeks of groceries at 80
• 3.5 return flights at 1,200

TOTAL, 10 YEARS4,200

Is a gym membership worth 4,200?

Maybe. That is not the point of the page. The point is that fitness subscriptions are priced to feel small per month, and 35.00 feels small. 4,200 over a decade does not. Both numbers are the same purchase; only the framing changes. If you use a gym membership every week, the decade price may be one of the best deals you have. If you opened it twice last month, you now know what "I'll cancel it eventually" costs per year: 420.

What the 10-year figure assumes

Today's price, no increases, no annual-plan discount, no shared family plan, no free months. Real ten-year cost is usually higher because prices rise; this is the floor. Currency is left generic on purpose: the figures are close enough in EUR, USD and GBP to use as they are, and you can edit any price in the full calculator.

The cancel maths

Cancelling a gym membership for six months a year (most people binge in bursts) saves about 210 a year and 2,100 over ten years. Downgrading to a cheaper tier, sharing legitimately with a household, or rotating between services are all cheaper than the default of paying every month forever.

Other services: Netflix · Spotify · YouTube Premium · Disney+ · Amazon Prime · Apple Music · iCloud+ / Google One (200 GB) · ChatGPT Plus / an AI assistant · PlayStation Plus / Xbox Game Pass · a dating app.

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