This is one of the top five questions I’m asked at couponing classes… “Is a Costco or Sam’s Club membership worth it?”

My answer, “Depends.”

(I know. So committal right?)

Fact: I am a card-carrying Costco member and have been for eight years.

Another Fact: The days of Costco employees knowing my name, my kid’s names, and our favorite kind of cereal are over.

Final Fact: Prior to couponing I was spending between $300 – $350 per month at Costco, now we are lucky if we spend $75.00.

It isn’t that I don’t enjoy shopping at Costco, I do.

I love their extra big carts, parking spaces, and samples around every aisle. However, after mastering my price book and tracking the sales cycle of most items, I’ve found that 80% of groceries, health & beauty, and cleaning supplies sold at Costco can be purchased for less at a regular store on sale with a coupon.

I’ve known many readers, who after a year of couponing, have let their warehouse memberships expire because they could no longer justify the $50 per year membership cost. The reason they couldn’t justify the cost – the items bought for their family were usually cheaper at a regular grocery store on sale after using a coupon.

So what does that say about me and my Costco Card carrying ways? It says there are enough things our family purchases at Costco to make the membership worth the expense. (Here is a Costco Price List to help you out.)

I wish I could say there is a definite “Is Costco Worth It?” answer, but for each family the answer will be different. My advice, get your price book up to date and track your grocery spending. In about 60-days you will see if the $50 Costco Membership is worth it.

In an effort to help you evaluate if you should keep or get a Costco Membership, here are some general pros and cons about Costco.

Costco Pros

1. Gas. If you Costco sells gasoline, you will pay between 3 and 5 cents less per gallon than other local gas stations.

2. Organic items. Costco has one of the largest and least expensive selection of organic veggies, meats, flour, staples, etc.

3. Costco’s Kirklands Brand rocks. Outside of the Aldi Brand, this is my favorite store brand. I’ve never been disappointed, ever.

4. Other stuff. The majority of purchases I make at Costco in a year aren’t for groceries, but for other stuff. Dishes, suitcases, frames, presents, clothes, appliances, towels, bikes, etc. If you watch your prices, you will find Costco has amazing deals on the “other” stuff in your life.

5. Costco Coupons. Costco comes out with a coupon book about every 45 days. Using these coupons can mean a major savings and tip the scale to being cheaper than the local grocery store on sale with a coupon.

6. The in-store restaurant. Where else can you get a HUGE piece of pizza and a soda for under $4.00? It’s a great place to grab a quick and cheap lunch with the kiddos.

Costco Cons

1. Distortion. Because everything is a bulk buy, the prices are increased dramatically. Seeing increased prices can lead to distortion. All of the sudden a 24-pack of Dannon Activia Yogurt for $8.26 looks like a bargain when you were just looking at a $40.00 package of steaks. You need to know your prices so you don’t believe something is a deal, when it really isn’t. Because I can get these Costco Deals or these Target Deals for the same $18.00.

2. Waste. Will items be used before the expiration date? This is easier to do with a 5lb bag of walnuts than a 5lb bag of carrots.

3. Samples. Jelly Bellies are good. So is Havarti cheese. And cherry pie. And if they are too good, they can end up in a cart and destroy a budget. Let the kiddos have the samples and keep the cart moving.

4. Other stuff. I know. I said this was a pro. But it can also be a con. If you are an impulse buyer, Costco can turn into the black hole. Believe me – I walked in for milk and carrots and ended up with $250 in wine glasses and Mikasa dishes.

Here is a list of the 15 Items to Buy at Costco and a list of the 15 Items Not To Buy at Costco (because they are cheaper at the grocery store).

What about you? Do you have a Costco Membership? Have you let one expire? Chime in via the comments. I would love to hear your thoughts.

In just three short weeks, the kiddos will be going back to school.

This will be my first year sending both kids to school and as I was looking over their supply list, my heart started to beat a little faster at the number of items I needed to buy. I get the hives thinking about dropping $150 at Target for back-to-school shopping.

And that isn’t surprising since the average American family will spend $600 on back-to-school shopping. And while it seems like every store has awesome sales and bargains, it is easy go over budget if you don’t plan accordingly.

So here are my best saving tips to help you stay in budget and not break the bank when back-to-school shopping.

