Just like everyone else, this year I pledged to finally start working out and eating better. Part of it is vanity — who doesn’t want to look good in a bikini at the beach this summer? — but the other part is knowing that, as I get older, I have to start taking care of myself if I want to live a long, healthy life.

The problem is, I’ve always had a hard time getting (and staying) motivated — but not anymore! I recently signed up for an online fitness tool, MyFitnessPal, which helps me eat better and lose weight by keeping me accountable for what I’m eating.

When you’re creating your free account, MyFitnessPal will have you input your current weight and then enter your weight loss and fitness goals to come up with your calorie goal for the day. Note that this is only a suggestion and you should find what works best for you based on your lifestyle — I actually raised my calorie goal a little bit because I felt mine was too low and I was starving, and now I’m having no trouble staying within my allotted calories (and I’m still losing weight). Read More »

With so much going on in our lives, it’s almost impossible to remember everything you have to do. Sometimes, things just slip through the cracks. While it can’t help you with everything, FollowUp.cc can help make sure you don’t forget to follow up on any important emails.

Here’s how it works: when you get an important email you want to remember to follow up on, just send the email (either as a forward or BCC on your response) to one of the many reminder email addresses FollowUp.cc has. For example, if you want to remember on Friday, send the email to friday@followup.cc, or if you want a reminder on January 31, send it to jan31@followup.cc, etc. (there are lots more examples on their site).

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I love cooking, but sometimes I find myself lacking culinary inspiration. This happens most when I’m craving something in particular, but either I don’t have the ingredients I need, or I don’t feel like making the same dishes over and over again. Luckily, I’ve found dinner-inspiration help from Gojee.

Gojee is a recipe search engine that features handpicked recipes from some of the web’s most popular food bloggers. Simply type in an ingredient or dish that you’re craving, and Gojee will return a photo slideshow of recipes to satisfy your cravings. You can also type in what ingredients you already have on hand to filter the results to show only recipes you can make right now. You can further filter the recipes by eliminating all those that contain ingredients you don’t like.

If that didn’t already sound awesome, the more you use Gojee, it learns what you like and don’t like, so you’re more likely to find recipes you love, without having to sift through things you’d never eat.

I’ve already found a ton of great recipes that I can’t wait to try! The only problem with Gojee is that the images are so delicious-looking, just browsing makes you hungry. Read More »

I have a confession: I’m sort of obsessed with lists. Whether it’s a shopping list, top 10 list or to-do list, organizing the things in my life into lists keeps me sane. But making lists really helps me out: I find if I don’t write out everything I have to do (errands, school work, chores at home, etc.), I’ll forget.

I’ve recently discovered a new way to help me organize all the things on my to-do list: Clockblock. Clockblock is a site that aims to help you manage your time better by prioritizing your to-do list.

What’s great about Clockblock  is that it’s quick and easy to use. Unlike other to-do list or calendar programs, Clockblock just asks three things when creating a list item: what is it, when is it due, and is it important? The site then sorts the list for you, based on due date and importance. Important tasks are in larger boxes, and the tasks due soon are nearest to the top and lightest in color, making it easy for you to see what needs to be done with just a glance. Read More »

For many college students around the country, this is one of the last weekends of winter break — which means it’s the last time to have fun and party before the pressures of the school year start again. So what are you going to do to close it out with a bang? If you don’t have any plans yet, you should check out The Weekend Map for your closest city.

The Weekend Map helps you plan your weekend by searching sites like Meetup, Eventbrite, Songkick, Seatgeek, Active and Groupon to provide you with a comprehensive list of events for the upcoming weekend on a map of your chosen city (of 27 cities across the U.S.). The Weekend Map also color-codes them according to popularity, and you can refine the list according to certain parameters, for example, if you’re only interested in one type of event (i.e., concerts, food, sports games, etc.) or only events on a particular night (Friday, Saturday or Sunday).

Underneath the map you’ll find listings of all the events with all the important details, such as date, location and time, as well as a how many people have currently RSVP’d and a link to the event on its host site.

The Weekend Map will come in handy the rest of the year, too! Any weekend during the year when you don’t know what to do, just check it out and you instantly have plans!

We all know the internet is a big gigantic place (there are over 100 million sites!), but chances are you probably spend most of your time on the important ones, like CollegeCandy, Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. That means you’re missing out on all the great other sites out there — unless you’ve been reading Web Spy! This year, the sites we’ve covered help you find new music, be more productive, discover sales and specials, and get healthier, while others just are great ways to procrastinate (like we need more distractions). Here are some of our favorite Web Spy posts from the last year — what’s yours? Read More »

It’s no secret that college students drink a lot of beer. And it’s also no secret that we’re all pretty broke, so often the money that we could be spending on our beloved beverage has to be spent on more “practical” things…like food or textbooks. Well, thanks to a new site that’s calling itself a “search engine for beer,” you’ll be able to save more money so you can afford beer and the other important things in life.

Just plug in your zip code, and SaveOnBrew will give you a list of all the deals on beer near you. SaveOnBrew lists the type of beer on sale, the store, and the price. You can also sort by beer type, beer brand, the store and container size or quantity.

So instead of having to search each store’s ads to find deals on beer, SaveOnBrew makes it easy for you by putting it all in one convenient, searchable database.

It’s common knowledge among anyone who knows me (or anyone who reads my posts) that I’m an online shopping addict. But I can’t afford to buy everything I find online, so I’m always on the lookout for great deals. If I find something I really like, I’ll keep checking back until there’s a sale or it goes on clearance. Now there’s a web app that does the work for me!

Salemarked helps you keep track of the selling price of your favorite items — and it couldn’t be easier to use!

First, sign up for an account and drag the bookmarklet to your browser’s toolbar. Then, just online shop as normal. Once you find something you just love but want to wait until it goes on sale to buy, click the bookmarklet or paste the URL directly into your Salemarked dashboard and note how much you’d be willing to pay for that item. That’s it! Read More »

Ever since high school, it seems like we all have at least one occasion every year — whether it’s a formal, wedding or just a fancy party — where we can get all dressed up. And while it’s fun to dress up now and then, it can get expensive to have to buy a new dress for every event. And what about the dresses from past events? Most of mine are just hanging in my closet and have only been worn one other time, if at all!

A newly launched website seeks to fix these problems. Closet Shark is a site where women can buy, sell or trade their gently used formalwear. Read More »

As college students, we do a lot of reading. And while I love to read, I don’t love how much I can spend on textbooks each semester. Which is why I’m always looking for the best deal when it comes to books — so imagine how excited I was when I discovered I could save money on my books for my English classes by reading the them online for free on sites like Litfy!

While there are other places online that you can download and read classic books for free, Lifty gets points for their colorful, modern layout. It’s also easy to find the book you want by searching by author name, title, or keyword. There are thousands of books currently on the site, and more are added each day! Read More »