Almost every enemy in the game has weaknesses and strengths versus various attacks and conditions. Think logically about what the enemy's weakness is, and exploit it! For example, if an enemy is casting water spells, cast lightning on it! Even the toughest of bosses can be brought to a stop with spells like Sleep and Shadow Snap.
Talk to everyone and everything.
Talk to everything that moves and everything that doesn't. There are many hidden items that you can only get by talking. Occationally you will have to find someone in a city to go on with the game also! So talk to everyone!
Save often.
No one wants to have to replay an entire segment of the game because he/she died! Save often to prevent this. There are no disadvantages of saving, so save every chance you get.
Conserve items.
You will need the items you get. Hold on to all the healing items you can. If you're low, get more. Always make sure you have lots of them before a boss fight, even when you're not expecting one. Don't waste an ether for example against an easy enemy. But at the same time don't wait till 3 of your characters are dead to heal up.
Buy LOTS of Potions and Phoenix Downs.
You won't last long without healing against the monsters that do lots of damage (almost all of them). Items are quite useful when you need to conserve MPs and heal at the same time. Phoenix Downs are especially useful against bosses who have a habit of killing your characters in one hit! Buy LOTS and LOTS of curing items. As many as you can! Especially in the beginning of the game.
Use sources.
Sources increase your character's stats by 5 permenantly! Use them! Your characters will become a lot more powerful as a result. Look for them after boss fights. You always get a source after fighting a boss.
Think about the order of attack.
Keep track of when each person attacks during a battle. This is very useful for healing. For example, if the person using the Potion comes before the person using the Phoenix Down, the potion is wasted and that character will most likely die shortly after. Keep track of when the enemy hits also to avoid having him kill your party before the healer can do his/her job.
Don't use autobattle.
NEVER, EVER use autobattle unless you have no items, are near a free MP fill up point, or don't care if you use all your good spells and items on easy enemies, because autobattle will do just that! In almost no circumstances is it good to use autobattle.
Look for free cures.
Keep on the look out for free cure ups! Often monks or other random people will fill up your life for free! White Chocobos will fill up your magic for free too! To take full advantage of this, you can use this to level up! Go out and fight. When you get low on HPs and MPs, go use the free healing! Repeat.
It's ok to run from battles!
Even the random battles in this game can be quite difficult! If your party is low on HPs, or if you just don't want to fight a battle for any reason like knowing a boss is near, run away! Now you don't want to run from every battle or you won't level up and get GP, but often it is a good idea to run.
Sell old equipment.
If you're low on funds (and you probably are, especially in the beginning), don't forget all the extra equipment you have lying around! You can make a lot of GP by selling your old equipment even if you only get half as much GP back as you spent. Of course, if you found the equipment, free GP!!! This is especially useful if you're low on curative items or need to use the inn.
Explore dungeons for items.
Dungeons have many useful items and equipment. To keep up with the increasingly dangerous enemies, keep your character well equipped! Buying weapons and armor from cities can be expensive, so why buy when you can pick it up for free! Also, many items that are expensive (like Ethers) or you're unable to get in shops (like Elixers) can be found in dungeons as well as large sums of money! And you're going to need all the items and money you can get, so go hunt out those treasure chests!
LEVEL UP!!!
So you've tried everything against an enemy and just can't beat it despite your efforts and tactics on this site. When in doubt LEVEL UP!!! Always! If you can't beat a boss, you just may not be a high enough level to handle it. One more time: LEVEL UP!!!!!!!!!
