A self-described 'thrifty mum' has shared the surprising way she says she saves hundreds of pounds on her energy bills. Heidi Ondrak, also known as 'The Duchess of Thrift' says that, rather than making a dent in her funds, signing up for a gym membership has actually helped her to counter the pressures of the cost of living crisis.
While paying a monthly fee to go to the gym would likely be seen by some as non-essential expenditure, Heidi claims it has helped her to shave over hundreds a year off her energy bills. Get the latest money news and local deals sent straight to your inbox for free by signing up to our newsletters.
Heidi, who regularly shares energy and money saving tips with her 14,000 TikTok followers, revealed that she uses the 'free' showers at the gym to help her save money on her own bills. With energy prices soaring, she has calculated how much a shower costs her every day, with many viewers on TikTok surprised at the total.
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She said that a power shower at home would cost her 43p on gas, while it would set you back £1.64 if you're using electricity. With the price of water added on top of this, she found it would cost someone using gas 83p each time they used it, while those on electric would be set back a whopping £2.09 every time.
WalesOnline has looked at a number of estimates for the cost of showers which show that a 10 minute show on an electric shower costs between 35p and 50p, depending on the power of the unit. That works out at up to £184 a year at current prices, although it will rise significantly when the new price cap is set in October - and will cost more again if there are several members of the household who use the showers for long periods of time.
Heidi said showering at her gym where she pays £15 a month was saving her a fortune. She took to TikTok to share the hack with her followers, with the now viral clip being viewed over a quarter of a million times.
“My cheeky hack, and I talk about it a lot, is showering at the gym," she said. "I’ve got a membership for one of the cheap budget gyms, it’s like £15 a month. Even if you are just popping in the gym, because mine is five minutes away, just to have your shower you’re making best use of your gym membership, and, if you have two adults in the house with a gym membership, obviously you can double that amount."
“So per year it’s £760 you could save if you have an electric shower at home and you have your shower at the gym. It’s £320 a year [you save] if you use gas."
She added: “People might say ‘oh why bother with the gym membership, you could save your £15’, but actually that’s my health insurance. I’m touching 52, I don’t have a single prescription for anything. “It’s protecting me from diabetes, high blood pressure, it’s good for your mental health, so having the gym membership is cheaper than having to pay out for prescriptions because I’m not looking after my health.
“It’s better than having days off work or ending up on statutory sick pay because you’ve had too long off work. So it’s that health insurance as well. So actually showering at the gym is a really good way of saving quite a lot of money off your bills.”
Commenting on the video, which has also received over 17,000 likes, TikTok users were left stunned at the calculations. Many of them praised Heidi for sharing the trick with them, and said they were going to put it into practice themselves.
"All of a sudden I feel like I could manage the gym," wrote one viewer, with another adding: "This is actually going to make me go to the effort of working out more." Others thanked her for the "fantastic" and "genius" tip, while another added: "I think it's crazy people view the gym as a luxury. It's invaluable."
Another viewer wrote: "I'm planning on doing this lol. My work has a free gym I can use," while one person commented: "I’m going to start doing this after my gym session instead of coming home and showering here!"
Others appeared to be ahead of the game. "I already do this," wrote one. "Since last year, the gym I go to has had luxury showering facilities and I’m not spending hours cleaning it." Another viewer added: "I thought I was the only one that showered at gym to save money," while a third commented: "Been doing this on and off since my uni days over a decade ago, it does make a difference!"
However, while Heidi was praised for sharing her money saving tips, some viewers couldn't help but feel saddened that showering at the gym was becoming a reality for many as a result of the soaring cost of living. "It's sad that we are at this point," wrote one. "But good on you sharing your tips and tricks."
A second viewer commented: "I’m so sad that it’s come to this, that people have got to find alternate ways of doing things like this because they can’t afford to live like a human being." "Good idea," added another. "But I find it ridiculous that we even have to think about things like that to save few pounds. What a time to be alive."
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