Cut every corner to get bang from your bucks

Another way of getting your retirement money to “go the distance” has to do with adapting your lifestyle. We asked Natalija Cameron, who writes a blog titled Frugal in SA (frugalinSA.com) to share her top three tips for helping retirees to stretch their money:

sioners’ discount you can get. “In South Africa this includes not only shopping on specific days at your local supermarket, but also applying for rates rebates with your local council,” says Cameron. Cash in on a variety of discounts: your TV licence, travel, hotel stays, restaurants and cinemas, to name a few;

up on items which you use regularly — toiletries or supplements, for example — which will help you save quite a bit in the long run,” she says. “Consider buying secondhand. Make use of loyalty programmes and cash-back rewards whenever retailers offer them”; and

thing and everything for as long as possible, then repurpose,” says Cameron. Cotton shirts can become cleaning rags and jam jars can become storage canisters.

These tricks may sound simple enough, but when implemented regularly, they can have a significant effect on your cash levels. What’s more, you need not wait until retirement to get going. A growing movement, known as “extreme frugality” has seen people slashing unnecessary spending and using tips such as these to save as much as 70% of their income.