First of all I would like to say that I consider it very important that people look after their fitness and health and that I would encourage everyone to make the effort to do regular exercise!

Lots of the time especially after christmas and new year people sign up to the gym with all the best intentions to regularly go, alot of the time the interest and enthusiasum starts to wear out and things slowely get in the way and you stop going, this must of happened to thousands upon thousands of people, people who have paid membership fees to a gym and then just don't go.
If you are planning on joining a gym, sit down and figure out how often you are aiming to go, perhaps twice a week. Now figure out how much it costs for your membership and devide it by the number of times over the length of the membership you are going to go (this is only worth doing if you are committed and are sure that you are going to keep up with the gym regime). So if say you are going to get a half year membership and you are going to go twice a week you would divide the membership fee by 52 (26 weeks * 2) and that would then give you a figure of how much it is going to work out each time you are going to go. Now take a look at the cost of how much it costs to go to the gym if you just pay every time you go (if your gym allows this), if the value of paying each time is less than what it would work out to be if you get a membership then the membership is likely to cost more.

One thing to think about though is if the gym is really the place for you, why not give it a go a few times and see if you like it, if not you could try going to fitness classes which may suit you more.

If you are sure you want a membership at the gym then there is no harm and it is advisable to check prices of all the gyms in your area. Check how much it costs, some gyms will charge you a joining fee and then your membership fee the first time you joint hat gym, others will just charge you a membership fee. Check how much it really costs and compare this to the prices of other gyms. Also check how often you are allowed to go to the gym, and if/when there are any times during the day when the gym is closed or reserved for a specific group (there is no point joining a gym if the time in the week you want to use it it isn't available for you to use). If you find a local gym that is cheaper than the other, or is the same price but doesn't charge a joining fee then there is nothing stopping you contacting the gym that charges more by telling them this, they may even let you get away with not having to pay the joining fee if they really want your business. The worse they can say is NO, if they do, then at least you asked and "If you don't ask, you don't get".

If you really want to save money then it is always free to go for a run in the park or to go for a good walk around where you live or a ride on your bike (make sure you wear clothes that are visible especially in winter when it is dark or get some reflective bands to put on your arm or something)