In this Home Improvement article, I will explain how adding weight training capabilities to my home changed my life. Being an athlete growing up, I was always involved with staying physically fit. Once I got into my adult years, I started working as a financial advisor. I combined the two areas of my expertise and tried to find ways to make my life easier. It turned out to be a very simple process and extremely cost effective. I started by evaluating my yearly costs associated with maintaining a gym membership.

At the time, I was committed to paying £500 a year in gym membership fees, not to mention the gas I was burning to drive there and back. I was fortunate enough to have a storage basement in my home, however this idea can be used with a spare bedroom, garage, shed, etc.

After calculating how much money I was spending on a yearly basis going to the gym, I then started calculating how much it would cost to convert my basement into my own personal gym. By the time I was able to convert my basement into a usable area for weights and bought the necessary equipment I needed, I had invested close to $1750 into the conversion process. This amount allowed me to have my own fully functioning gym at my convenience for the rest of my life, with very little maintenance costs associated. I was also able to save additional money on gas and had much more time to spend with my family.

Again, even though I used my basement as the foundation to this project, there are also many other alternative to use, if you don’t have a basement. The final and most important aspect of this conversion is that my property value skyrocketed as a result of my newly added gym.

I recently refinanced my home and needed to have an appraisal taken. While walking through the house with the appraiser, he was extremely impressed to see a fully functioning gym instead of a cold, dark basement. He explained that this simple conversion allowed my property value to increase by 10%!

So, if you are interested in a home improvement project that will support your health, save money, and increase your property value, I would strongly encourage you to consider this idea. It was been one of the most gratifying decisions I have ever made.