You can stop feeling guilty - or at least alone - if you have a fitness club membership you never use. In "10 Things Your Fitness Club Won't Tell You" (SmartMoney.com), Reshma Kapadia delivers the sad news that very, very few people use their new health club memberships more than a couple of months. In fact, business models for health clubs count on that fact - if everyone who had a membership actually showed up, there wouldn't be enough machines to go around.
When you're watching your budget, the first things you should look for are expenses you don't even get anything in return for. Needless credit card insurance, forgotten automatic payments on your credit card, and health club memberships you don't use are at the top of the list.
I paid for a fitness club membership for six months, and I used it for two hours total. Those were two of the most expensive and unpleasant hours of my life that didn't involve a medical procedure. I learned my lesson - I prefer to exercise at home, if at all. There's no point kidding myself that I'm going to the gym every day.
Find an exercise you enjoy, or at least don't hate, and your wallet and your body will both be more fit. And you won't have to feel guilty every time you drive by the club.