how to save money in life!?

Electric bill..... check out your thermostat. If it is an old one, replace it with a digital one that can be programmed. This way you can turn everything off while you are gone and keep the house at a constant temperature. Try this: 76 in summer and 78 in winter... yes, the family will hate you.... but your PG&E bill will be really low.

Check your windows... if they are old and drafty then insulate. Go online and find a do-it-yourself way to fix that problem or replace the windows. (not likely if you rent... so get the stuff to insulate and plug the drafts). Any Home Depot will be happy to help and give advise.

Cars.... buy used and save up 3 years worth of imaginary car payments to have the funds for the next used one. Sorry... I only ever bought used. They are mine... they don't cost me hundreds of dollars every month, the insurance is low because I am not forced to carry "full coverage" and guess what... I can even put money away towards a repair fund. What is the worst that can happen? A transmission? approx. $3000 and how many car payments is that? Woopdeedoo... The average car loan is at least 5 years.... that is 60 months... and after that... the car is useless because you didn't have enough money to keep up the maintenance. That includes an oil change every 8 weeks.... do this and you will be just fine.

cell phone... what on earth do you need it for? Unless your job pays for it... you don't need it. Get an answering machine. There used to be life before the cell phone... how did we ever manage?

Food: That one is tricky and requires a huge amount of discipline.

You only go grocery shopping once a week and only with a list.

Avoid the trip for a gallon of milk because you will end up spending $40 on stuff you didn't know you needed.

So make a certain day the day to go shopping for a weeks worth of groceries and stick to the list and your budgeted amount. Bring along a calculator and start taking the unnecessary stuff out of the cart once you hit the budget amount.... Ask your kids to help with this. You would be amazed... a 10 year old makes the perfect grocery police that stops you when you reached your limit. Just hand him or her the calculator and give him the job to make sure we don't go over the budget....

http://www.debtproofliving.com/

there is a 12 step group called debtorsanonymous.com & you can find phone meetings you can listen in with your speaker phone if you have free long distance & they are in your free calling area. There are people from all walks of life doing a lot to manage their money so try some meetings or just listen in since you might not be a debtor but want to prevent that.

also look up cheapskate.com

Get automatic deductions from your checking to savings account every month the day after payday. 10% consistently will add up over time.

Also, see if your employer offers a 401K plan.

I have been using 5gplan.com as my blueprint for helping me save money. It provides the answers to most of the questions you are searching for. I suggest creating a free account with them - you got nothing to lose.

I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

Good luck!

1) budget

2) diligence