Tip #1: Recycle

I was shocked to find many of the items on my kid’s school supply list were already in the house. Especially things like scissors, pencil boxes, sharpeners, Kleenex, Ziplocs, etc. Also, I try to make backpacks and lunchboxes go for at least two or three years before replacing.

Tip #2: Shop Tax Free

Missouri’s Tax Free Weekend is August 3 -5, 2012 and applies to the following items:

• Clothing under $100
• School supplies under $50
• Computer software under $350
• Computers/computer equipment under $3,500

As a general rule, I only shop for items during the tax free weekend that are bargains or a big ticket item. I never pay full-price because I’m getting an eight-percent tax break.

Tip #3: Price Match

Walmart, Staples, Office Depot and Office Max all price match. I spend a little time on the weekend with the circulars and make a list of the “best bargains”. Then I go to one store with my circulars and list in hand. And it is even easier because I use the Cheap School Supplies Deals that I publish for the week on Monday.

Tip #4: Don’t Buy New Clothes Yet

First, its hot for the first couple of months of school.

Second, fashion is fickle – especially in the tween set. Wait to spend money on fall/winter clothes until the second month of school. Kids will have a better idea of the “in” styles and prices are lower because stores are moving inventory in anticipation for the holiday season.

Tip #5: Wait…If You Can

Two to three weeks after school starts, many stores will slash their prices on backpacks, lunchboxes, spiral notebooks, folders, etc. If the item isn’t needed during the first week of school, then wait and buy when it goes on clearance.

Tip #6: Embrace The Splurge

Starting a new school year is exciting. New teachers, new classmates, new schedule, and new subjects.

Don’t squelsh the excitement by making every item “recycled” from home. I talk to my kiddos each year about an item they would love to have for school and get it for them. This year DS wants a new lunchbox and thermos set. He’ll get both of these things, but he won’t get a new backpack. It’s a compromise, but it is still special.

Tip #7: Remember There is More Than School Supplies

Remember, there are other expenses besides school supplies and clothes. Make sure to budget in school lunches, book fees, PTA fees, and organization fees in the first month of school.

Tip #8: Make a Final Budget and Stick To It

I find making a budget helps keep me (and my kiddos) spending in check. Using a school supply list and their desired “want” list helps to make a budget for each child. As part of the budgeting process, the kiddos get to make decisions about which items to splurge and which items to save on.

Tip #9: If the Budget is Too Big – Buy In Stages

There are occasions that after putting pen to paper, recycling as many items as possible, and shopping the sales and price matching, there is not enough to cover all the expenses.

When I find myself in this situation, I make a priority list. Some things may have to wait until next month – and that is okay. Have a discussion with the teacher and let them know the situation. Most likely the kiddos don’t need four notebooks at the start of the school, one may be sufficient.

What about you? What are some cost-cutting things you do to save money during back-t0-school? What are some of your black holes? Leave a comment – because someone may have a great idea for you.

Your Family Budget is part of the Saving 201 series that looks at financial life after coupons – because it can’t all be about coupons.

Here we are, it’s the last week of our Family Budget series. And the final week before YOU start your new Family Budget in February.

We’ve talked about setting goals, figuring out where your money goes, and creating a monthly budget.

But this week, we will talk about ways to lessen the financial belt so it doesn’t become a noose that strangles you.

Because here is the deal – the majority of us have been living either right at or slightly ahead/behind our means for a long time. So when add up all of our new long-term financial goals with our daily/monthly expenditures, more times than not, we will end up short.

And be forced to make cuts.

A bunch of cuts.

However, make the belt too tight and you’ll start to starve.

Which is fine – for awhile. But eventually, you’ll get tired of the belt being too tight. You’ll decide one month to loosen it just a bit “because you’ve been so good” or “you work hard and deserve a good time”. And before you know it, your will-power is gone and you are on a 30-day binge.

So start slow. Rome wasn’t built in a day and your budget won’t be either.

In fact, here are my top 10 ways (with handy dollar amounts) to help you tighten the belt up slowly.

10. Sell Some Stuff (+$300)

Take a good hard look around your house. Are there items in good working condition that you no longer use? Sell them. Have a garage sale, list stuff on Craiglist or Ebay, or if you have unused gift cards for places you don’t like – then sell gift cards for cash at exchange websites such as Cardpool or Plastic Jungle.

And then put that money toward a bigger goal – like a vacation. Somehow the thought of getting rid of Aunt Mable’s old tea towels sounds more appealing when you think about going to California Wine Country.

