Membership?

I have been pondering over this question for a long time now. Should I become a member? There is a upside, (Yay!) and then... There is the downside. 

Upside: Members can do WAY more things than nonmembers. They can change the color of their items, they can get ALL the items, they get a gift each month, they can get all the animals, they can receive gifts in JamaGrams, they can type their own JamaGrams, they can test new things, they can get all the rares... They can do more things than I can list. I WANT TO BE A MEMBER!!!!

Downside: First of all, membership only last for a certain amount of time. $5 a month? That's expensive. And... Is it really worth my money, that I have worked hard for, to be used on something I can't even hold? If I can play for free, then why pay extra money to be able to get more on a game? 

There are lots of members who complain about how they're money is dwindling, because of membership. You don't want to be one of those members. If you get membership, make sure you actually want membership. And make sure you actually play Animal Jam. You don't want to spend money on a game you never play! But if you get membership as a gift, or somehow get membership for free, take the opportunity! Now you have all the upsides of membership without the downsides of membership.

So, what do you think? Do you think membership is worth the money, or do you think that if you can play for free, you may as well just play for free?