Welcome!!
When I first wanted to start losing weight, I was just out of college, and could not afford anything except to count calories. I used all the resources I could find (internet was not as expanded then-- about 7 yrs ago), and just started counting. I lost 55 lbs!
I have been counting calories for my current weight loss as well. It's the cheapest way. I just use a small journal to keep track of calories I've eaten and my weight and exercise (I use Calorieking.com to find calorie content of misc foods).
When I "feel like quitting," I look back to see success in my journal-- I felt like quitting this week and looked in my journal and realized I had lost 6 lbs this past month! It was enough to make me get started again and realize that even though I'm not losing as quickly as I want to, it's still working, and I'm depending on no one but me to do the job.
This is a wonderful community and I've appreciated all the help and motivation I've found here the past month.
I go to the "Goal" page and look at all the before/after pics and read stories to get inspired when I need extra oomph.
You can do it!!