What are your favorite simple or frugal sports?

Everyone needs a good dose of exercise and sunshine, and seeking to lead a simple life, save money or consume less shouldn’t mean cutting back on basic needs.  In fact, I’d argue that when a sport or athletic pastime is a passion, it just might qualify as a frugal luxury.

As always, I’m curious to know what you think.  How do you save on sports?  When do you splurge?

Why sports and exercise are frugal:

Free fun, social time and entertainment! While many sports require some equipment, after an initial investment, you can participate in a number of sports for absolutely nothing.  Have a pair of tennis shoes?  A bike?  Then you’re set to ride or run anytime on your own or with a social organization.  I find that physical hobbies ‘compete’ with time and energy for more expensive and consumer oriented ones.  If I know there are only so many hours in my weekend and I want to ride my bike with a friend or head out with my hiking group, then dinner and a movie get pushed to the back burner.  And shopping for ‘fun?’  There’s no time in my schedule.

Health benefits: The readers of this blog are an educated bunch, so I’m sure you’re aware that staying in decent athletic condition will keep you healthier and with fewer aches and pains.  We had our own personal reminder of the health benefits of exercise this year as DH was recovering from his car accident.  Several of his physical therapists and doctors told him that he could thank at least a part of his relatively speedy progress to the fact that he was in excellent physical condition to begin with.

Sports and exercise on a budget:

Obviously, some sports cost more than others.  One of my favorite sports for a long time, running, cost me one pair of good running shoes a year.  I occasionally splurged on a rain jacket for runs or the entry fee for a race, but generally, running cost me next to nothing, required no real storage of equipment and was completely portable.  Some other great (and potentially frugal sports):

Extremely Frugal Sports:

• Any free social sport–I’ve seen people have a blast being on soccer teams, softball teams or showing up for pick up basketball games, dodge-ball, ultimate Frisbee or even splendid Frisbee. . .if you don’t already have friends involved in local activities, it’s not hard to start up your own group of enthusiasts using meetup, craigslist or, here in France, by starting and listing an association with the town hall.
• Individual sports with low equipment requirements–once again, running, hiking, swimming (provided you have access to a low-cost neighborhood pool or the ocean).

Sports that can be as frugal as you make them:

• High equipment sports: As long as you don’t fall into the trap of constantly buying more or confuse being well-equipped with having a good time, you can do a number of equipment heavy sports without murdering your budget.  If you’re just starting out, you can almost always find used gear online or through a local exchange or garage sale: bikes, hockey sticks, surfboards–the sky is the limit really.  If you find that you’re really smitten with an athletic activity and you want to splurge on some high quality gear, I’d argue that it’s still a frugal choice if you intend to make the gear last 10-20 years.

• Activities you can learn on your own with books, podcasts or videos. Back when I lived in Seattle, I had a friend who would force me to do Tae Bo with her in time with a video in an apartment.  Quite frankly, it is such a ridiculous process that half the workout came from the belly laughing, but on a rainy day (or for six months straight of rainy days), a cheap indoor workout can be a lifesaver.  No gym membership required!  Yoga is a similar athletic pastime that can cost a pretty penny. . .but that doesn’t have to.  You can pay for expensive yoga classes that will run you 7-20 dollars per class depending upon where you live or you can learn yoga from books, videos, and podcasts.

Your favorite sports and how you keep them frugal:

I know that a number of you are already engaged in a variety of frugal athletic activities as well as a few that would qualify more as frugal luxuries.  I’d love to hear your tips and ideas on the topic.