How simple families save in England. How do they save in different countries? Korea: forced economy

Europeans don't skimp on anything. If the owners of the house do not have a faucet in the bathroom (hot and cold water flow from two different taps), and there is a permanent stopper in the sink, then with a high degree of probability we can assume that the house is located in the UK. By stocking the sink, the British limit the flow rate, washing and rinsing dishes in the same volume, which saves water.

How do Germans save? Surprised Russian tourists say that in German families they rub dishes with detergents, but in order to save water, they do not wash off the chemicals, but wipe them dry with napkins, sometimes even using a damp towel instead of washing. Such stories are more like legends, but it is precisely these traditions of saving Europeans that characterize the country no less than tourist attractions.

The apogee of European frugality

In general, our compatriots are often skeptical about saving in the German way, which the residents of Germany themselves consider to be the norm of life. We wonder how a wealthy family can never turn on the dishwasher until it is as full as possible. Therefore, they do not believe true stories about how the Germans:

take a shower no more than once a week or leave without washing off the foam;
the whole family takes turns washing in one bath;
In order to save on loading the dishwasher, they borrow clean dishes from neighbors because they don’t have enough of their own.

Of course, not every German saves in this way, not everyone demonstrates extreme frugality, but every typical representative of German society thinks in terms of economic feasibility.

And often even the average - not extreme - level of savings that German residents demonstrate in everyday life seems prohibitive to a typical Russian. That’s why the saying “Saving means earning money” or the slogan “Greed is cool!” It sounds quite acceptable in German advertising and does not take root well on Russian soil.

However, before dismissing other people's traditions, you need to inquire about the motivation of behavior. For example, the foam that German residents do not wash off after showering contains moisturizing oils, so washing it off will be double wastefulness. And the composition of detergents that can be washed with a towel is neutral and safe if they enter the esophagus. By the way, this tradition of wiping dishes has spread beyond Germany. In England, for example, there is a saying: “The towel eats the soap.” Although most often in different European countries they save in different ways.

To determine the degree of German pragmatism, you should turn to statistics (a survey among 1000 German residents was conducted by the sociological institute Forsa):

37% of respondents in a sociological survey admitted that they adhere to maximum savings when it comes to washing. The remaining 63% sometimes still allow themselves to load the washing machine not to the top and use not the most economical, but the most convenient washing modes.
50% of Germans most often cut spending on cars, vacations and groceries.
65% of women in Germany list spending on clothing as one of their thrifty priorities. However, only 50% of German men share this opinion.
11% confirm their readiness to completely abandon the bath in favor of a shower.
Almost all respondents believe that it is correct to reduce costs by turning off the water when washing hands and brushing teeth, using a bucket rather than a hose when washing a car, and using drip irrigation when irrigating the garden.

Germans are generally considered the most thrifty among Europeans, as demonstrated by a study specially conducted for World Savings Day.

Some tips for saving resources and money are universal, but in German society they are cultivated at the state level from TV screens.

Go to the grocery store full. This advice was given to prevent impulse purchases at grocery stores. And in a more detailed version, it sounded like a recommendation for drawing up a strict list of necessary purchases.
Get on bikes. The developed infrastructure for cycling tourism allows even long trips within cities to be made on bicycles, which excludes spending on gasoline from the budget.
Buy cars commensurate with the amount of earnings for 6 months. The abundance of used cars on the streets of Germany is explained not by the financial inability of motorists to switch to expensive cars, but by the popularized “Six Months” principle.
Turn off the lights. Always turning off lights and electrical appliances themselves (including routers and modems at night), apartment owners do not hesitate to make comments to guests who have forgotten to turn off the light bulb.
Shop at flea markets and sales. The last piece of advice also applies to online shopping. Customers keep track of current promotions and discounts by setting up newsletters from selected stores.
If you can do the work yourself, do it.. It is suggested here not to shift the work to paid workers if you can handle it yourself with equal efficiency. However, the advice seems dubious, since the time spent on such work is subtracted from the time needed for earning money or recreation. And German residents treat their personal time with respect. Therefore, the following advice is more consistent with the mentality of the modern burgher.
Hire assistants for routine work. “Helpers” include housekeepers, gardeners, animal care staff, etc.

One of the main goals of such an economic policy is a comfortable old age with the opportunity to travel in comfort and enjoy life.

To do this, the Germans hire a financial consultant in advance to help them invest profitably.

