When working with blender you will find yourself using shortcuts as soon as possible. These shortcuts will make your life much easier.

Scale on 2 axis
S+Shift+(axis you don't want to scale)

loop cut & smooth
Ctrl + R+ alt + mouse wheel number of cuts

select edge loop and mirror
Shift + alt

connect verts
select two verts + j

extrude evenly
e + s

beauty fill
alt+shift+f

change pivot
ctrl+shift+alt+c

Hide/Unhide selection
Shift+H/alt+H

duplicate & link
alt+D instead of Ctrl+D

move to another layer
m