C & M you could be me! LOL I'm really careful w/ money. I'm a stay-at-home mom. Money is less tight than when my dd was a baby but, back then, just to stay home I had to really economize.
If you really want to save money here's a question to ask yourself before you open your wallet: "do I really need this or do I just want it?" If it's need, you buy it, if it's want, put it back.
Another way I save money is second-hand clothing. I don't know if I have a single item of clothing that is not name-brand anymore. I can tell you that almost all of it was under $10/item, though. Coats were $15 (I currently have three winter coats: a Far West ski jacket that was like new, an Old Navy puffy down-filled jacket, and a Gap wool pea coat. The most expensive was $15). When I tell people this, they are shocked. They say my children and I are so beautifully dressed and stylish, they can't believe it's mostly used. My mom says to me almost every visit now, "you can't have gotten that used!" but I have. Women frivolously buy clothes and never wear them or wear them a handful of times. If you can find a good consignment store, you can find all of their beautiful castoffs at cheaper than clearance prices. I find the very good bame brands, like Ralph Lauren, last quite a bit longer than new Old Navy or Walmart. I also check on facebook sale pages and kijiji.
Thirdly, my favourite word: Clearance. Once you start watching for sale items, you'll notice certain stores put things on clearance for no good reason. Things that were full price 6 weeks earlier are now super cheap, especially clothes. You can check online to see if a certain store is having a sale before you even go in (ie; Children's Place, The Gap, Sears...). In Canada, Sears has an outlet section on their website. Just look in the top tool bars and you'll find it. Hint: sometimes they'll have the same item as is on the regular website but cheaper+Sears will deliver FREE to any Sears store, even if you only have a little Sears catalogue depot or appliance store.
Some other things we do:
*instead of joining a gym, find a running buddy
*pizza? Little Caesar's hot n ready $5 for a medium pepperoni (they have other kinds now, too, for a little more)
*sell your old junk on kijiji or facebook
* store flyers:you can check them out online strating on Thursday nights or Friday mornings. Shop at the one that has the est deals of groceries that you need.
*Be careful of buy one get one half off or free, especially at the grocery store. it's not always a 'deal'. Sobeys does this with meat, then makes you buy a $50 package.
*Budget by the paycheck and do not go over or charge. If you have money leftover, transfer it to a savings or investment. If you run out of money, you'll have to wait til next pay. This really keeps you from charging and charge cards can be a wicked game. I have one, only for emergencies, that must be paid in full at the end of each month.
I have more tips, but I've taken up more than my fair share of space. I'm always interested in other people's budget ideas. Keep 'em coming.