The first start to your savings journey should be building up emergency savings equivalent to three to six months of your monthly salary.

The idea of saving for retirement, or even just saving in the current environment where every cent counts, can be daunting, but the first step is simply tracking your money to see how much is coming in and how much is going out.

Speaking at a recent Money Cents webinar on Smart Savings, Kirsten Smit, an advisory partner at Citadel, recommended that you make a Sunday habit of reviewing your finances.

"Sit down with a glass of wine or tea, track your spending, and then tally it with where you want to be. Over time, as this becomes a habit you will start becoming more confident about your finances and that's when the magic starts to happen," she said.

Although there are several retirement-savings calculators available on various financial company websites, the numbers they spit out can be quite intimidating.

John Manyike, the head of financial education at Old Mutual, said we often underestimate the psychological barriers to saving. "Very often, people are willing to save but they may have their own historical trauma around money or their mindset needs to shift," he pointed out.

Farzana Botha, a senior communications manager at Sanlam Risk and Savings, said like anything else...