Even in retirement, growing your money is important so you are prepared for emergency expenses, more open to business opportunities, and spontaneous vacations around the world with your significant other.

In this post, we’ll share some tips that will make you richer in a year’s time, which requires some sacrifices. If you want to add a couple of digits to your bank account next year, keep reading.

1. Cut back on three unnecessary expenses

For people who are living on the Age Pension, saving money means not spending it. Make sense right? But is that all you can do?

When you have no stable income streams, think of cutting back three non-essential expenses that you are currently paying on a regular basis. If you get rid of things you don’t really need, you will notice the extra cash at the end of the month. These expenses could be downgrading your mobile plan, making your own lunch and dinners at home, cancelling your newspaper subscription (read news online instead).

When you successfully eliminated three non-essentials from your monthly budget, you will have more money for savings and investments.

2. Pay cash

Many of us have the impulse buyer tendency. If you want to start changing the way you shop where you usually end up going home with things that are not in your shopping list, take out your credit cards from your wallet before going to the shops.

Once you’ve established the habit of paying cash, you’ll save on interest (especially if you can’t pay off your balance before due date), and you’ll save on credit card fees.

3. Don’t incur a new debt

If the easiest way to save is to stop spending on things you don’t actually need, the same principle applies on debt management. If you want to avoid serious debts, don’t take on a new debt, and pay off any existing debt.

For someone with a significantly bigger debt, this may sound easier said than done. But by avoiding a new debt, and focusing on paying off your current debt, and making minimum monthly payments, your will eventually get out of the red.

4. Make the switch to zero-interest cards

Do you have a scary amount of credit card debt? We urge you to consider a credit card that charges zero interest. There are credit card providers that offer zero balance transfers on existing credit card debt, and pay off the principal debt as much as you can without paying any interest.

5. Reduce living costs by 10 per cent

Ten per cent may be a bit too hard for many but if you want to reach your savings goal by the end of 2018, this is worth your sacrifice. Ofcourse, there are expenses that you can’t reduce like your rent or mortgage payments, but you can definitely cut back on groceries, food, entertainment, utilities, fuel, and insurance by 10 percent.

What are you best money-saving tips? Let us know in the comments.