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It may not feel like it yet, but spring has sprung and summer is just around the corner.

Looks like there's no time like the present to work on that bikini body or maybe dust off that New Year's resolution to get healthy. Spring is a time of new beginnings, so why not get back on that horse and ride?

One reason might be the cost. Gym memberships can run you $40 to $50 a month or more and when you add the initiation fees, you're looking at at least $800 a year. In fact, Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt of The Freakonomics Blog say that people over estimate their use of gym facilities by 70%.

But why break a sweat looking at your bank account balance when you could be breaking a sweat for cheap or even for free. Look, we're going to tell you what the gyms probably don't want you to know, there are ways to hack the exercise oligarchy and we're going to show you some of the best of these.

By Bruce Watson
Daily Finance

Spring's on its way in, but -- if the Daily Finance offices are any indication -- we're not out of the woods yet. For the past few weeks, several writers at AOL's New York headquarters have been fighting off the last of our winter colds and desperately trying to stay healthy with immune systems that have been ravaged by the last few months of wintry chill.

It's actually not all that surprising that a cold epidemic seems to be sweeping through New York. With seasonal changes on its way, freezing weather is alternating with periodic bursts of pollen-clogged sunny days, creating a mix that manages to devastate both those with allergies and those who are hovering on the edge of illness. To make things worse, the shift back to daylight savings time translates into a lot of people who are waking up in the dark and trying to deal with circadian rhythms that are now out of whack.

But don't worry -- help is on the way. I've put together a list of five items, all of which cost less than five bucks, that can help you get over the last of the winter blahs.

Good luck and keep your fingers crossed for spring!

In the years since the recession, the median household income in the U.S. has dropped to just over $50,000, while fixed costs like health care, higher education, and housing have only soared. Now imagine trying to support a family of four on a fraction of that income.

It's a reality that stay-at-home wife and mother of two Danielle Wagasky has lived for the last four years. And, perhaps a little surprisingly, she wouldn't have it any other way.

Wagasky, 28, lives with her her husband, Jason, 31, and their two young children in a three-bedroom family home in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Jason, a member of the U.S. Army, completes his undergraduate studies, the family's only source of income is the $14,000 annual cost of living allowance he receives under the G.I. Bill.

Despite all odds, the family has barely any credit debt, no car payment, and no mortgage speak of.

Wagasky has been sharing her journey to living meaningfully and frugally on her blog, Blissful and Domestic, since 2009.

She was kind enough to tell us how she makes it work.

There's something strangely satisfying and less stressful about flying with only carry-on luggage.

The first snicker of satisfaction comes when you arrive at the airport with your boarding pass already printed off the internet and breeze past the line of people waiting to check in their bags. The second is knowing that you've avoided paying check-in baggage fees (this is not so much an issue on Canadian airlines, but you really need to watch out for them in the U.S. or on budget airlines around the world -- they hurt. Ouch!) Third is knowing that the airline won't lose your luggage (it's a slim chance, but it does happen.) And fourth is being able to walk straight off the plane, past those waiting for the baggage conveyor belt to start up, and straight out of the airport.

Before you say that there's no way you could fit everything you need into your carry-on, read on.

Quick! Take a hammer to the piggy bank and head on down to the nearest Baskin Robbins ice cream shop.

Between 5pm and 10pm tonight (Wednesday, April 27), 2.5 oz scoops of hard ice cream and 3 oz soft serve cones are just 31¢ each at all Baskin Robbins shops across Canada. Your treat is for a good cause, too - the event is in aid of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

There's a limit of two scoops per person.

Click here for a list of Baskin Robbins shops.

If you still love Wills & Kate and all things Britain in spite of the Royal Wedding overkill, you might want to consider a trip to London in the near future.

Here's an incentive: The Hoxton Hotel is offering 500 rooms for £1 each for the time period between May 1 and July 31, 2011. The rate includes breakfast.

The sale, which is only available online through the Hoxton's website, starts on April 14 at noon U.K. time, which means 7 am eastern time and 4 am pacific time. The last £1 sale sold out in 10 minutes, so you've got to be on the ball.

Note that you cannot book more than one room per person.

If the Free Canadian Wildlife Federation Calendar I featured last week doesn't appeal to you, you're bound to find something to see you through the coming year at www.bookcloseouts.com.

The site has reduced all its 2011 calendars to a paltry $2.99 US.

There are 23 calendars in all to choose from, for example:

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Calendar

365 Golf Holes

The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said

Doodle: A Chalkboard Calendar

Nuns Having Fun

A message from your mom: put on a jacket!

Your shirt may be cool and all, but frostbite is never fashionable.

If you're not bundled up properly, check out this deal: Gap is currently offering up to 50% off outerwear. In the women's department, some jackets have gone from $118 to $54.99, while over on the men's side some nice down vests that were originally sold for $79.50 are now on sale for $34.99.

I'm sauntering along a shaded path at the south-east end of Central Park in New York City. There's something intoxicatingly relaxing about this 150-year old city oasis and I soak it in as my guide explains how it took 20,000 men to build the 840 acre landmark. In an attempt to imitate the green spaces of Europe, the workers blasted away rocky outcrops, sculpted the land with soil and planted over 270,000 plants to create one of the most famous parks in the world.

I arrive at the Musical Clock arching whimsically above the path. My guide is telling me about the animals that will dance out of it on the hour and half hour. It is a few minutes to 2pm and I want to see the spectacle, so I switch my guide off and wait. That's right, I switch her off. After all, she's just a walking-tour audio guide I downloaded for free from Central Park's website.

There are hundreds of thousands of audio tours on the internet for just about any destination you can think of. Some are free, such as the Arts and Architecture Tour of Central Park.

Buying a home is a daunting task, let alone buying one in another country. Yet a good number of Canadians relish the chance to own their little plot of somewhere else, particularly if that plot lies baking beneath the nice warm sun.

The biggest market without question for Canadians seeking overseas property is the United States, and more specifically, Florida and Arizona. The depressed housing market south of the border has opened up more opportunities for Canadians eyeing a piece of the pie and that looks like something set to continue according to a TD Bank survey that shows that more than one-third of Canadian boomers are considering buying real estate there.
The U.S. media has noticed a rise in the number of Canadians buying property, further expanding what is already their biggest foreign ownership group. (Read Five Reasons Why Canadians Are Snapping Up U.S. Real Estate.)

Buying property in the U.S. is not as complicated as many think. The first thing to consider is how to finance the purchase.