026: Where Your Dollars Go, Your Gym Follows

A couple weeks ago, we talked about getting frugal with Amazon. This week is all about understanding the difference between an expense, a spend, and an investment.

Every day we decide where to put our dollars. New equipment. New hires. Training. Marketing. Decorations. And snacks. So many snacks. 🍪 But the real conversation is about the type of money going out the door and what we expect from it. I’m certainly not a financial guru, but this perspective has seemed to serve me well, so I’m sharing it with you.

An expense is money that’s gone once it’s used. It keeps the lights on, but it doesn’t create new value. Office supplies, cleaning products, lightbulbs, and a chunk of our equipment fall in this category. Necessary. Not growth drivers.

A spend (my definition) is money that goes out without the expectation of an immediate financial return. But it still creates future value if we do it with intention. Think staff celebrations, new equipment upgrades, continued education. Things that make us better, stronger, more connected.

An investment is meant to build future revenue and expand opportunities.

When I was starting out, everything felt like an expense. I was trying to save every penny. Experience taught me that the more money I deploy well, the faster the company grows. And when the company grows, everyone gets to share in it.

A Sweet Peas License or a NinjaZone License is a prime example. It’s an investment that builds future revenue by reaching new students, keeping them longer, strengthening our brand, and creating opportunities for staff and kids.

The real skill is learning to spend well. That means knowing when to tighten up and when to go big.

Here’s the balance: 💰Spend smart on maintenance. The things that keep us running. 💰Invest big in growth. The things that move us forward. 💰Skip the extremes. Being too loose wastes money. Being too frugal suffocates growth.

When we get this right, we give ourselves the power to build better programs, pay our people well, and create real impact.

Spend with intention. Ask yourself what the return is before you swipe. Spending well isn’t about being cheap. It’s about being strategic.

Grow on purpose,- Casey 🎯 Real Talk -  If you’ve ever walked into Target for “just garbage bags” and walked out with a $300 receipt and a candle that smells like “Sweet Vanilla Winterberry Muffin,” you already know how easy it is to confuse wants with needs (we've all been there 😆). The same thing happens in our gyms. One day you’re buying replacement lightbulbs, the next you’re Googling giant custom neon LED signs of your gym’s slogan because “it would look cool above the front desk.” And look, I love a vibe just as much as anyone, but that’s how wallets cry.

The trick is learning to catch yourself in the moment. Every purchase has a feeling attached to it. Stress spends. Convenience spends. Aspirational spends. But the decisions that move us forward are the intentional ones. The ones we make with clarity, not chaos. When we start getting honest about what actually fuels growth versus what just scratches an itch, we take back control of the whole operation.