And you drive a Toyota?

[MgoSam]

So I was chatting with a guy that I train with a lot at the gym. He saw my LA Fitness tag on my car keys and asked about it, I'd been looking to get a membership to Anytime or LA Fitness so that I could run and lift in the morning but hadn't pulled the trigger, but did so on Saturday. He was curious as to what I was paying. So I told him I paid $455 to prepay for 18 months and then I would be prepaying 12 months thereon for about $217. I wanted to get my membership rate to $20/month so that my insurance would reimburse it (best motivation for a Mustachian to work out) but the lowest I could find for a monthly rate plan was $30/month.

My friend looked at me oddly and asked, "Why would you ever prepay?" I explained the math to him.

At the martial arts gym we train at there was a sale a few weeks ago. One of the offers was 15% plus a free pair of gloves if you prepay a year in advance. He asked if I did that and I said, "Of course I did," I knew I was going to be going to the gym and with the cost of the gloves I saved a lot of money.

I love his response, "You can do that, AND YOU DRIVE A TOYOTA?"

I laughed and said, "Wanna know why I can prepay for deals?"

[ysette9]

Someone doesn’t have a grasp of orders of magnitude. Pre-paying $300 or whatever for a gym is not the same game as saving $10k or whatever you do by driving a Toyota over a luxury vehicle. I realize that someone who makes his statement isn’t going to be good with money to begin with, but damn.

[lbmustache]

FYI Costco is having a sale on 24hour memberships.

$370 for 24 months @ "All-Club" level (i.e. the "basic" gym)

$600 for 24 months @ "Super-Sport" level (the somewhat fancier gym)

If you have an all-club near you, it is a GREAT deal.

[facepalm]

So I was chatting with a guy that I train with a lot at the gym. He saw my LA Fitness tag on my car keys and asked about it, I'd been looking to get a membership to Anytime or LA Fitness so that I could run and lift in the morning but hadn't pulled the trigger, but did so on Saturday. He was curious as to what I was paying. So I told him I paid $455 to prepay for 18 months and then I would be prepaying 12 months thereon for about $217. I wanted to get my membership rate to $20/month so that my insurance would reimburse it (best motivation for a Mustachian to work out) but the lowest I could find for a monthly rate plan was $30/month.

My friend looked at me oddly and asked, "Why would you ever prepay?" I explained the math to him.

At the martial arts gym we train at there was a sale a few weeks ago. One of the offers was 15% plus a free pair of gloves if you prepay a year in advance. He asked if I did that and I said, "Of course I did," I knew I was going to be going to the gym and with the cost of the gloves I saved a lot of money.

I love his response, "You can do that, AND YOU DRIVE A TOYOTA?"

I laughed and said, "Wanna know why I can prepay for deals?"

You should have told him you pre-paid for the Toyota as well. ;-)

[mm1970]

FYI Costco is having a sale on 24hour memberships.

$370 for 24 months @ "All-Club" level (i.e. the "basic" gym)

$600 for 24 months @ "Super-Sport" level (the somewhat fancier gym)

If you have an all-club near you, it is a GREAT deal.

When we joined 24-hr fitness years ago, we pre-paid $1200 for 2 people for 3 years.  After those 3 years our membership switched to $99/person per year.  Screaming deal.  I should use it.

[clarkfan1979]

I drive a Pontiac Vibe, which is an imitation Toyota. It has a Toyota engine.

I bought it for $2500 cash, with 165K miles. I've had it for 3.5 years and driven it 40K miles with no problems. I replaced the starter myself for $137. That's it.

When I made my purchase, I made an announcement on Facebook with a picture. Pretty much all my friends made fun of me and a few just being confused in general. I use it to fuel my FIRE.

[Just Joe]

WHAT? You don't drive something that was dipped in a vat of testosterone as part of the paint and rustproofing process? How could you???

I love our little four banger grocery-getter. My manly peers don't understand it and I don't care. First I don't have anything to prove and secondly I love how old it is, still getting the job done and is completely paid for so many years ago.

I don't reject the trucks and muscle cars but I don't aspire to pay for one either to wear out daily. Expensive tires, expensive engines, expensive fuel consumption, and those cultural assumptions that come along with it too. ;)

I'm a car guy too. Just don't need to drive $ daily.

We do have a clown car but its for special occasions and out of town trips. I guess if I had a mega-commute I'd be more picky about my ride and its comfort features but our commutes could be done with a budget basic car from 60 years ago. Just need wipers and a heater really. I guess a dose of safety would be helpful but our speeds are low so even that isn't that big a deal.

[MgoSam]

Loved the responses.

