Learning Japanese?? affordably?

I have heard about japanesepod101.com and Instant Immersion and am interested in buying them. I'm asking for feedback/reviews of those things. Also could you suggest other possible language learning software that isn't too expensive. DON'T recommend Pimsleurs or Rosetta Stone. Those are too expensive. I'm willing to invest time and not much money. Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thank you