Today is World Savings Day, or the Day of Saving! World Savings Day has been celebrated since 1924, proclaimed by the very first International Savings Bank Congress. In the Italian city of Milan, the World Savings Banks Association decided that a day should be established to raise global awareness about the importance of saving. Something that remains incredibly important to this day!

The idea of highlighting saving perfectly aligned with the Dutch Nutsspaarbank. For many years, a calendar was given away on 31 October. And starting from the 1950s, various commercials were shown on television, advertisements were placed in local newspapers, and babies born during Savings Bank Week (the week after 31 October) received a savings book with an initial free deposit. Young savers received gifts and a magazine or comic book from Spekkie Spaarduit, the piggy bank that taught children how to save.

Advertisement Nieuwsblad voor Heiloo 15-10-1969

Why is saving important?

Savings behaviour helps you gain control over your own money and thus your financial future. Saving is all about not wasting, spending money carefully, and planning how to use money. That is why it is incredibly important to teach this to young children. It's quite simple: learn young, do old. And it’s not just about money, but also about water, items, electricity, collecting loyalty points, and so forth. As you can see below, the tips from back then are still incredibly relevant.

Advertisement Nieuwe Leidsche Courant 29-10-1974

How can I save?

Saving is hard, we know that. That is why Nibud, an independent Dutch information institute, has compiled various tips. Think about making a step-by-step plan, saving stamps, automating saving through your bank, and setting a guideline to save at least 10% of your income monthly. The most important thing is 'goal saving'.

Saving with a concrete goal (for example, a new kitchen or new sneakers) often motivates more than 'just' saving. The closer the 'reward' for saving is in the future, the easier saving becomes.

Want to know more about Savings Day? On the 200 Years of Nutsspaarbank website, you can read much more about it. Want to start saving? Then open a money pot through our app.