Membership is up at the end of the month at my gym. Cheapest rates I've found are $50 a month for my wife and I. I'm thinking of getting my own equipment. What kind of equipment do you have and recommend? I know for sure I'll need a squat rack. Not sure what I can do for bench as its pretty dangerous doing bench by yourself.
In my case, I converted the shed. Four 4'x6'x3/4" horse stall mats for the floor, plus a sheet of 4x8 plywood underneath the rack itself. Rack is 4x4 posts, 2x4 connecting members at the top, 2x6 for the base. The whole thing connects into the center beam of the shed, so it's rock solid. Cost for all that was about $300, a lot of it being the mats.
Drilled out eight holes - a pair for J-hooks in bench position, a pair for J-hooks at shoulder height, and a quartet to run metal pipes through for rails. If I drop the weight on the rails, it'll destroy them, but the idea is not to drop it, but set it down. I can get out from under a bench press by sliding sideways off the bench. No worries at all.
As for equipment, Pendlay Econ bumpers, 410 lbs, another 20 lbs in smaller plates, The Rogue Bar, and the Rogue bench. That's where I spent the money.