Money's tight. As always. :P

I completely understand the money woes. For me, I still can't afford a gym, so I have to improvise.

Will a gym really give you the motivation to lose the weight? Simply having the membership never kept me going in the past. Instead, I turned to jogging, DVDs, and sometimes I splurge and purchase single Zumba classes at local dance studios.

There are always other options!

Education! You can workout anywhere for free

Look at other options to keep you motivated like local community classes. As stated before gym membership alone cannot force you to go but if you need the boost a class where people know your name and will wonder why you didn't come may keep you going. Also a lot cheaper. Good Luck

How tall are you?

I would say that if you can handle the full time schooling schedule, then get it over with, and finish!

You only have 10 classes left! That's only 2 semesters! Less than a year! Do you have support at home? Does your school have a gym? Back when I was in school, all students had a free membership to our University's gym as long as you had half time enrollment. In reality it's more expensive to spread out schooling... as the information you've obtained changes, or becomes dated, which means your degree becomes less valuable from an employer's view point. The cost of housing will always be there, on top of your schooling expenses - and going to school limits your ability to work more (if you wanted to) which equals less money now and less money in the future.

Your current job may not be able to pay you more once you obtain your degree, but you'll open other doors for better jobs - and passing an opportunity for a higher paying job now (because you don't have the degree) will equals less money in the long run. Wouldn't you want to be able to take on a better paying job sooner then later?

I work in higher education, and I am a first generation college graduate in my family. If I would have finished my degree sooner in life, I would have most likely been further in my career. I understand that you have family obligations, but if you are able to handle the work load, I'd say just do it! And look into that gym thing with your University.

Good Luck!

Does the college you're attending have a gym? If so, even enrolling in 1 class should get you an ID that will let you have access to it. For the record, I'm in the 3 classes camp with most of the other posters. Get school done before you have kids if you can. Less stress all around.

If your school doesn't have a gym, my next suggestion would be to get a DVD set like Body Revolution, which is a 3 month program with 15 separate workouts that are all a half an hour. It does cost about $80, but you'll have it at your fingertips forever, and it's only 30 minutes. I find it hard to argue myself out of a short workout, which is why I've found the DVDs so effective.

I'm also losing weight before having kids (had a miscarriage in June and am not medically allowed to try again until January). Good luck!!

You don't need to join a gym to lose weight. Weight loss in and of itself has very little to do with losing weight. Eating appropriately is what causes you to lose or gain weight. Exercise can give you a few extra calories that you can eat in a given day, but it's what you put in your mouth that decides your waistline.

For general exercise, instead of joining a gym you can...

Walk
Run
Ride a bike
Body exercises
Exercise videos
Buy a craigslist squat rack (and use it)
More stuff...

Education.
As many have said, you can exercise for free -- online free videos (fitnessblender.com) or youtube. Walking, running etc.

For motivation, join a group on here with accountability and support! But even better: can you find a friend or acquaintance to workout with? Knowing someone is waiting for you at X corner for a walk will get you there. Friends and I have also stayed home to do an exercise video in our own homes but knowing that we're doing it at the same time is great for motivation -- calling/texting before and after.

You've committed to improving your education... you can meet this goal too, I know it.

Does the school have a gym that you can pay to use? Or exercise classes? That might really motivate you and get you into that school mindset at the same time.

if guys in prison can get shredded there is no excuse and i can tell you they are not watching macros if there is a will there is a way

I'll check out if they have a gym. It's a community college, so I'm not sure.

The community colleges around here have gyms and exercise classes (yoga, aerobics, etc.). I hope yours does too!

I'm on board with majority of the posters, go to school, and see if they have a campus gym or a group work out where you can join to feed off of the motivation of others and work that into your school schedule.

Some times when you are in the weight loss challenge alone, the motivation dissipates, but having a buddy does help.

Does the college you're attending have a gym? If so, even enrolling in 1 class should get you an ID that will let you have access to it. For the record, I'm in the 3 classes camp with most of the other posters. Get school done before you have kids if you can. Less stress all around.

This is what I was going to ask. I would look into the gym at the college (if it has one) and possibly classes-the university my husband works at has free workout classes (boot camp, aerobics, etc) that are free with an id.