Right now I am unemployed and things are a bit tight financially. l hope to resume flying in a few months but l do not know if l should bother with the $40 membership fee.

Sorry if you are an AOPA executive and are reading this. ;-)
Actually l am a current AOPA member whose membership is about to expire in a couple of weeks and is up for renewal.

l have this same thing with me, its funny how l was wondering and then you come along :D l think l will get it for $35 a year but l will wait and see what the real pilots say..thanks for the Q

If u r tight right now, u should of course consider ur finances first. That being said, AOPA membership is a great way of keeping ur head in the game so u will feel u have not lost so much ground when u do start flying again. In fact, there is an excellent article in this month is AOPA Magazine by Rod Machado on just this topic.
AOPA offers u a lot for the money in my opinion. You of course get the monthly mag but u also get access to their complete website with weather & NOTAM info. You also get an albeit simple but effective flight planner that u can download & use. The website has complete airport information & lots of other good stuff. AOPA is also one of two major aviation organizations that fights for the rights of GA pilots. If u r a member, u r also eligible to purchase legal protection (in case of an accidental mid-air with the FAA), renter is insurance for aircraft u may rent, lower cost insurance for aircraft u may buy, & discounts on life insurance for pilots.
And no, l do not work for AOPA. l just appreciate all they offer for $39 a year.

l am going to use the Dave Ramsey answer - where does it fall in your budget?

Personally, l like the benefits offered by AOPA. l would wait til l could afford it, then go for it.

Sean, if you are a student pilot, AOPA offers a free six mos membership, A good way to see if the paid membership is for you. see:
https://flighttraining.aopa.org/apps/student/ft_free.cfm?priority=SX08FNB

you may be able to .

In forty years l never did.

l find if u own or r buying/selling an airplane, then AOPA membership pays for itself. In fact, l never saw any benefit to AOPA membership until l went to buy my first airplane. They offer lots of services to buyers & sellers that r really handy.

However, & perhaps more importantly, if you're in a position where 75-cents per week is a big decision for you, then u need to rethink a lot of things. For one thing, u should not be thinking about resuming flying anytime soon. Get ur financial house in order first. Money spent on flying needs to be money u can afford to throw away. When u get to where u can throw that money away, then $40/year for AOPA membership is trivial.

And by the way u should never, ever renew ur membership before it expires. Keep waiting & they give away better & better things. l like the little flight bag l got with my last renewal (it is more like a headset bag). There r caps & other things they start sending out after a few months.