Thirteen might not be the luckiest of number, but 2013 could be a pretty good year to get on a better financial footing — if you’re not fussy.

1. PLAY MAKE-BELIEVE

If you could pretend to be a cowboy when you were a kid, why can’t you imagine that one day you’ll be able to retire? If you can believe it, you can save.

2. CREATE ONE ‘NO-SPEND-ZONE’

Choose a Saturday each month where you don’t spend money. No fair pulling out plastic.

3. SAVE SENTIMENTAL CASH

Examine the serial number on each $1 bill. Then, save bills that start with a special letter, like your first initial, said Samirian Hill, president of BudgetWise Financial Solutions.

4. USE WHAT YOU’VE GOT

It is possible to make dinner out of what’s at home at least one day a week. Need a use for small bottles of shampoo in the closet? My husband made a game out of regularly tapping into our stockpile. We got about three months of shampoo free.

5. CANCEL A SERVICE

“I cancelled cable in 2002,” said Gabriella Barthlow, a certified credit counselor and owner of the Alpha Advisory Group in Birmingham, Mich. She has saved thousands of dollars. She waits until a TV series is on DVD at her library.

6. WATCH ATM FEES

If you’re out of town and not near your bank, it may be possible to avoid ATM fees by using your debit card at a nearby supermarket. Some supermarkets allow cash back on a debit card purchase. If you go to an ATM that’s not part of your bank, you’d typically pay your bank a fee of $1.57 and pay the ATM owner an additional $2.50 on average, according to Bankrate.com.

7. BANK ONE MORE BUCK

Charge $1 every single time you break a New Year’s resolution. Make sure everyone in the house makes one promise — not to yell at the TV during a football game, not to forget to put away the laundry. Put that money toward a goal.

8. GO TO YOUR KIDS AND ASK THEM HOW TO SAVE MONEY

“If the family is struggling economically, the kids know that in the household,” said Gregory Downing, a former auto dealer and author of “Entrepreneur Unleashed: Wealth to Stand the Test of Time.”

It’s OK to be upfront with older children, if your take-home pay was cut by 50 percent and you now have to buy your own health insurance, said the Florida father of three, ages 17, 13 and 11.

Children can be part of the solution, he said, noting teens need to work, as well, even if only doing odd jobs for pay.

Back in the summer, my 14-year-old son told me to stop buying him T-shirts and hoodies. I had gotten into a bad habit of frequently picking up something cool and cheap. Nice, but he had too much. It has been an easy way to save $5 or $10 here and there.

9. THINK “JUST IN TIME”

Buying in bulk can save money, say by freezing butter bought on sale during the holidays.

But “avoid overstocking your refrigerator and pantry,” said Tomika Snodgrass, a vice president for RBS Citizens in Southfield. The mom of two only buys items for her weekly plan.

10. DON’T CLIP COUPONS

This anti-coupon tip sounds counter-intuitive because so much marketing works against it these days, said Laura Lee, author of “Broke is Beautiful: Living and Loving the Cash-Strapped Life.”

Shoppers who peruse bargain circulars, sign up for emails from stores, join Facebook groups and so on are constantly bombarded with deals. “Buying stuff involves spending money, not saving it,” Lee said.

If you clip coupons, prioritize based on your budget.

11. BUY SOME BANDAGES — AND MAYBE A BED PAN?

Some rules changed in 2011 and now you’re required to have a prescription from a doctor if you want to be reimbursed as part of a flexible spending account for buying over-the-counter medicine or drugs.

But many do not realize that there are 32,000 services and items that would be reimbursed by FSA funds — and do not need a prescription for reimbursement, said Natasha Rankin, executive director for the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation in Washington.

She noted that, on average, people lose $138 after not filing for reimbursements or not spending the necessary amounts in flexible spending accounts. Online stores even sell items that qualify for FSA dollars.

“People think they can’t buy any products any more,” said Jeremy Miller, president of FSAstore.com. Miller notes that’s not true.

Check with your sponsor about deadlines for spending and filing for reimbursements.

A new FSA cap hits in January. The maximum an employee can set aside is $2,500. If both spouses are working, the maximum allowed is $5,000.

12. GO OFF-SHORE

No, not really off-shore. But why not bank far from home? If you choose a financial institution that is a hike to get to, it could be difficult to empty that account, said Dorothy Barrick, financial counselor and group manager for GreenPath Debt Solutions, a national nonprofit credit counselor. Of course, just pulling out a debit card from that bank would defeat the purpose.

The odd thought here: Don’t just work for your money; work hard to avoid spending it, too.

13. HOLD OFF ON DONATIONS

Depending on what happens to tax rates, a charitable contribution could be a more valuable deduction if you send the check next year, according to Robert Shefferly III, certified public accountant, senior tax manager for the national tax office for Plante Moran in Southfield, Mich.

Susan Tompor is the personal finance columnist for the Detroit Free Press. She can be reached at stompor@freepress.com.