Yeah you definitely have to be disciplined, even with the loans. If you go down the road I did and borrow way more than you need, to benefit from the low interest it can be very tempting to spend the lot instead of sticking to your budget. If you can discipline yourself then there's definitely money to be saved.
I like the idea of getting a credit card to buy everything on like has already been mentioned, so that you get discounts on stuff or cash back etc, but there's always that temptation there so as yet I've steered clear of credit cards all together. In fact I've never had a credit card.