9. Start Eating Out On A Different Day (+$50)

Eating out is the most expensive on Friday and Saturday. Think about eating out on either Tuesday or Wednesday. The specials are cheaper (and there are more of them) and Kids Eat Free at many restaurants on those nights.

8. Reconsider Memberships (+ $150 or more)

When is the last time you went to the gym? If you can’t answer that, consider getting rid of your membership or finding a cheaper alternative. Don’t quit exercising – just find a more cost effective way of doing it.

Got your kids in activities every night? Rethink. Have them pick their favorite per season. Enjoy the extra money and extra time at home.

7. Reduce Entertainment Costs (+ $50)

Start checking out books and DVDs from the library. Almost every library has an online catalog that allows you to place holds from the comfort of your couch. Sure, it may take a bit longer to get a new release – but you have it for a week and won’t pay a dime. Can’t wait that long? Use Redbox. It is only $1.00 per night.

6. Creative Gift Giving (+ $100)

If you are exchanging gifts with in-laws, parents and siblings out of “commitment” – then it is time to rethink gift giving.

Instead of shelling out big bucks to buy gifts that people may or may not like – think about doing a fun outing where everyone is involved, having a consumable Christmas exchange, or just writing heart-felt cards to one another. Believe me, I don’t want to take the fun out of the holidays. But there are ways to do it for less.

5. Don’t Shop Out of Boredom (+ $50)

The more you are in a store, the more you will shop. I was a notorious “shopper” when my DS and DD were in Mothers-Day-Out. Even though I was finding bargains – those bargains were adding up and breaking our budget. Now I shop with a purpose and will give myself a 24-hour cooling off period before making big purchases.

4. Research Your Health Expenses (+ $100 or more)

Ask your doctor for generic medications or samples. If the prescription is still too expensive, keep asking for an alternative. Once DS had an eye infection. The eye drops prescribed were going to be $127.00. I pushed back and the pharmacists found an ointment alternative for $13.00.

If you have high-deductible insurance, use CVS or Walgreens Clinics for routine diagnoses. It is under $70 per visit vs. $145 at the doctor’s office. Even better – you don’t pay if they don’t diagnose you.

Make sure your dental insurance is worth it. We were paying $25.00 per month for our family and still had to pay high out-of-pocket for any non-preventative work (fillings, crowns, etc.). We did the math and found a dental discount plan (which is $100 for the whole year) as a cheaper alternative. I had two fillings at the end of the year. With the plan, they were $200. Without the plan, it would have been $400.

3. Get Rid of Cable (+ $40)

With Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, iTunes and players that stream from the internet, you can almost guarantee seeing your favorite show.

It may be the next day, but it will be there and in many cases for FREE (or a reduced cost). And with local channels sending HD over the airwaves – we have the best local picture quality we’ve had in a long time.

2. Get Rid of Your Landline Phone (+ $40)

Do you have a cell phone? Get rid of your landline.

90% of the calls you make or receive are on your cell phone. And the old adage that “911″ can’t figure out where you are at – most cells phones now have GPS. They know exactly where you are at any time.

1. Use a CASH envelope system (+ $50)

A cash only envelope system stops “spur-of-the-moment” splurges. It’s harder to part with cash. It’s psychological. But it’s true.

Also, once your money is gone – it’s gone. You can’t charge a movie without a charge card.

We’ve been a cash envelope system for our grocery, clothing, family fun, and baby sitter for a couple of years. The reason we picked these categories is because we were always going OVER when we used our credit cards. With cash, we don’t go over, because we can’t. Have line items that you consistently go over on? Think about switching to cash.

What about you? Do you have any tips for making the belt less tight? Let me know in the comments.

(Join me next Tuesday as we end our Renew For You Series with a few giveaways. Great prizes picked out by me – you won’t want to miss it. Also remember to check out these fellow bloggers posts on ways you can Renew for You in 2011.)

Organizing a Price Book– from My Coupon Teacher

Self Esteem – Take the Leap and LIVE – from Maven of Savin

Detox Your Body – from Stockpiling Moms

Care for Yourself: Art of Saying No – From Give Me Neither

Your Family Budget is part of the Saving 201 series that looks at financial life after coupons – because it can’t all be about coupons.

I’ve said that coupons changed my financial outlook on life, that Dave Ramsey changed the way I looked at budgets, but none of those compare to the financial revolution I experienced when I started using this….

