If you are thinking about trying a pre-packaged diet plan like Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Deliciously Yours, you might be put off by the cost. Some people think that these are very expensive diets. Yet others claim that you spend little or no more than you would buying food the way you normally do. Take the time to figure out whether the diets will fit into your budget.

1. Figure the real cost of your food now. Sometimes, when people are asked how much they spend on food, they give the easy answers. They might answer with the amount they have allotted in their budget.

Another answer might be what they spend when they do their main grocery shopping for the week. Both of these answers are generally inaccurate. They do not provide a good comparison point to Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Deliciously Yours diet plans.

If you are serious about wanting to have solid information on which to base your decision, keep track for an entire month. Keep the receipts for every single time you go to the store. Whether you are buying a week's worth of groceries or just a loaf of bread, write it down.

In the same record, keep track of all the times you eat out. Include the times you stopped for a donut on the way to work or a cappuccino on the way home. If you ate out with a group, ask for the receipt or a copy of it for your records.

For family picnics and parties, try to add up the amount you eat and how much that food would cost. Add up all these figures and you have the real cost of your food before going on the Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Deliciously Yours diet.

2. Figure the real cost of the diet food. Nutrisystem is right up-front about how much their diet meals, snacks and desserts cost per day. Before you sign up, get a list from one of the staff of the extra foods that will be added to these.

These foods include fresh fruits and vegetables and milk products. Do a shopping dry run to price the foods in the portion sizes you need. Add them all together to get a score for the Nutrisystem plan.

Just like Nutrisystem, Deliciously Yours tells you exactly what their meals cost per day. They are a little higher in cost, but remember that they are of a different quality as well. You might enjoy these if you eat out a lot or enjoy gourmet cooking. Therefore, make sure you include all your dining out in your real food costs.

While Nutrisystem and Deliciously Yours are very informative about their meal plan costs, it is more difficult to get a straight answer from the Jenny Craig website. If you want to know the real cost of Jenny Craig, be prepared to talk to one of their counselors enough to tell them what plan you would go on, what foods you would eat, and what support you would need. You can get the real cost if you are persistent.

3. Compare and decide. When you compare the real cost of your everyday food to the real cost of the Nutrisystem, Deliciously Yours, or Jenny Craig diet plans, you will know whether you will be spending more money to go on them. If the diet plan costs more, it is just a matter of deciding if you are motivated enough to spend the extra money to be on the diet program.