I am in the beginning stages of planning a trip all around Europe the summer of 2014. Where on earth do I start? Is there someone out there who knows the ins and out of shoestring travel? We believe in hostels and saving money where we can...

hostels are a fabulous way to go, especially if they serve breakfast as well. Check out rick steve's books on traveling Europe on a budget - great advice there. when we went we bought euro-rail passes ahead of time that we were able to use through all but 2 of the 13 countries we traveled through. huge time and money saver, especially since we planned where to go on the fly.
how long are you planning on going for? that will determine a lot of where to go and how much to plan to see. We found that 4-5 days per city worked pretty well for us to get an overview of each area we visited. or we would pick one central place to stay and take daytrips by train to smaller places near by. If you have any specific questions about different countries or cities feel free to PM me! I love talking about where we've been!!

I've been wondering the same things, as I want to go there next summer.

For airlines in Europe you'll want to look at ryanair and easyjet. The flights are insanely cheap but this is often because they fly to smaller regional airports rather than the large international airports so you may have to pay additional shuttle fees. From there, in Eastern Europe there are various RailEurope passes you can buy that will get you to the countries that ryanair and easyjet don't fly directly to. If you don't want to plan any of your own travel, its also a good idea to look at trips on www.expatexplore.com which are typically very reasonably priced for what you get, in my opinion.

However with ryanair and Easyjet... be careful on the amount of luggage you carry... thats how they make their money

Thanks very much for the information! I really appreciate it!

We took the train everywhere & were able to get great deals on rail travel passes ahead of time through raileurope.ca. We stayed in a few hostels in various parts of France (Paris - Clichy, Tours, Lyon), all of which were very reasonable. We've also spent time in Italy, though hostels are less convenient & harder to find. The wine was cheap though!
I know there are sites that offer home stays, this might be an option. Depends where you intend to travel. You have some very difficult decisions to make (I wouldn't know where to start either, we just chose countries where I could communicate), good luck!

Check out condor Airlines for great prices! Also hostels aren't always the cheapest places to stay, and unless you're a partier, and college age or younger they might not be the funniest place either.
There are often small family run hotels with cheap, clean, and safe private rooms. I used booking.com and tripadvisor a lot when finding small hotels. Also some convents and monasterys have rooms for rent. I've never used them myself but a friend of mine stayed at one in Venice and she said it was perfect and inexpensive. I think she used this website. http://www.monasterystays.com/

Be sure and check out Croatia, it's so wonderful, and quite inexpensive to travel around and to find accomodations. The coast is beautiful and Plitvicka Lakes are truely a wonder of the world.

I am so excited! Thanks so much everyone and keep the ideas and information coming!

Take a look at Slovenia, too!

how long do you have? budget? adventure?

I have anywhere from May 5th to the first of August. I'm hoping 6 weeks altogether somewhere in there and budget is about $6000 (is that reasonable?) not including flights to and from Europe. I have been to France and Italy but my friend has not so we are literally hoping to do all the way from Spain to Greece to Great Britain and back. We are thinking of doing some small tours in there to catch the basics and touristy places of central Europe, then to branch out and really see the places nobody knows about. It's going to be the trip of a lifetime and hopefully I get to see everything. I don't know how long it will be until I get to go back!

Depending on how you like to spend $6000 should get you 6 weeks comfortably. If you decide on Croatia let me know I can give you info on lots of info on good non- touristy places to go and cheap accommodation. Seriously their tourist board should pay me for all the promo I do.

lol That would be amazing! Croatia is a must as i have heard it is spectacular!

We own a townhouse in SW France, less than 2 hours from Spain, weekly rental rate is low, very low if shared. Message me if interested.

6 weeks is pushing it to see what you want, i suggest pick 4 countries at most to see, especially if Italy is one of them. 6000 US or Can or Euro? if its Euro you have plenty, if its US or Can you have about 4600 still fine for your trip on a budget. Budgetplaces.com is another option. During my 4 months of europ backpacking i stayed in hostels, budget hotels and did some couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.com) which made it more affordable and enhanced my experience. Crotia was a country i didnt see and wished i had.