In the course of solving a large-scale saving task, what many East Slavic guests would call “excesses” or greed occurs. For example, guests who come to a burgher family with their wine and sweets may be surprised if their treat is hidden in the buffet, and cheap cookies appear on the table instead. But the Germans are not greedy. If necessary, they will spare no expense in celebrating. It’s just that the reason for this must be significant and serious.

Traditions of European economy

Restraint towards guests is also interpreted as a lack of hospitality in a number of other northern Western European countries. A guest may be invited into the house and treated to tea, but most likely they will not be offered “sweets.” Therefore, before you go on a trip, it is better to find out how they save in different countries.

Typical national methods of financial and economic tactics include:

"French shopping". The concept is associated with the French love for sales, for which many French residents specifically take time off, organize travel companions (sometimes registering on special websites for this purpose) and go around the shops together, dividing the cost of gasoline in half. Money saved on shopping is usually put aside into a strategic fund.
Swedish personal pension fund. In Sweden, to ensure a comfortable old age, it is a common tradition after 35-40 years to open another personal pension account, parallel to the main official one.
British strategy. Detailed planning for years to come is a British specialty. There is even a special and very popular program on this topic on British television. However, despite the expansion of financial literacy, the issue of budget allocation is still acute. Due to the high cost of real estate and rental rates, to which are added payments for utilities, the British have to take out goods that improve the quality of life on credit. (It’s a good thing, here credit is provided for almost everything). The multitude of loans and interest payments on them confuse even the prudent Britons. As a result, companies that buy out debt make a lot of money.

A common way to save money in all European countries is the use of popular club cards, which entitle community members to a discount.

In fact, this is an ordinary discount card, the discount percentage of which the owner strives to increase to the maximum, after which he gives preference to this particular store, cafe or restaurant when making purchases.

At the same time, the European middle class and “office plankton” will prefer a “homemade package” with sandwiches to lunch in a cafe. This is also more profitable because Europeans stock up on groceries for a week or two in advance, choosing for purchases during peak periods of promotions held by supermarkets. To do this, they are not lazy to visit several stores where they offer the best deals.

However, this rule does not apply to the French, who spend 25% of their annual income on food - more than on housing costs (20%), transport costs (18%), clothing (9%), healthcare (5%), entertainment ( 5%). The French choose bread, cheese, wine or fish carefully, so they look for these products in specialized stores. Lunch in restaurants is often replaced by coffee at a nearby bar.

Financial literacy in economically developed European countries is taught from childhood. Children are taught to save small amounts in piggy banks and not spend them on whims. Therefore, wise investment becomes a natural consequence of this daily policy. Companies with a hundred-year history compete with each other for the right to advise clients on how to manage funds and insure credit risks.

Since people in Europe save on everything, gifts also often have a purely utilitarian purpose or combine aesthetic and practical functions. In Sweden, for example, it is customary to give children as gifts:

securities;
certificates of investment funds growing in value;
open an account in the name of children from the first years of life.

Parents who receive an allowance for a child under 16 years of age in the amount of 100 euros deposit the entire amount into the child’s account. At the same time, it is not Europeans who are considered the most thrifty in the world, but Asians, who save up to 25% of their income. In Europe, this figure is estimated on average at 15%. In the USA - 10%.

World savings experience

Koreans save on heating in a clever way by setting up tents inside the room at night. And in order to use less water and washing powder, they prefer colorful and non-staining shirts.

60% of Vietnamese people do not seek entertainment outside the home. And 77% of them regularly replenish their rainy day reserves. Moreover, they do this in reliable, in their opinion, ways, trying not to take risks: they use cash for short-term and gold bars for long-term investment.
Chinese from the northern regions go on economical holidays to Russia. It is believed that by adjusting the exchange rate for the same money in the cities of your northern neighbor, you can afford much more entertainment than at home.
In Japan, water is saved by taking one bath for the whole family. The same water is often used for washing. By the way, the distribution of the family budget here is handled exclusively by women. The man only earns money.
Egyptians do not pay taxes on unfinished buildings. If a house does not have a roof, it is not subject to tax, which the Egyptians deliberately take advantage of by suspending construction at the final stage.
Australians don't waste energy ironing things. To prevent clothes from looking wrinkled, hang them on a hanger in the bathroom while taking a shower. The shirt is steamed and then dried completely on the same hanger.
Americans earn profitable investments in real estate by “scrolling” credit money. But to get a great loan, you need to demonstrate a good credit history. To do this, they try to take out and soon repay many small loans, which will create a positive reputation for the borrower in the eyes of the bank.

