The New Year is right around the corner and lots of people will be making those New Year’s Resolutions.  Some of the popular resolutions are to lose weight, exercise more, and get healthy.  While lots of people will go out and buy an expensive gym membership, you can choose not to do that and stay within your budget with free or lower cost activities.  Here are several ideas to get you started.

Use Your Library

Many libraries offer exercise videos.  Just take some time to go and look around and see what they have available.  While there, you can also check out the healthy books section to see if you can find any recipe books with healthy recipes.  Some that I found at my local library included all the Hungry Girl books, Joanna Lund healthy cookbooks, and some Weight Watchers cookbooks.  You’ll be amazed at what you can find to borrow. 

Get Out and Walk

Walking is an easy way to get started with exercise.  Better yet, it is usually free. Many public parks offer walking tracks.  Also, look for trails in your area.  These make nice day hikes.  You can even go to the mall and walk all around if it is cold outside.  I like to use the high school track meet track, it’s perfect and nobody really uses it in the mornings. You can even take your stroller and take your child with you.

Use Borrowed or Second Hand Equipment

If you watch Biggest Loser, you know that there are a lot of pieces of equipment that can help you lose weight that cost a lot of money.  You do not have to buy those; there are a lot of things you can do to keep the cost down.  Find a friend who will let you borrow their equipment and take advantage of it.  You can also find second hand equipment at garage sales, thrift stores and even online at places like craigslist or freecycle. 

Make Your Own Weights

Weights can cost a lot of money, but you can make your own at home for pretty cheap.  Full soup cans are a great way to start since most people already have these in their pantry.  Full large water bottles are also great.  Some weigh about 2 pounds.  You can also use an empty milk or orange juice container.  After use wash out and let dry completely, then add sand and place the top back on the container.  You may even want to put tape over the lid.  These make a perfect weight because they have a readymade handle in them.

Use a Bike

If you have a bike in your garage collecting dust, why not pull it out and put it to work.  This is a great idea for making a short trip to the store.  The cost of gas in my area has really gone up and this would also save you money in that part of your budget too.

Get a Workout Buddy

Trainers can run you about $50 bucks an hour.  Save that money and get an exercise buddy.  You can plan to meet at a certain time and offer one another encouragement to help build motivation.  This will also make it harder for you to talk yourself out of exercising if you know you have someone waiting for you.