I have played sports all my life and the one thing every good coach I remember does is stick to the basics.  For example, I still recall my high school basketball coach, Mr. Ellinger drilling me at nearly every practice the fundamentals of a jump shot and free throw.  Even today my tennis coach Kevin does the same thing, he is all about teaching the fundamentals of tennis.  He never wastes our time and my money on coaching me outside of my ability since I am not trying to win Wimbledon!  The same is true for saving more of your hard earned money especially now at a time when prices are increasing faster than we can absorb the shock. 

Everyone is feeling the pinch so now is the time to stick to money saving basics which are tied to your financial LIMITS:

1)       KNOW your limits - perhaps it is time to sit down and look at the big picture and adjust some categories of spending in your budget, especially if your living expenses are up and income has remained unchanged.  Ignorance here is not bliss.

2)       HONOR your limits - do what it takes to prevent overspending. Plan the when, where and why you are spending, then shop within a list, look for store deals and by all means use coupons!  Your spending behaviors over time will reveal if you are successful in saving money.

3)       SHARE your limits - in our family we all embrace a common goal of saving money, in other words, doing the best we can with what we have.  Even with our kids, when they have seemingly endless requests for toys, games, sports equipment and activities, we remind them of our common family goal.  This usually provokes much thought which then usually stalls the request until it goes away or we can work something out.  This works on spouses too.

Not rocket science just the basics.