We decided to look into the pockets of residents around the world to find out how they spend their money. The Japanese turned out to be the most thrifty. Due to the fear of natural disasters, as well as the love of savings, they save up to 25% of their salary every month, while Europeans save a maximum of 15%. They are able to save thanks to special nightly utility rates and super-profitable seasonal sales, during which they completely update their wardrobe.

The French even take time off from work for this. However, saving on little things, Europeans often allow themselves dinners in good restaurants, and because of easy loans, many live in debt, writes Segodnya.

Residents of this country pay the highest taxes in Europe - up to 58% of their income. So here you will inevitably be frugal. “On average, people spend 40% of their monthly income on living expenses, electricity, which is very expensive here, and water “eat up” 20%, insurance - 25%, and expenses for telephone, Internet and television - another 15%,” says a resident Sweden Marina Trattner. However, you don’t need to pay for many things here. For example, for education.

“Another example is medicines: the maximum amount Swedes pay for them per year is 2,200 kroner (250 euros). Then, before the end of the year, a “free card” is issued, and prescription drugs are already issued free of charge. They also help with housing: part of the loan is paid for by the state every month,” says Marina.

TEST OF STRENGTH. Despite all this, Swedes still try to save money. “For example, they try to buy everything on sales,” says Marina. “Before doing this, be sure to check on a special website which of the things received the best test results.” Also, according to Marina, Swedish residents are quite careful with their clothes and other things. “And when children grow out of their clothes, they are taught to place advertisements on an advertisement site and sell them. Adult Swedes do the same,” says Marina.

SAVE THE CROWNS. Swedes also try to save and invest money. “For example, for children. Some parents who receive benefits for a child under 16 years of age (100 euros) put it either entirely into the child’s account or some part of it. Also, for their birthdays, children can be given investment fund certificates. They are inexpensive, but increase in price over time,” says Marina. “And somewhere from the age of 35-40, Swedes begin to save part of their income for a pension, which they will receive in parallel with the official one.”

JAPAN: 25% STAY

Notebooks for housewives

The Japanese are avid hoarders. In their opinion, there must be a nest egg (in case, for example, of natural disasters, which are not uncommon here). At the same time, no matter how much a Japanese person has in his account, he will always look very modest,” says Ekaterina Imai, who lives in Japan. On average, the Japanese save up to 20-25% of their income every month. “In addition to bank deposits, they also like to invest money in insurance funds. That is why insurance takes up a significant share of their family budget after payments on housing loans,” says Ekaterina. By the way, what’s interesting: if in European families, as a rule, both spouses plan the family budget, then in Japan everything is different. “A man’s job is to earn money. The woman's job is to distribute this money. For example, they set the amount of pocket money for their husbands,” says Ekaterina. And in order to plan everything correctly, they buy special notebooks that have sections for current expenses and income (you can paste receipts there).

Türkiye: SAVINGS IN GOLD BRACELETS

Bracelets. No expense is spared on them

Turks cannot be considered a thrifty nation. “The oriental temperament and the desire to demonstrate to everyone one’s wealth make themselves felt,” says Yana Temiz. - For example, Turks strive to update their wardrobe every year, renovate their apartments every 5 years and buy a new car every 3 years. And since there is no habit of saving money for all this, they take out loans and then pay them off for years.”

FAMILY ARITHMETICS. By the way, payments on loans or rental housing make up the lion's share of the expenses of Turkish families. “And together with utilities, all this can “eat up” even half of the income. Having a car is also expensive: Turkey has some of the highest gasoline prices in Europe, says Yana. - Those Turks who still manage to save liras invest them in gold. They buy gold coins, which are called "gold of the republic." There are also special gold bracelets that can be bought and sold at any jewelry store. To buy such a bracelet, Turkish housewives organize “golden days”.

“Every month on a designated day, ten women gather in turn at one of them to communicate, and each of them must bring to the meeting an amount equal to the value of one gram of gold. All money is given to the mistress of the house, and she can dispose of it at her own discretion. But, as a rule, she buys another gold bracelet,” says Yana. - And so, in turn, each woman acquires another piece of jewelry. It turns out something like an installment plan: everyone immediately receives a bracelet, and then over the course of several months they go to visit and pay the money in installments.”

