Help? At home toning/ strength training

How much money and space do you have to work with? Even a set of good dumbbells aren't exactly cheap (my U90 power blocks cost about $600 new, but that gives me a pair of adjustable dumbbells that go up to 90lbs each). You can probably save a fair bit of money by finding your equipment on ebay / etc, if it's in good enough shape.

I picked my home equipment with space savings in mind, and I live in Canada, where things tend to be more expensive on average than in the US. You may be able to spend less money than I did.

For weights, I chose PowerBlocks, because they have a decent maximum weight (180 pounds for the pair on the set I bought), and take up almost no space at all. Some people don't like their shape, but they are very convenient and fast to switch the weight. There are other adjustable dumbbell sets out there that are shaped more like a normal dumbbell (IronMaster is the name of one of them, I think), but tend to take longer to switch weight, which may be a problem depending on what kind of workout you want to do. Anyhow, my pair of 90lb PowerBlocks cost me $600 total (spread out in two purchases; $350 for the "Stage 1" kit which went up to 50lbs each, and another $250 for the "Stage 2" kit to get the extra plates that take them up to 90).

Other than that, the only thing I bought is a good burst-resistant Swiss ball. I use it as my "bench" for doing presses, and to do core exercises. I got the ball online for about $70.

I also recommend DVDs by Cathe Friedrich. She's not as "in your face" as Jillian but is still very tough and effective. Some of her best weight lifting DVDs, imo, are Muscle Max and High Reps. All you need are dumbbells. Or to be even less expensive, you could get a book on Pilates from your library and learn those exercises - Pilates generally doesn't need any equipment at all.

I'm sure Collage Video has been mentioned on this site numerous times - that's a great website for finding exactly whatever type of DVD you're looking for.

Try the Wii fitness!! That is what I have been using and it has worked!!! It is a slow progress but it works!!!!! I want to try the Zumba fitness also but have to save up for it!!!

Power 90 is a great program from Beach Body that incorporates circuit training for muscle building. If you don't want to spend any money at all, then push-ups, crunches, and pull-ups/chins are excellent ways of building muscle and becoming very strong. Widening and shortening your hand position will incorporate different muscles for push-ups and the same can be said for pull-ups and chins.

bells, bands, bar, balls, that's about it

Also, I am not sure if you have a game console, but I really like the "your fitness" game as it shows you on the screen and provides feedback. So I can see myself doing the exercises while watching the virtual personal trainer. This is good because I often find that I am doing something incorrectly, like I need to be lower or higher or whatever. Without the feed back I would think I was doing it just fine.

I just bought a resistance band with handles and a door mount for $17. Nice because as I progress I'll be able to switch them out on the cheap!