I wanted to clarify a few things. My gym buddy's point about the Toyota was along the lines of, 'if you have that kind of disposable income why is it that you still drive a 13 old Toyota Camry with hubcaps missing,' and had he asked in such a way I might have responded with, "Because I mostly need my car to get from A to B without problems and my Camry has done so. I'm not a car person, the only thing I wanted was a better music system and I installed it myself (Cruchfield FTW).

I wish there were 24hour near me but there weren't. There are a few 24 hour places near my house but they were all asking $30/month and didn't have as many things that I could use. The one downside to LA Fitness are the hours as I wanted a place that was 24/7 so that I could workout at 2 am if I couldn't sleep, but hopefully that won't be a big deal. In the warmer months I prefer walking if I can't sleep at night anyways.

clarkfan- that's awesome! My Camry has about 185k on it and is going strong. With advances in self-driving cars I think it is feasible for me to hold onto this Camry until private cars become obsolete.

[jinga nation]

Rust will kill the Camry before the engine and transmission fails. 185k miles = mid-life mileage. It can easily make it to 250-300k miles.

[marty998]

FYI Costco is having a sale on 24hour memberships.

$370 for 24 months @ "All-Club" level (i.e. the "basic" gym)

$600 for 24 months @ "Super-Sport" level (the somewhat fancier gym)

If you have an all-club near you, it is a GREAT deal.

When we joined 24-hr fitness years ago, we pre-paid $1200 for 2 people for 3 years.  After those 3 years our membership switched to $99/person per year.  Screaming deal.  I should use it.

I can only dream of that! I pay something like $85 a month for mine :O

[facepalm]

When I made my purchase, I made an announcement on Facebook with a picture. Pretty much all my friends made fun of me and a few just being confused in general. I use it to fuel my FIRE.

When I showed up in my 2012 Camry (paid cash) at a friends' house, they laughed. These are the same friends who lease a Jeep, and then dumped 5K worth of accessories into it. The same friends that complain it is too expensive to live here.

The cheapest rate I can find on a health club in my area is about $60, so the 24 hour deal is pretty decent.

[Optimiser]

I love his response, "You can do that, AND YOU DRIVE A TOYOTA?"

When I made my purchase, I made an announcement on Facebook with a picture. Pretty much all my friends made fun of me and a few just being confused in general. I use it to fuel my FIRE.

When I showed up in my 2012 Camry (paid cash) at a friends' house, they laughed.

Maybe I live in an alternate universe or I'm just too young or something, but I have never paid more than $4,000 for a car and I have never had anyone make fun of me for my cars.

I have gotten way more compliments than I can count on my $2,500 Miata though.

[ducky19]

Also drive a paid-for-in-cash Vibe - have had it for 4 years and have done nothing other than general maintenance to it. Bought it with just under 100,000 miles on it (one previous owner) and have put another 45,000 on it since then. I plan to be driving it on my last day of work in 8-10 years, too!

[facepalm]

I love his response, "You can do that, AND YOU DRIVE A TOYOTA?"

When I made my purchase, I made an announcement on Facebook with a picture. Pretty much all my friends made fun of me and a few just being confused in general. I use it to fuel my FIRE.

When I showed up in my 2012 Camry (paid cash) at a friends' house, they laughed.

Maybe I live in an alternate universe or I'm just too young or something, but I have never paid more than $4,000 for a car and I have never had anyone make fun of me for my cars.

I have gotten way more compliments than I can count on my $2,500 Miata though.

The answer is always Miata.

My friends are all car/bike enthusiasts. To them, the Camry is the equivalent of a beige sofa.

They do like my 1190 KTM tho, so I guess I am even in their book.

[Zamboni]

I had a former boss and years later, when I saw him at an event, our conversation went something like this.

Him: "What are you driving these days?"
Me: "The Corolla."
Him: "Not the red Corolla you had when you worked for me?!"
Me: "Yep, still runs like a top."
Him: "I thought you would have upgraded by now."
Awkward pause
Me: "Uh, okay, what you you driving these days? Still have the Corvette?"
Him: "What? No, my son totaled the 'vette years ago. I've got a Tesla now."

I did not admit I had never heard of a Tesla . . . he had one of the first ones I guess. My first thought was that it was some sort of rare sportscar. Shortly thereafter I saw the logo on a sedan in front of me, went home and figured out it was a Tesla. Looks pretty much like my neighbor's Ford. Whatever, dude, glad it makes you happy.

He does not go to the gym, so we did not have that part of the conversation.

[BTDretire]

We have 4 Toyotas! 1997 Lexus, 220k miles, a 1997 T-100, 110k miles,
 a 2000 Avalon 83,000 miles and a 2009 4 runner, 111,000 miles. Recently bought.
  Probably be selling the 1997 Lexus in the near future.
When my frugal son wants to drive the Avalon instead of the Lexus.
He didn't want to upgrade at Christmas.  :-)

[Zamboni]

^As the Avalon is much lower mileage, your son is making a smart call on his car choice.