BRITAIN: BOND DRAW

Charity shops. Useless things are brought here

The British like to plan their budget years in advance. “For example, now a TV show is very popular in the country, which is dedicated to this very thing,” says London resident Konstantin. - Most people try to save about 10% of their salary. Part of the money is kept on deposits, part is invested in a premium bond, that is, in “winning bonds” - government securities, the interest on which goes to the prize fund, and every month a drawing is held among the holders of these bonds.”

But there are also problems. “Real estate prices, even in small towns, are high, because both rent and credit take away the bulk of income, along with utility services. And due to the fact that almost everything here can be taken out on credit, people also pay interest every month on other necessities or luxuries,” says Irina. “And some people are so bad at budgeting that debt-buying companies are now making a lot of money from it.”

GERMANY: CHECK COLLECTION

Residents of this country are the most thrifty among other Europeans. These are the data of one of the studies, which was conducted last year specifically in honor of World Savings Day. On average, they save 180 euros per month, which is about 10% of their income (average salary - 2000). “First of all, they save for their children and put them into a pension fund,” says Elena, a resident of Germany. At the same time, Germans keep their savings not only in a bank account, but also, for example, in securities.

FINANCIAL PLANS. Of course, in order to have a nest egg, Germans carefully plan their budget. “First of all, the money goes to paying for renting an apartment or paying off a housing loan (this can “eat up” up to 50% of income) and utilities, then insurance goes, and they live on what’s left,” says Elena. “For example, in my family the expenses are as follows: we pay about 700 euros a month for a house, utilities - 230 euros, insurance - about 100 euros, and we spend 600 euros on food.” A significant share of the income goes to maintaining the car. “We pay 250 euros monthly on a car loan, and gasoline and repairs cost us 200 euros,” the woman calculates.

But, according to a resident of Germany, Germans spend the least on clothes. “They are not ready to pay crazy amounts of money for a brand,” says Elena. “That’s why many people monitor sales, as they can buy everything at a 70% discount.” Yes, the Germans are not particularly keen to update their wardrobe. “A German can wear the same thing for years. And at the same time, he will not be embarrassed at all by the fact that it may look old-fashioned or worn out,” says Berlin resident Maria Feldman. When things finally get boring, they are usually donated to various charitable organizations.

NIGHT WASH AND RAIN WATER. The Germans save not only on clothes. “For example, to save electricity, they use the so-called. "special rates". Electricity is cheaper at night, so they run the washing machine at night. And the room is heated only when it is already completely cold. Those. when it's 10 degrees outside, they'll wear wool socks but won't turn on the heating. It’s the same with water: they try to use rainwater as much as possible, for example, for irrigation,” says Elena. However, there is one thing in the life of Germans that they will never skimp on. It's a holiday: Germans love to travel.

THOUSAND FROM THE STATE. By the way, in Germany it is possible to “recapture” part of the money spent from the state. “So, part of the money spent on work clothes, travel to work and payment for kindergarten is returned (after all, you send your child to kindergarten in order to be able to work), says Elena. “In the end, it could reach 1,000.” Therefore, the Germans scrupulously “collect” checks.

FRANCE: TAKE TIME OFF FOR SALES

Auto for everyone. There are special parking areas where you can find travel companions

Like the Germans, the French also value every euro they earn. “When preparing for major purchases, they carefully study brochures, conduct market analysis and even collect estimates from various sellers or suppliers. Because of this attitude, the French are often considered greedy. But it is not so. They just have to justify every cent they spend,” says Catherine Olivier, who lives in the French city of Lyon.

TAX SAVINGS. The French also love sales. They are called “soldas” here, and discounts during them can reach 80%. “The French prepare for sales in advance: they go to shops “to scout” and can even hide something they like among others. And when they start, they even take time off from work,” says Natalya, who lives in France. The French save not only on clothes. “For example, to reduce gasoline costs and at the same time take care of the environment, they use the so-called. covoiturage (“car sharing”): they take someone in their car to go in the same direction, and divide all expenses in half. There are even special websites where you can find travel companions,” says Katerina Olivier. By the way, the French save money saved in one way or another. On average, it turns out to be somewhere around 10-15% of income.

