Fin & all, just for fun, I checked my local Craig's list and there are at least a dozen, high-end ellipticals, "hardly used" or "used for a month" listed at less than half their retail prices.

My theory is that I'm not ready to commit the floor space to a machine of that size, so when I'm out anyway, there is almost always at least one to test drive for free.

Also, I finagled my nearby health club into letting me pay by the minute instead of a membership. It works really well, especially in the winter when I'm a hostage.

My main friend is my little cheapie stepper, it picks my feet up for me and I just hop on it for 2-3 minutes several times a day. I commit myself to at least one song, one segment of commercials, one pot to boil, etc. We get along just fine that way.