Are you ready?

Still ready?

….the spiral bound notebook.

I know, high tech, right?

Here’s the deal….Hubs and I tried the “plot-all-your-monthly-expenses-into-a-spreadsheet” thing.

We tracked our yearly spending for things like car repairs, car insurance, and home repairs. We totaled them up and divided by twelve and came up with some goofy number like $63.42. And, ideally, we should have put that number “aside in a savings account” every month.

However, more times than not, we never put the money aside. Since there wasn’t a real expenditure, we found other ways to spend the money.

Or if we did put it aside, it seemed inevitable that the brakes would go out on a car. And we would have to put the bill on the credit card anyway, because we only had $160 in an account for a $420 job.

So the year-end-break-it-down-by-twelve-months-budget was a BUST for us. (Maybe some of you can relate?)

It wasn’t until reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and his idea of throwing out the twelve-month budget and replacing it with a monthly budget, that the lightbulb went on for me. Instead of living within a semi-fictious budget, the monthly budget would force us to make decisions where the rubber met the road, at the time that they happen.

Here is how a monthly budget works:

Step #1: In a monthly budget, you write down your income for the month. Let’s say that is $4000. (In our house, we do it in a spiral bound notebook.)

Step #2: Then you write down all your regular expenses for the month (these are recurring expenses). In our house, this includes: Mortgage, Health Insurance, Disability Insurance, Retirement Savings, Utilities, Tithe and Charitable Giving, ESA Savings, DD Preschool Tuition, Savings, Gas, Groceries, Wine/Beer Budget, Family Fun, Childcare, Clothes, Haircuts, Vacation Savings Account and Christmas Savings Account. (You pull all of these numbers from your Long Term Financial Picture.)

Step #3: Now, add in any extra expenses for the month (these are non-recurring.) In our house, this can include Dental Bills, Car Insurance, Car Repairs, Home Repairs, Dr. Visits, Kid’s Activities, etc.

Step #4: Now add up those numbers. If your expenses are below your monthly income, great. If not, you’ll need to start cutting line items or decrease the amount in an line item to make your budget/income equal out and meet your long-term financial goals.

Remember, the goal is to not “tap” into savings or a credit card to meet your monthly expenditures.

Is this a HARD exercise? Absolutely.

I remember the first month Hubs and I did this. It was an expensive month. Not only did we have our regular expenses, we also had unexpected car repairs.

When we did our monthly budget, we realized that our expenses were going to be a lot more than our income. If we were going to stay true to our plan, we would need to cut. And so we cut – and then we had to cut even more.

It was hard. I’ll be honest, I was sad. I had visions of living like a Monk with a vow of poverty so that I could reach some far-out-there financial goals. It didn’t feel good at the time.

But you know what, we made it through the month. (Without any trips to Starbucks.)

Then it was time for month two and three. There weren’t as many expenditures, so we had wiggle room to do some fun things. Plus, we had piece of mind, because we knew the money was there.

Even now, two years later, there are months that are tighter than others. But going through those tight months made us aware of how many “extras” we have in our budget. We learned that life would not stop if we didn’t have “extras”.

It also gave us a better perspective of what is truly important in life. And it is amazing how much we take for granted.

Homework

1. Make the decision to do a monthly budget in February. Start gathering your facts.

2. Make an appointment with your significant other and go over your long-term financial goals, as well as your monthly budget.

3. Make an agreement TOGETHER to stick to the budget.

(Join me next Tuesday as we talk about some tricks that I have learned to stick to the monthly budget. Also remember to check out these fellow bloggers posts on ways you can Renew for You in 2011.)

Organizing Your Email To Save Money – from My Coupon Teacher

Self Esteem – Take the Leap and LIVE – from Maven of Savin

Sleep And Stress Management – from Stockpiling Moms

Care for Yourself : The Unwelcome Tag Along– From Give Me Neither

Your Family Budget is part of the Saving 201 series that looks at financial life after coupons – because it can’t all be about coupons.

Last week I talked about how my family made long-term financial goals.

This week I’ll talk about how I almost got a divorce. (Not really.)

After Hubs and I made our long-term financial goals, the next step was to take a look at our previous spending and get an idea of where our money was going.

We plugged in the essentials – mortgage, utilities (gas, electric, water, phone, cable, internet), insurance, child care and preschool, groceries, wine and beer, tithe, etc. We looked at the numbers and realized there was about a thousand dollars difference in what we were spending on paper vs. what we were really spending. And we both thought….

