I generally have the same philosophy as yourself. One thing that has helped me is my youth, they have low salaries and helps my budget. You can also play friendlies as often as possible to get revenue.

The Cup to me is a distant dream. If I make it to round of sixteen, I do a happy dance. Having a good, full team will always get you a tough Cup draw. Some people sell off their players and get FA's to lower their Q average. This is not something I could do, i have trained my guys and really am attached to them. So I just do the best I can with Cup (keep in mind when you have the good team you get into a higher Cup and better prizes too).