CULT OF FOOD. But what French residents prefer not to skimp on is food. “They love to eat and drink. Therefore, they prefer to buy bread, wine or fish not in supermarkets, but in specialized stores. And they generally pay special attention to the process of eating. They can have lunch with friends in some restaurant for an hour, chatting, and then go to another place for coffee,” says Katerina Olivier. Therefore, it is not surprising that the French spend even a little more on food than on housing. Thus, according to the French State Statistics Committee, residents of this country spend 25% of their annual income on food, 20% on housing, 18% on transport, 9% on clothing, and almost 5% each on healthcare and entertainment. .

USA: TAKE A LOT OF LOANS

“From childhood, little Americans are taught to rely only on themselves in everything, including finances. Therefore, growing up, US residents try to save money for everything they can and invest it more profitably,” Marina Polyakova, who has lived in America for more than 20 years, says about Americans. According to her, as a rule, most Americans save money for their retirement. “Nobody hopes for the state. Therefore, in addition to contributions to the social security fund, they also put money into non-state pension funds,” Marina continues the story. “They also take care in advance about the education of their children. As soon as a child appears in a family, many people open an account where they save money for his education.

Also, many Americans seek to purchase real estate, considering it a good investment. But to get a loan for this, in the USA it is important to have a good credit history. Therefore, many people try to take out as many loans as possible for small amounts and repay them quickly. But not everyone succeeds.” “The majority of the population is in debt, like silk, and still continue to take out loans for unnecessary expensive things,” says US resident Tatyana Anderson.

AMERICAN BUDGET. If we talk about the monthly expenses of an American family, they are high. “The biggest expense item is housing. It costs $600-1000. In 2nd place is medical insurance at $300-1000, car insurance at $100, then comes food, which takes up to $400-500, and then utility services at $150-250. At the same time, the average salary of Americans is $1,500-3,000,” says Tatyana. - But Americans spend little on clothes. There is no status disease here, unlike in Ukraine: $5 for a T-shirt and $15 for jeans is a red price.”

The Russian media, all sorts of sub-journalists and strange personalities who have visited Europe a couple of times, love to spread rumors about the savings of Europeans, making them look like misers. How the Europeans actually fare with their savings and whether they can be called stingy – decide for yourself after studying the information in this article.

1. Savings on utility bills

One of the largest expenses in every family's budget is utility bills. per month or 2400-3000 Euros per year. How can you save on utilities, you ask?

3. Preparing for vacation

Recently I again heard two Russian men discussing how poor Czechs are. To which I can object and ask a counter question: does the average Russian go on vacation 3-4 times a year? But the Czechs travel, and not only to resorts in neighboring countries, but also to distant countries like Brazil or Kenya. But they do not spend all their savings on vacation, but plan it thoroughly for a year in advance, and during vacation they do not always go to restaurants and spend money.

Therefore, it is considered normal here to buy air tickets in September for a sea holiday in June next year or book in May.

One of the advantages of early booking, in addition to low flight prices, is the opportunity to choose exactly the direction where you want to go. After receiving permanent residence, we also sometimes began to buy discount air tickets, for example, we see tickets somewhere to Italy for 5-10 Euros, we buy them right away. And you can think over the route and book a hotel much later.

4. Buying furniture

Czechs are very simple and unpretentious people, so they can easily buy an uncomfortable sofa at home, which also does not match the color with the rest of the furnishings, the main thing is that the discount is larger, for example 50-70%.

In addition to buying furniture on sale, another way to save money is to deliver the furniture yourself. I have seen more than once how Czechs drive up to a store in a car with a trailer and load furniture onto it themselves and take it home. I know a wealthy Czech who has several apartments in Prague, a good job as an engineer, but he is quite stingy. Therefore, when buying furniture, he rents a trailer, finds the cheapest option closer to home and goes to the store. In the store, he and his wife load furniture into a trailer, then they go home, together with their wife they unload boxes, the weight of which can exceed 50 kg, they carry them home and, again, they assemble the furniture with their wife.

And I’ve seen more than once how men and their wives drag a heavy sofa or some kind of wardrobe, well, don’t pay the loader!

5. Saving on a car

Looking at the general condition of cars in the Czech Republic, you often feel quiet horror. For a Czech, a car is just a means of transportation, so the attitude towards it is often dismissive, i.e. The car may not be washed or vacuumed for months; the oil in it is not changed, but simply topped up. In winter, instead of a glass scraper, Czechs can use anything they can get their hands on: keys, a piece of sharp plastic, a telephone, and even a glass bottle. Czechs also treat the car body with disdain. Few people repair small scratches, dents, chips, because this will do.

