Money saving tips!

Making food from scratch is good start. If you have the room, grow your own herbs. Many will do well in a windowsill.

Look for free things. My roommate just acquired a large chest freezer that will come in handy. When we buy chicken, we buy the whole bird and boil down the bones for soup stock and freeze it.

Look for gleaners in your area.

We put plastic over the windows and hang heavy curtains and blankets over the doors.

Mildew is a big problem in my area so don't sacrifice too much heat or you will be sick all winter.

Make your own cleaning supplies.

Go to the library and find some books on do it yourself projects.

If you can ditch the car, do it.

Don't get married.

I'd say the main thing is to expect value for money. Some ideas some from my student-past some not.

As Dappled said - for god's sake have a budget. Know where you stand.

Don't eat at fast food joints. Terrible food and pricey for what it is. If you are going to eat out go to a nice bistro for lunch (dinner menus price goes up). Great food - great value for money.

Use transit - don't run a car. Or bike. Or walk. If money got tight the car would be 1st to go. Huge expense.

Clip coupons. Make your meals from scratch - better for you and for food value - and processed foods are expensive and not as good nutritionally.

Check the universities, community arts groups and "what's on" for free/affordable entertainment.

Buy used clothes. Give up/restrict expensive habits if you can (like smoking, boozing, gambling).

Share a good sized house with friends - pooling resources etc is better than one person living alone and scrimping for everything. Of course make sure you're not living with a big pain-in-the-ass and that the butt-pain isn't you.

I don't have any heating on in the house and just wear a coat indoors. The utilities company keeps accusing me of having a magnet on my meter because I use less electricity than anyone else. If you have a boiler, make sure it's lagged. And that your house is well-insulated with modern windows.

As for food, I tend not to skimp on ingredients, but I do pretty much make everything myself and if you're prepared to be organised (i.e. soaking dried beans overnight for a meal the next day) you can eat very cheaply indeed. Some meals can cost up to ten times as much if you buy them pre-prepared. I have thirty or forty herbs and spices in my kitchen (always good for flavouring up something bland) plus I use a lot of chillies. I have friends with allotments and they're often inundated with crops so need to spread them around. I get vegetables in return for favours like writing functions in Excel to manage their money (which is another tip for living on a budget - get a handle on where your money is going). Making your own bread is a boon too. I can get a sack of very high quality flour for a pound a kilo. Cheaper than buying bread, fresher, smells lovely, and tastes better. I make my own butter too. Only takes fifteen minutes and you can freeze it. If I have red wine left over, I put it in an ice cube tray and freeze it. Then if I'm making a sauce that calls for wine (say, a bolognese), I add a few frozen wine cubes.

Finally, something I saw my dad doing when I was young and I've done ever since. If I get the last bit of the cordial from a bottle, rather than add the water straight to the cordial in the cup, I add the water to the near empty bottle and swirl it around so no undiluted cordial is wasted.

at home hot water bottles are good, you can fill 2 for the bed and have 2 under your jumper during the day. beetroot juice for lipstick (plus it stays on the lips for weeks) burn a stick and use the charcoal for eye liner , so many ways to save money especially if you like cosmetics. a dozen eggs lasts 12 days, keep bread in the freezer so it lasts for the eggs, just take a slice per day and toast it. if yr desperate hang around the food sample person in the supermarket and eat your fill , i havent tried these things ( except the hot water bottles) but they might help

To save money i mainly cut down things that i don't really need to spend on necessarily like we don't mainly hangout or o out at restaurants for lunch or dinner.. we often bye second hand things or those sold in sale..
while buying books i see if there is a pirated copy of it which is sold at half price ... and when I have read them I sell them again on half price ... i have bought a money box and every time i get some money i put its 20% in it ... that way i save much money for birthdays or any celebration.. there are so many ways but i just cant remember them now..

2nd hand everything.

Don't put heating on of any kind unless it's really necessary i.e. your toes will fall off if you don't.

Buy basic dried foods like rice and pasta.

Don't own a car.

Don't own a pet.

Don't buy expensive alcohol (or alcohol at all).

Don't smoke.

When I grew up money was incredibly tight. It's all fine now, although I'm still reluctant to spend my money. In most wealthy 'Western' countries it's quite hard to die from poverty - there are a lot of support networks available. But it is possible to squander the money you do have, hence why budgeting is important, getting the essentials first and saving any money left over if possible.

Most of my furniture I got thrift, off friends or from my old job. The only new thing in my house is the mattress.

We don't have cable. We have netflix. Prepaid phone plans rather than the actual phone plans. Those have come A LONG WAY. Definitely check them out if you are thinking about saving money on your phone plan and you're not a big smart phone junkie. We do more cooking than take-out or fast food. Fast food will REALLY drain your budget. Cooking seems more expensive but as a long term thing, it actually saves me hundreds a year.

Both of our cars are not new, so we own them fully. Used cars are generally a good bet if you have some sort of mechanical skills or know honest people. With decent maintenance, a good engine will last a while. I change my own oil and do a lot of my own preventative maintenance and it doesn't take nearly as much skill as gawking passerbys like to think I have.

Buy used, buy thrift, clean it up yourself and if it makes you feel better, buying used and thrift is actually better for the environment unless you're buying a vehicle that gets horrible gas mileage or a couch made of... asbestos. It's really not as difficult as people like to make it sound.

Also, buying wholesale and sticking to shopping lists is a good idea too and making your own foods will help you stay healthy which is good for your healthcare bill assuming you pay one. Cutting out trips to get meals and planning trips a little better saves some on gas.

Focus on the little things too, they always tend to add up. Don't pay with a credit card unless you can pay that card off at the end of the month, don't take out unnecessary loans because interest is a bitch. I use my credit card for literally everything and I will be getting a rewards gift card in the mail for it. However, I pay it off at the end of the month, promptly, and don't overuse. Try to build a good rapport with family and borrow from them and pay them back promptly. My family is always willing to loan me money because I always pay them back before I say I will.

If you drive go everywhere you need to go in one trip.

Get a second job if possible.

Look for swap groups on Facebook.

Sell junk you don't need. Even junk you think you do need...

Learn to repair things. Electronics especially. Vehicle repair is good too. Rebel against the consumerist mindset!