It's often disheartening to step on the scale after the holidays only to find the number has crept up. That's compounded by the thought of wearing an unforgiving strapless bridesmaid dress in your friend's wedding, which is only a few months away in the spring or summer.

With the new year, comes a new resolve: to lose weight... to eat healthier... to save more money. How about doing all three at once?

We've all heard about the rapidly increasing waistline of Americans and the rapidly decreasing security of our jobs. So here's a savings plan: save calories AND money in the months leading up to the wedding.

SparkPeople.com is a resource to keep track of calories and get meal & fitness plans, all for free. Another free tool to help you find out the full nutritional information on your favorite food products is TheCalorieCounter.com. Here's a fitness article from BridesmaidEssentials.com especially for the bride's righthand women.

You'll save money and eat better by "brown bagging" your lunch instead of going out every day. Find some tasty & totable recipes from MarthaStewart.com/packable-lunches.

And before you buy anything in-store, visit CouponCabin.com or Coupons.com to get printable coupons. If you're making an online purchase, check out RetailMeNot.com for loads of great promo codes to get a discount and deal.

It's a good idea to save all the money (and calories) you can now -- weddings have a way of packing on extra purchases.