I am looking to lose about 20 pounds, and I was wondering if anybody had any specific dieting tips, shortcuts, or suggestions. Or even a suggestion on some simple/affordable decent home workout equipment.
Thanks!! 
Only people that like to fail look for shortcuts. I have never met anyone who has successfully taken the weight off and kept it off that used a shortcut, it just does not work. So the the idea of a shortcut out of your head.
Tips:
1. Stop eating so much, I dont care if its a "healthy" food, it does not matter. You should only concern yourself with calories. You want a low calorie diet, try 1200 calories a day
2. If your not writing everything your eating and how much and how many calories, your lying to yourself. You are having way more calories than you think you are having. Its that simple. You may think your having 1200 calories a day, but your really probably having more than 1500 if your not writing it down.
3. Goto calorieking.com and look up everything you eat, how many calories, and how much a serving is
4. A serving of cereal does not mean a whole bowl of cereal, same goes for any other food. LOOK AT THE BOX FOR SERVING SIZE
4. Stop eating out
5. Exercise everyday. No baby stuff, no walking on the treadmill. Don’t be a big baby like almost everyone on yahoo answers. Hard work shows results, not being lazy. You should workout with weights 45 minutes a day and then do cardio for 45 minutes right after and NO WALKING, JOG AT LEAST.
6. You can never in your lift go back to your crappy diet that you are following right now. You are on a diet for the rest of your life.
7. You are to exercise at least 3x a week for the rest of your life
8. Forget the home equipment, dont be lazy. Get out the house and goto the gym. I do not know a single person that has seen decent results from home. Only lazy people want to workout at home. Is it really going to kill you to jump into your car and drive to the gym??? This may be your main problem
9. Do not waste your time with situps or other ab exercises. Anyone who told you or thinks that ab exercises will make your stomach flat is a fool. Diet and exercise make your stomach flat, not ab exercises. Ab exercises build abs, not cause you to lose the fat over your abs. Look up "spot reduction" and you will see there is no such thing.
10. Lose all your fat or overweight friends. They are the reason you are overweight. They do not want you to lose weight, they don’t want you to be successful. They are going to sabotage you anyway they can. Intentionally or not, they do not want to be fat and see you thin. They will keep you fat. Fat people are your enemies, they do not want to see you successful