Where is all this money going?

And then the “name-blame-game” started.

“Well, you go out with the boys for beers – that’s like $50.”

“Well, you sure enjoy those pedicures – aren’t those like $50 for someone to rub on your feet.”

“Well, we seem to spend a lot of money on gardening stuff. Do we need ALL that?”

“Well, you seem to like to shop at Nordstrom’s – do you NEED that?”

You get idea. It was an all-out assault on each other to figure out where that $1000 went. And in our minds, we were each the innocent party. And so we yelled, argued, and stomped around. And looking back, the reason for the yelling – we were both embarrassed that we didn’t have a better idea of where our money was going.

So before you and your significant other start figuring out where your money has gone month-after-month – take a moment and agree that you will not play the “name-blame-game” with each other. (And avoid having someone sleep on in the spare bedroom for awhile.) Remember…

You can not change where your money went in the past, you can only change what you do with it in the future.

Homework

Put together a financial picture of where your money has gone month-after-month. The goal is not to put together a budget, but to get an concrete idea of where your money is going, so you can create a budget next week.

There are many ways to create a financial picture.

• You can track your expenses by category in an excel spreadsheet.
• You can set up online tracking (with automatic feeds from your credit/debit card) with Mint.com. (Which we use – it has pretty graphs.)
• If online worries you, you can purchase Quicken Software and manage it from your computer.

Category ideas for your financial picture.

Housing

• Mortgage or Rent
• Utilities
• Maintenance

Debt Payments

• Credit Cards
• School Loans
• Car Payments

Family

• Child Care
• Insurance
• Prescriptions or OOP health costs
• Baby-sitting
• Education

Investments

• IRAs or 401Ks
• ESAs
• Savings
• Other investments

Miscellaneous

• Groceries
• Eating Out
• Clothes
• Entertainment
• Vacations
• Gifts
• Tithe
• Gas
• Car Repairs

Remember, you can’t change where your money went in the past. You can only effective change in the future. And without taking an honest look at your money, you won’t be able to meet your goals.

(Join me next Tuesday as we talk about creating a monthly budget. Also remember to check out these fellow bloggers posts on ways you can Renew for You in 2011.)

Organizing Your Shopping Trips – from My Coupon Teacher

Self Esteem – Stripped Naked – from Maven of Savin

Frugal Weight Loss – from Stockpiling Moms

Care for Yourself: Perfectionism To Grace – From Give Me Neither

Your Family Budget is part of the Saving 201 series that looks at financial life after coupons – because it can’t all be about coupons.

Budget.

Cringe.

If you are like me, words like budget and diet (and when I was younger, curfew) made me think - restrictive, going without, and basically no-fun.

And so I bucked the budget.

I was just fine, thank you very much. I was living a respectable financial life. I wasn’t overspending. I didn’t have any credit card debt and I had a modest savings account. I was good. Or so I thought, in theory.

But the problem with theories is that you can’t put them in a savings accounts.

For some reason, once I turned 35 the magical “theory” machine seemed to go dry. I still wasn’t overspending, but I also wasn’t putting money away for my kids college, maxing out IRA accounts, or paying down the mortgage on my house. They were things I wanted to do – I just didn’t know how to do them with my current budget.

I’ve often said that coupons changed my financial life forever. Well, if coupons changed my financial life, then Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover changed how I viewed budgets forever.

I got it at the library on a whim, and once I started reading, I was hooked. I devoured Dave’s book the same way I would have devoured a new Harry Potter book. I couldn’t stop reading. Everything he wrote made sense and I wanted to learn more.

After reading his book, I was determined to turn my previous “theories” into systematic goals – I realized that I wasn’t getting any younger and there were things I wanted out of my financial life.

But first, I had to get Hubs on board. Because if you don’t have EVERYONE on board, you will fail – GUARANTEED.

So I made him read The Total Money Makeover.

And he was midly interested, so I worked on him, and we made some Snyder Long-Term Financial Goals.

Snyder Long-Term Financial Goals

1. Have a $1K cash emergency fund.

2. Pay off any debt outside of our home.

3. Have a six-month emergency fund in a savings/money market account. (Some have three  – we have six.)

4. Fully fund our IRAs.

5. Fully fund out kiddos ESAs. (Sorry kids, you are going to state school.)

6. Pay off the mortgage.

What I loved about Dave’s Plan is that it is a rolling plan – you complete Goal #1 before you move on to Goal #2.

