Is the YMCA membership worth it?

Don't mean to hog the board,I've just been wondering about these 2 things for awhile.
DD is taking swimming lessons there right now and we plan on continuing the lessons all year. I've been looking into the membership and it's about $70-$80 a month depending on whether or not you have the metro membership. The price is lower than gymboree sibling classes would be and also lower than the little gym. But after I pay for the membership I still have to pay some money for the classes.
Does anyone have a Y membership? Do you feel that you get your money's worth out of it or do you regret it? Also- are their Non competative sports really non-competative?

I used to have a Y membership but I cancelled it after a while. I decided that with the number of times I used the gym (2-3x per week) and just DD taking classes, it wasn't worth it. For us, there were other class options in the area that cost a little more than the member rate at the Y but the non-Y class offerings tend to be better somehow (better scheduling, better equipment, nicer instructor). I think if you had more than one person in your family taking classes and took a number of them each year or you used their preschool or summer camp, it makes the membership more worthwhile. Most people I know just get the $20/year program membership just to have their kids take swim lessons.

We love the Y. DS has done sports classes, swim classes, preschool, and summer camp. It is also 5 minutes door to door. They also offer Zumba classes and I love Zumba.

worth it for me, but i'm there 3 days a week for spinning, use the free childcare at least one, sometimes all three days, in addition to the break on classes. DH also swims occasionally. you just have to accurately assess what other features you would use and do a realistic cost analysis for the year. my guess is, if all you're using it for is swimming lessons, then you wouldn't come close to breaking even, even with 2 kiddos. but add in the free childcare and you/DH working out, probably a push... add in a camp or something you probably come out ahead.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

We have a membership and it is worth it. But the only reason we have it is so we can sign up for swimming one day before the general public. Otherwise, we can't get in, or can't get the day we want. After two sessions of not being able to get in, we got a membership and just consider it to be part of the cost of swimming lessons.

Now we just have to remember to call at 7:00AM on the day they open registration each session.

I have looked into it and not done it my local Y. Mostly because I don't think it lowers the cost of children's classes significantly and I don't like their gym facilities for me.

I don't know if this is everywhere or not, but it turned out we could just get a membership for DS. DH and I actually belong to a totally different gym (mainly because our Y doesn't have racquetball). For DS, the yearly membership was a little over $100/year. So if we signed up for two classes (and the classes only ran about 8 weeks) we basically got our money's worth. Again, I don't know if this is everywhere, but at our Y, a non-member can sign up for any class, but it's half-price for members. So pretty much about half of two classes equalled the membership.

I doublechecked, because at the time DS was only one (not that he's an old man at age two!) and they said no problem. He has to be escorted by an adult in the pool, but for lessons that is free. If we want to do free swim, I think the escort has to pay $5. We only did about two swim lessons, but we have done their Toddler One class (like Gymboree) and we signed up for a signing class. Our Y has quite a few things to do once he hits two (which he just did), so although I didn't take advantage of it so much before, I hope to in the future. Plus, with our membership, there are actually four different YMCAs we can go to in neighboring towns. I hope it's worth it! They have a huge booklet they put out but the times haven't meshed so far...

Debbie
http://b2.lilypie.com/BI7Tm5.png

1-2x a week I use the sitting for one or both boys (I alternate taking them to the pool alone.) I get in workouts. The "play room" is a perk and the boys LOVE IT. J has taken classes and if we were not members we would never get in the classes due to limited offerings.

Ours has a wonderful outdoor pool. We don't have good pool options here, so this is our pool. The indoor is fine, but the outdoor rocks! We'll be there later today.

If I was not a working parent I would utilize it much more. It is close to our house and daycare.

Thought, our friends got a membership for one of their children vs the family. If you are doing it only for classes that may be the route to take.

I wish ours would offer a zumba class.

-Sonia
Mommy to Martie & Mei

I LOVED the Y when we lived closer and were able to get there on a regular basis. It would motivate me to go there and work out. The day care at my Y was AWESOME, as well ~ FREE, drop in (not sign up), 8a-8p M-F and varying on weekends, and a two hour window! The kids loved going there and it was a nice daily routine for us. Ours was more expensive than yours and we live further than our previous one, so I found that I wasn't going as much, especially with DS in preschool. We put our membership on hold until after #3 is born. I really miss it!! I would recommend it at that price! Good luck!!!