You don't have to stay in a hostel to have cheap accommodations, make sure you check out two and three star hotels in the cities you visit. If you share a room at a reasonably priced hotel, you will probably spend the same amount of money, not to mention you may be in a better part of town. The upside of hostels are the laid back, cheap travel oriented community they offer, with other young adults proffering advice and companionship (which can be helpful and safer if you are traveling solo).

http://www.eurocheapo.com/ This site has scoured Europe's most popular cities to find hotels that are both welcoming and wallet-friendly. You can scour their reviews and sugestions of hotels throughout the world to find the right hotel at the right price. Also, I am a big fan of their Travel Blog; it has great ideas for cheap souvenirs in different cities. in addition to great content from contributors around the world. The website also keeps you up to date with European train schedules and sales. The website has a great team of correspondents and a constantly updated stream of content. 

http://www.hostelworld.com/ and http://www.hostelbookers.com/ and http://www.hostelz.com/  are the most comprehensive websites for hostel listings and reservation services. Before you book a hostel on one of the hostel websites, email the hostel yourself. Sometimes you will get a lower rate. However, make sure you do your homework on the hostel, and check out each of these websites for price and reviews. Hostelworld.com is the most extensive and helpful in that it has an extensive amount of reviews and compiles reviews to create an up-to-date list of the "top hostels of the month." Hostelworld.com is most similar to tripadvisor.com, and reviews are very helpful and enlightening. In addition, check out the hostelworld.com's new section which lets users (who have an account) upload their trip itinerary and search other users' trip itineraries. Users comment on their trips and offer useful travel advice.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ Every traveler should check out this website and use it as much as possible. It is simply the most extensive collection of traveler reviews, anywhere. My favorite parts are the hotel reviews and the forums.

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2006/10/02/AR2006100200403_2.html Budgettravel, the website offshoot of the American travel magazine, provides insightful articles about cost-conscious vacations. This link is to an article about "50 Utterly Charming Hotels for Around $100." The article outlines and describes these 50 hotels, organized by country. Make sure you cross reference any hotel you read about on tripadvisor.com and other user review websites.

http://budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400890_4.html This budgettravel article outlines the "Secret Hotels of Rome." It goes through 20 hotels for around $80 a night. You don't always have to stay in a hostel to find cheap lodging.

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2007/08/07/AR2007080700906.html This budgettravel article outlines the "39 Affordable Hotel Chains Only the Locals Know." It goes through international hotel chains you may have never heard of, that are very reasonably priced. You can save a lot of money by being more informed of local or regional travel chains and brands.