The list isn’t huge – but it is pretty audicious by today’s standards. And it is just honest – there is no trickery or beating the system – it’s just our goals.

But for once we had goals. And they were on paper. And we had agreed on them. And we were going to work on them together. And that felt really good.

So do you have long-term goals?

That’s your homework assignment for the week. (You didn’t know you had homework, did you?)

Determine your long-term goals. Do they look like mine? Are they vastly different? Are they on paper?

Set some time aside this week to talk to your significant other about your family’s goals and write them down. Because if you don’t have long-term goals that have been agreed upon together – you will fail.

And also, you’ll need your long-term goals for Week Three.

And if you complete all four-weeks worth of homework – there will be a surprise at the end that your won’t want to miss.

(Join me next Tuesday as we talk about finding out what we spend and making it add up. Also remember to check out these fellow bloggers posts on ways you can Renew for You in 2011.)

Coupon Organization – from My Coupon Teacher

Self Esteem – What’s Your Style – from Maven of Savin

Frugal Weight Loss – Stockpiling Moms:  A Guide to Frugal Living

Care for Yourself: Lessons Learned from Postpartum Depression/Anxiety – From Give Me Neither

It is hard to lose weight.

There, I said it. Unfortunately, this post will not be endorsing a plan that loses X lbs in under 30 days. The reason – because losing weight is hard. It takes discipline and hard work. But, it can be done.

I wanted to share some of the resources I’ve used the last couple of years to help me take and keep off an extra 20 lbs that were previously hanging on. (If you get my drift.) I’m not trying to toot my own horn. Many people have lost more or less using other programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, etc. but these insights are what worked for me and I did it on a budget. In the end, if you want to lose weight – you have to find a program that works for you.

Insight #1: Get honest with yourself and commit. Weigh yourself, measure yourself (waist, hips, thighs, etc) and then set a realistic goal. No one is expecting you to be a supermodel – but choose a weight that would make you feel good about yourself.

Insight #2: Find out how many calories you need to consume daily in order to get to your realistic goal. There is some good information here or here.

Insight #3: Keep a food journal and write down every thing that goes into your mouth and put a calorie to it, so you’ll stick to the number mention in #2. While this step is tedious, it was the most crucial for me. I finally learned that just because something seems healthy doesn’t mean it is healthy. Case in point – 180 calories equals one tortilla or 3 apples. I found this site really helpful for figuring out calories. And this site is good for tracking calories online.

Insight #4: Find a workout program that challenges you and doesn’t bore you. (And by challenges – I mean you work up a sweat.) I lost my extra baggage using the Your Self Challenge. Each month there was a new set of workouts – both cardio and toning – that require nothing more than a set of dumbells. They also have the workouts online and on-demand so you can fine tune your form. Remember, you don’t have to go to a gym to get a good workout. I find the best workout to be my running shoes, a good trail, and my iPod.

Insight #5: Allow yourself some grace. Grace to eat a piece of cake at your son’s birthday party and not feel guilty because you will never have that opportunity again, but also grace to pass on a Betty Crocker mix brownie because you will have that opportunity again.

Here some other resources/tips:

Find a workout buddy. It is harder to say no to a morning walk if you know someone is waiting for you. Also, they keep you accountable.

Borrow workout videos from the library to test before you buy or trade with a friend.

Download some good music into your iPod. A long run or walk goes faster when you daydream that you are a back-up singer to Justin Timberlake or TobyMac or whomever. (I’m just saying. And if Justin needs a singer, my number is…)

Sign up for the 2011 All You Reality Checked Diet by April 20 and receive a weekly weight-loss guide for three months. Included in the weekly guide are easy-to-follow fitness tips, healthy menu options, and tips to keep you motivated. Even better – one lucky dieter will win a trip to New York City.

Check out on-line sites. Fitsugar.com gives out free workout and stretching videos.

Remember, you can just as easily find coupons for “junk” as you can for “healthy”. Commit to making the “junk” stay out of your house for three or six months – it will make it easier for you to stay on course and no one will die if there isn’t Pop-Tarts in the house.

Okay – that’s my advice in a nutshell. (And remember, it is still HARD.) What about you? What do you do lose or keep off the weight? What’s your secret for working out on a budget?