For starters, you need to consider how much debt you have. If you have credit card debt, it is probably putting a major dent in the amount of money you're NOT saving each month. To stop this problem, simply begin paying your credit cards off, and keep them paid off, so that you can save the money you'd normally spend on credit card bills. Pay off your highest interest cards first, while still making minimum payments on the other cards. Once you've paid off one, move on to the next.

When they're all taken care of, don't use them unless you have an emergency or can afford to pay off the whole balance each month. Then you can put all of that money that you have used to spend on those bills into a retirement or savings account. Other debts, such as a car loan or mortgage, can be paid off, as well, allowing you to save more in the end. For example, if you take a year or two and pay double car payments to get your loan paid off, you'll have the rest of your working life to save that expense in your retirement account. If your car payment was $300 a month, that's $300 more you'll have to save each month. And if your car runs well and does its job, don't trade it in just because you can; that's an expense you can live without.

If you are truly serious about finding different ways to save for retirement, you will deal with not having everything that you want. All that you need to do is to cut your living expenses as much as you possible can and only buy the things that you really need. After all, if you had money to shop all the time, you'd likely have money saved for retirement as well. Or maybe that is why you do not have a retirement account set up. Nonetheless, in times like these, you can't rely on Social Security to provide you with any security at all, so saving your own money is imperative. If you're young enough to get a good investment out of an IRA or 401k account, your money should be saved there. If not, consider a high-yield savings account that averages between 4%-5% APY to maximize your savings. Whatever you do, don't just throw money into a standard savings account; make it work FOR you.