6. Purchase of equipment

The situation with the purchase of equipment in the Czech Republic is as follows: most citizens buy new equipment when the old one has completely fallen into disrepair and is very expensive to repair. That’s why even now, periodically in public transport I see people with old Nokia phones.

One of the important factors when choosing appliances, especially household appliances, is the energy efficiency class. Preference is given to class A and above.

7. Gifts

As you know, Europeans do not run away with gifts; Czechs are also not particularly flamboyant when buying gifts, even for such important holidays as Christmas or Birthday. For example, the average Czech spends the least amount of money on a Valentine's Day gift in Europe, namely 10 Euros.

Usually the most banal things are gifts: a book, jewelry, home decorations, socks, perfume. But recently I began to notice that more and more Czechs are buying a variety of equipment before Christmas, such as iPads, food processors, and televisions. I don’t know whether they are giving this equipment as a gift or pleasing their loved ones, but giant queues form in stores with equipment.

8. Begging for discounts and the ability to bargain

It was a shock to me that the Czechs, when giving them an invoice, acted like they were at a Turkish bazaar. For example, in the sports club where I went, there was no price list, and the monthly fee was set depending on what you agreed with the manager. For example, I paid 1250 CZK, some guys 750 CZK, and one Englishman 2700 CZK with the same subscriptions.

I decided to periodically check to see if I could ask for a discount on a particular service. And recently they increased the price for our home Internet, we wrote a letter saying that we did not like the new price, and the Internet service provider called back, and we were able to negotiate a lower amount.

9. Have one account per family

Banking services in normal banks are not cheap, and in the Czech Republic, some families open one account per family in order to save a little on this type of service.

10. About myths about saving Europeans

I consider myths like: “Europeans don’t wash their clothes” or “They flush the toilet once a day” to be inventions of pro-Russian channels that want to make Europeans look like cheapskates. And I think that, again, only declassed elements of society who do not have a normal education and work can suffer from this. Such savings are alien to normal Czechs.

I believe that many of the savings associated with wasteful use of resources are justified. For example, wise use of water, electricity and buying discounted products. And some examples of saving are difficult for me to understand: not caring about cars, choosing the cheapest clothes or miserly gifts. Just like I don’t understand some Czech friends who moved to the cheapest one-room apartment on the outskirts of Prague and ate pasta and pate for a year in order to save up for their dream trip - around the world.

What can you say about these ways to save money?

Buying food and drinks at the lowest prices. This is how food costs are reduced in Germany, Holland and Austria. When purchasing groceries in inexpensive supermarkets, consumers try to strictly follow a predetermined list. Americans buy more pasta to save on food.

Germans never throw away food. It is customary to shop in Germany once a week or ten days. This is done when the refrigerator becomes almost empty.

They put off buying expensive things. Both Europeans and Americans prefer to postpone the purchase of such things as cars, boats, houses, household appliances and furniture until they have saved up the required amount, or at least most of it.

They make savings. The Germans are especially famous for their love of piggy banks. Over the course of a year, they fill huge piggy banks with change, and then exchange them in a special machine and spend them on vacations and travel. In the evening, when Germans come home, they pour all the change from their wallet into their jar, and only bills remain in their wallet. Such savings result in a considerable amount - 1000–1500 euros per year.

Less frequent outings. The French, English and Germans do not indulge themselves in evening entertainment outside the home: cinemas, concerts, theaters, etc. They try to attend more free street concerts and exhibitions, and buy theater tickets an hour before the start of the performance, when they are cheaper. Go to museums on the day when they are allowed in for free.

Expense planning. The English set the best example here: they will never spend a pound unnecessarily. The same is true for every Dutch family, which clearly knows what the money from the next salary will be spent on.

Saving on water. The Germans, British, and Dutch turn off the water even for three minutes while brushing their teeth. They don’t fill the bathtub with water at all; they wash only in the shower - this way, much less water is consumed. Typically, every house in Holland has a boiler that heats the required amount of water. The Chinese have gone even further - they never throw out the water they use to wash vegetables. Then they use it to water the flowers.

Heating appliances and air conditioners are used less frequently. The British, Dutch, and Germans go to bed in sweaters and warm scarves. Their houses are cold because they save on heating.

