It's okay to wait until the last minute. It's important to know exactly when that last minute occurs. You can dally around for a month after the date your membership card expires. If you renew at that point (in your case, by December 30th), you're only renewing for 11 months (i.e. your expiration anniversary remains the end of November). If your membership lapses for longer than a month, you'll owe them an additional $50 (New Member fee) to renew. In that case you'll get a new expiration month.