Get Thrifty
There are many ways to get thrifty and save on spending money while not depriving oneself of necessities. For example Thrift stores actually have alot of slightly used clothing, suits and especially jeans that would look just the same if you bought them new and wore them a few times. Once through the wash and these are ready to go. There is no big sign on the pockets that say, "these jeans were bought at a thrift store". In fact, noone cares where you bought them and some are even brand names. Sometimes even the Thrift Stores have sales and that makes things even cheaper. In the end it is all about the quality of whatever you buy, not necessarily the price.
Being Thrifty
Being Thrifty means taking every opportunity to save money while still buying the items you need. It can mean using advertiser coupons to get items you were going to buy anyways at a reduced price. Some stores offer double and triple coupon discounts so that is even better. Taking the time to find out the extras your particular neighborhood grocery and other stores offer including bonus programs, membership cards etc.. will help save money in the long run. If a store will accept a credit card, you can use that to make grocery and other regular purchases as long as you PAY the credit card bill when it comes in. If you lack this discipline, then it is not worth the interest charges and you should just pay with debit card or cash, but if you have cleared off a credit card by paying off the balance and you can reliably set aside the needed amount to pay off the card every month, you can rack up some great gifts or frequent flyer miles just by buying things you were going to pay a cheque, cash or debit card for anyway...
A first step to becoming more thrifty is to find out where your monthly money is going to begin with. It may be a pain, but on the first of next month, just take out a paper pad and start writing down Everything you spend money on. At the end of the month it will be clear where your money has gone and you can look at it objectively and find places to rearrange your money allocation. If it looks good, great! If it does not look so good, then at least you understand the basic equation of income versus outflow and if the outflow side wants to be bigger, it needs to be tamed, spread out over time or scaled back until the income side gets bigger.
We should always be spending some energy on finding ways to increase the income side while keeping the spending side under control. Easier said than done, but one thing is for sure, sitting around and saying that you need more money will not bring in more money. Getting information, training and taking action even in small steps will surely bring positive change over time.