Having just returned from six weeks in Ethiopia, I can say that prices certainly have increased well beyond the guidebooks, even the Brandt (which is 2008). If you will eat local food (ie. injera and wat) then eating will be cheap ($2 a meal or less), but almost all hotels will have foreigner pricing which is 2x the local price. I didn't stay in too many ultra-cheap hotelsas as I had a bit higher budget (but did get stuck in them a few times), but low end hotels were basically bar/brothels with dubious cleanliness (and then there's the fleas ...)... its not SE Asia. For something very basic and clean, expect to pay at least $4-5 (no bathroom, obviously) ... nicer spots will be closer to $10 (double that for Addis) but will have a bathroom. Buses are cheap ... Addis to Bahir Dar was about $10; ~$18 for the newer "SkyBus" line, but they are generally slow and prone to breakdowns ... and seem to all leave damn early (your need to be there ~5am) as they have to be off the road by dark (in theory).
As for doing things, there's not a lot that you can do on the cheap ... here's my advice:
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southern tours are typically done on hired 4x4s (~$150/day) ... you CAN bus it to Jinka (2 days from Addis) though the market there is so so (though the Mursi do occasionally show up there); Key Afer is a much better market and is reachable by bus. Unfortunately, local transport (big trucks) that go to the other smaller villages will not take tourists so you'll either have to hire a 4x4 ($$$! ... but you can hire them in Jinka) or stick with the villages you can reach by bus (Jinka, Key Afer, Weito). All the other tribal villages require a guide fee (~$4) and then you'll be paying for most photos (not much ... 1 or 2 Birr per person but it adds up) ... if you have a vehicle, you can stop at other villages not normally visited and that was a lot of fun.
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you want to see the hippos and crocs on Lake Chamo (by Arba Minch)? They have a preset price (~$25-30 per person) and you will not find anyone outside of their collective (we tried!)
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Blue Nile Falls is fairly cheap (~$5) and can be reached on local transport
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boat trips on Lake Tana were about $15 per person if you see the near monasteries ... going deeper to see the others (which were better, IMO) is about $150 for the boat
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hiking in the Simien requires several mandatory hires (guide, scout) ... you might be able to do it without the cook, mules/muleteers, etc but I don't know (I jumped in with a group that went fully equipped ... it was about $50/person inc. transportation) ... going alone, the minimum price was about $40 a day (though more people lowers this ... but see below).
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Axum is cheap (except for St. Mary's Cathedral which was about $14-15) but the main thing to see up there are the rockhewn churches (definitely worth the effort!) but you have to hire a car for that as most are not near the highway ... (though it was cheaper ... only about $100 a day). However, there was a temporary road (the highway was being repaired) that went directly past Debre Damo, so that would be easily reached by bus.
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Lalibela has a one fee ticket (~$20) that's good everywhere in town for 5 days.
I would definitely recommend bringing a few more $$$ than you think; you will likely need it. Obviously, finding other people helps to lower the shared costs ... but this was my biggest gripe about Ethiopia:
There are only two kinds of tourists there ... older people with a lot of money (who aren't interested in sharing the cost), and poor backpackers who have no money and aren't doing anything at all. It was very frustrating trying to find other people like myself (who fall in between the two extremes) ... I usually succeeded but occasionally had to bite the bullet.
I would (again) recommend saving a bit more $$$ ... it gives you a lot more freedom/choices and there's some very interesting things to see!
