So this was one of my last year's goal. Here is how I achieved that $XXX/week extra in saving.
1. Switch to debit card and pre-assign how much you want to spend/month: A translation I made on Credit card was paid automatically in full by the end of the next month (due date), that made me not think about what I am spending on at all. Using debit card (simple.com) made me think after every transaction.
2. Set goals if you want to buy something non essential: I use simple.com for this. If I wanted to buy something, I would first set a goal that I want to save up $300 in N days. This reduced by impulsive buying habit. I still buy few books randomly but you can cheat at times (try BookBub.com, really saves money on ebooks).
3. Map out your cashflow: Just create a note of your incoming cash (after tax). Now send x% of high yield saving account (I use barclays bank), x% of monthly expenses (rent/mortgage/food etc), keep a little in your checking account. This helps you understand where your money is going. Its ok if you are not able to save much, the key is first tracking it manually (mint.com etc is great but start with a simple note).
4. Invest a part of your cashflow: I am not a huge fan of investing all my savings (after 401k): So I invest about 10% of my cash after tax to an index fund on Vanguard (you can use betterment/wealthfront too).
These 4 things gave a much better overview of my finances and where my money is going. This doesn't mean stop spending less (difference b/w being frugal vs being cheap) but at-least start understanding how to deal with money.
I got this idea of using my twitter follower graph and extracting out entities like movies, restaurants, books and people they talk about.
I have noticed that I end up eating at places, go to coffee shops, read book and watch movies/shows people I follow talk about. If there was a simpler way to browse that, it might be useful.
I am surprised no one has suggested https://www.upwork.com/ (formerly elance/odesk) yet. I have hired people for small work there and made professional relationships with them too. You can find good US based companies there and they do good work! Strongly recommend.
I wish there were laws for H1B visa holders to work on side projects. I had a chat with an immigration attorney and she said I can't even work on a side project because its still "work" outside of my H1B petition.
Going with an LLC is a far dream. I work on side projects but forced to not build something where I can charge for the service because it will be illegal for USCIS.
I know many people who do this (work on side projects, help startups for equity) and then create shell companies to move the money. Now that's really illegal and I don't feel comfortable doing that.