Figured we could all get some good ideas!

I use swagbucks, ebay and Amazon subscribe & save to get good deals. I stash away Groupon/Living Social deals for mini staycations. Surveys online for movie ticket gift certificates.

What are your tips?

I'm in college and I only have a part-time job...I also get paid in cash once a week, so as you could imagine, it's SUPER easy to overspend. I have little envelopes in my wallet that say "phone", "gas", "car", etc. for the various things I need to pay for throughout the month. Then the rest I split up...some cash stays in my wallet to spend on things like going out or whatever...then some goes straight to the bank to put in savings. At the end of the month, if I've budgeted my smaller divisions of my pay correctly, I have all the money I need for bills...to the bank it goes right before bills are due. Why don't I just shove it all into the bank at once? Well, that's easy...once it's there, my debit card has a funny way of giving me that illusion that I have money to spend but don't...hehehe.

Oh, also I use retailmenot.com a lot...there's coupons for just about any site you would want to buy from! I also have a "junk" mail email account where I sign up for the newsletters and things on various sites...sometimes companies will send out promotion codes and things.

I've heard good success stories using "all cash diet".

I also use retailmenot.com along with ebates, I get cash back on purchases quarterly and use coupon codes religiously.

My first suggestion is to go on a spending fast. No spending for 3-6 months on anything that isn't an absolute necessity. This helps reset the priorities and find alternatives for things we thought we needed. I was shocked at how little I 'needed' after staying out of the mall/Target/TJMaxx for a while.

Second, use cash as Spaz described (according to a predetermined budget). I know EXACTLY how much I spend on clothing, groceries, eating out and it is IMPOSSIBLE to overspend because when the envelope is empty you don't have anything left to spend. This might result in packing a lunch to work or cleaning out the back corner of the pantry when you spend too much too fast and have nothing left until the next bank day. *oops!*

Third, never pay retail. I can think of very few things that I can't find on a deal, with a coupon or at a second hand store. After the spending fast I realized that time is my friend. I don't need a new chair right NOW...I can wait until I find the right item for the right price. Maybe it will be a floor model sale at the furniture store, maybe it will be at Goodwill or Habitat, maybe it will be on craigslist...but I am patient enough to wait for the deal. I keep a list of things I am looking for (currently a bed side table and new light for dining room and stuff for DS to take to college next fall) and eventually I will find it all for a good price. Sometimes if it takes long enough I decide that I don't really need/want the item anyway and it gets bumped off the list, lol.

At one point I thought that it was enough to get a good deal...on almost anything. I am now much more selective. It isn't a good deal if I don't need it in the first place. I'm not saving money by buying shoes buy-2-get-1-free when I only went to get one pair in the first place.

These lessons took years to learn/master but it works for us.

I agree especially the necessities only part! It's so hard but its worth it. All year, from march-feb I I have favorites folder and we have an allowance from our tax return to get the stuff we want guilt free! So I have almost all year to decided if I want a really expensive piece of jewelry or a bunch of cheap stuff. On our birthdays we have a smaller amount, like $200 to spend on ourselves plus what my mil gives us. Which is I feel a ridiculous amount but I'll take it!

I can suggest, being a stay at home mom, cook everything. We have four kids so even culvers costs us $50-60 to eat out one time!! I make my menu ip for the week and all the ingredients I need to buy. When I really stuck to it, I can't believe how little I spend. I include snacks too like popcorn and I make a lot of jello with fruit and pudding.

Avoid target!!! Like the plague!! That is my downfall! I can literally mindless shop in there for hours and convince myself we need new bedding, clothes, towels, and what not. The store is so bright and modern! I go every few months with a $200 limit to get clothes and stuff but thats it! I bring cash only too, no check book, debit card, or credit card.

Cash only!! We did bankruptcy in 2003 and for us it was a fresh new start a d we did learn our lesson. We have one that is in a safe hidden. Take them out of the wallet.

My grand father always did this and this year we're doing it next week with dhs first check of the year. Save. If you can't do 10%, do 5%, do 1%! save something! $10 or $20 is still money.

Buy generic, for most things its exactly the same.

We have one credit card I meant to write. My iPhone won't let me correct!

Omg morning glory that sounds like my mom who is 60 and still has severe money issues. She always says it was a "deal!" or it was only $1 or $20 so what! It was something you didn't need or want really. I told her you wouldnt take 100 $1 bills and burn them would you? That's exactly what you're doing buying crap you don't want or need just because it was cheap.

I'm good at saving money in some areas, but not so much in others. I have friends who can spend hardly anything on groceries, but I can never get my grocery bill down very low. However, we saved a lot of money by only having one car for as long as we could (less spent on gas, car insurance, car payments, etc). We also only have one smart phone (DH has one through his work), and I just have a basic prepaid phone that costs less than $10/month. We've cut back on our cable if we aren't watching much tv, even used just the antenna for a few years!

I do use retailmenot whenever I remember, and also swagbucks and ebates. And I use my reward credit card for everything - I pay it off each month, so no interest, but I earn cash back. Definitely worth it, as long as you don't carry a balance.

YES!!!! I almost put this in my tips, but now that you've mentioned it, I will definitely elaborate. I can spend HOURS in target, just like you, shopping for stuff I don't need! Just yesterday I wandered in for some hair color (I usually do mix-it-yourself Sally's stuff, but the Sally's by my house is in a shady area and my boyfriend was busy) which should have only set me back 6 bucks....I left having spend 60 bucks...how? Well, I wandered into the jewelry section, naturally...they have this great line of nickel-free CZ jewelry that I just love love love....I did get three awesome rings, however! I'm just glad I stopped myself from going into the makeup aisles...I get psycho and scan each area for those little red clearance stickers. But yes. Avoid Target.

Oh, and to tie this all in...how did I afford my little splurge? Well...I have a section for my hair color ($10 a month) so that was simple for the color...for the rings...I took it from my weekly "fun" allowance...looks like this week, I'm staying at home for food and entertainment.

Haha ya that store get me every time. I giggled to myself that Rosie odonnelle and Toni braxton are target nuts too! Their haircare and makeup and skincare isles I could spend hours in! They always have the best holiday decorations too!