Lot of great ideas on here! Can't believe it took me so long to wonder over here!

For us, we stick to a REALLY tight budget, we know exactly to the penny what comes in, and what goes out every month and its broken down to each pay period. Our spread sheet is crazy long, lol. Plus, we max out on deductions to get more bang for our buck in our paychecks. It comes in handy for paying off debt and just living then waiting till the end of the year for a big check. Why not keep our money now instead of wait for it? Plus for those of us who have children to claim, typically you still get some type of refund at the end of the year even maxing out your deductions.

Plus, we budget for everything! Like, we have gas down to how many miles we actually drive each week, plus a little float room for extra errands. Say we reach the "allowed" amount for the week on one car on wednesday, but the other car still has another fill up in the budget plus already has half a tank, then we car pool with the one car till the next cycle of filling up the other. On average, we save $72 a month in gas by doing it this way.

We're also firm believers in no "extras", we don't go out for dinner unless it was added into the budget the month previous. There's no going out to the movies. We both take lunches to work and so forth. We do however work in $20 a month spending for each of us, and that can be used however we want. Should one blow it in one day, well then thats it for the month! Can't stop for a pop real quick or grab a quick bite to eat, because the spending money is gone. We also budget in $30 to eat out for days when mommy is sick and can't cook : ) Plus having that, if DD gets a good report card or something we can go celebrate safely because its always in the budget. And whatever is not spent that month, we just roll over to the next month as added income and allocate it to debt.

We're also a if its not on sale, don't buy it kind of family. Also, there's a difference between want and need. If there's a want, then its worked into the budget little by little. Whether it be $5 a week, or whatever we can squeeze in. If its a need, then we'll readjust the budget to make it work.

Also, we stock up. We have a membership to one of those "bulk" places, and use that to stock up on all our cleaning products, paper items, canned goods and so forth. We save a LOT in the long run then just watch sales at regular grocery stores. We end up having to shop less, because you just go to the pantry for what you need. But a big key with buying groceries no matter where you buy them is having and sticking to a budget! Say you budget $100 a week, keep track while you're shopping of a running total. If at the end its over the 100 then decide what to put back. All the sales in the world won't help if you don't stick to what you have set aside to spend. Now granted that's not always easy, but doing the right thing rarely ever is.

When living by a budget its also SUPER important to remember to have an emergency fund. Build it up to a grand or so as soon as you can. Then, when something does happen, sit on it for a day (if you can) and decide if its REALLY an emergency and there's not some other way to come up with the funds...i.e. cashing in all that change stored in a jar, returning your pop cans if you get deposits on them. That way if an emergency does come up, it won't effect your immediate month to month living. And your first step after, is replenishing what you spent. And over time, after your debt is paid off, having 6 months worth of income saved.

I'm also an avid thrift shopper. I'm a mom to one and one on the way, clothes don't last long enough to make it worth buying everything "new". Just about everything my child owns was bought at a thrift store, second hand shop or salvation army. The only new items she gets are special occasion outfits (wedding or xmas party) and bathing suits. Other then that, its always second hand somehow. Which she actually enjoys much more because if she's behaved awesome the whole time shopping, then we can wonder over to the toy section and pick one out for less then $2 and she's thrilled to bits!

We also don't typically buy books, we hit the library. DD and I go once a week for some new reads, which is great because she changes so fast that buying new books is a waste of money. Its a guarantee that she won't touch a book she liked last year because she's getting older and its too "easy" for her she says. And you'd have to be rich to afford the kind of variety you get from a library.

This biggest thing is just making a budget and sticking to it. Throw in all your constant expenses (mortgage, food, phone, etc), and all your "discretionary" expenses ($20 spending money, cell phones, etc). Start by keeping EVERY recipet for an entire month, and include interest on any credit cards or anything thats financed. You can't create a workable budget without knowing exactly how much you spend. And once you have that and you're ready to start paying down debt, start with the smallest. You'll be able to knock out a LOT more by doing little ones at first then concentrating all your efforts on one big one. By the time you're done paying all the little ones, then you've got say, $300 a month to throw down on the big one instead of just the minimum.