Reducing the cost of purchasing clothes and shoes. More than a third of Germans save money when buying clothes, with women more likely to report this than men. In the US, people also prefer to buy goods from lesser-known and cheaper brands; used clothing stores are in demand here. The French love to dress at sales.

“When leaving, turn off the lights!” Americans and Germans always turn off the lights when leaving a room. In Germany, all electrical appliances are immediately turned off after use, so that not a single light bulb is on. According to the calculations of German experts, such “burning nonsense” can result in a hundred euros in a year. In China, homeowners are installing energy-saving equipment: hot and cold water taps powered by photocells and entrance lighting powered by sound elements. Example: in a dark entrance, if you clap your hands loudly, the light turns on. While it goes out on its own, the person has time to wait for the elevator or reach the second floor, where he will clap his hands again and the light will turn on again.

They use a car less often. To save on fuel, the British, Germans, and Dutch prefer to ride a bicycle to work. Even high-ranking officials and bankers do not shy away from this type of transport. On the rear windows of cars in the UK you can see catchy stickers: “Everyone on bicycles!”, “Save fuel - get on a horse!” Cyclists in Holland have separate paths and their own traffic lights. It is clear that bicycles not only save on gas, but also on going to the gym.

“I’ll give you a ride” service. In Holland it is customary to save on gasoline this way. Today you give your neighbor a lift to work, and tomorrow he drops you off.

They visit bars and cafes less often. This is how 48% of residents of Germany, 45% of France, 41% of Austria and 42% of Italy save on everyday expenses. Europeans now prefer to buy takeaway food in cafes so as not to pay for service. Americans bring food to work from home, and they also enjoy alcoholic beverages in their apartments, rather than in bars. Czechs buy fewer ready-made meals and more staples, which they use to cook at home.

Order the “budget” menu. Since the beginning of the crisis, Italian residents began to order an inexpensive and nutritious sandwich with sausage at cafes for breakfast instead of the traditional croissant - it costs one euro less. World-famous French gourmets go to their favorite restaurants less often, preferring cheap pizzerias. Instead of wine, most French people now choose... ordinary water, and residents of Italy instead of a cup of coffee order water with lemon.

Refusal of home feasts. Germans will not host lunch and dinner parties at home. They calculated that this saves at least a hundred euros. They will be very happy to go with friends to a restaurant where everyone will pay for themselves and not spend too much.

10% of the weight of dirty pillows is dead skin, as well as mites. It is also known that young mothers (women under 25 years old) neglect washing. Housewives under 55 years of age wash their bed sheets approximately three times a month.

Londoners have become champions of uncleanliness. Second place is occupied by residents of north-east and south-west Britain. Dirty bed linen is a breeding ground for disease. About a thousand men and women in the UK took part in the study.

The average Briton spends 49 hours a week in their bed during winter. The bed is not only the most frequently used piece of furniture, but also the most expensive. A UK resident can buy a bed for 1 thousand pounds. But he doesn’t care at all about the cleanliness of his bed. Bedding should be washed once every two weeks.

Englishman's house

Maybe to someone, what is described below will seem strange, not fitting into normal modern universal concepts. But believe me - it's true. However, you can try all this on yourself by getting a job in an English house, say, as a maid.

No Englishman would want (if he had a choice) to live in a flat. Be sure to give him a separate house. With a kindergarten. This is quite understandable if you live outside the city. But no, an Englishman must live in his own house in the city. And let it be small and cramped, squeezed with difficulty between equally small and cramped houses. But the house. Separate. And there the Englishman will be fine. In cramped conditions, as they say, but not in an apartment.

In appearance, the British are practically indistinguishable from ordinary people. At work and in the cinema, in a restaurant and at the skating rink, at the airport and in the swimming pool, they often behave like everyone else, and sometimes, even with the closest observation, you may not detect anything strange in their habits. (Except, of course, for the small detail that they drive on the left side of the road, and not on the right, like all normal people!)

It's another matter at home. At home, the Englishman finally becomes himself. Here he gives himself free rein, here he reveals himself fully, here he lovingly cultivates his oddities, here he cherishes his notorious eccentricity. Therefore, you can truly get to know the British only by visiting them. But when planning to visit the British, you should at least know in general terms what awaits you there.

Central heating

To put it bluntly, it is not easy for a normal person to survive in an English home. Mainly because of the cold.

It’s amazing, but everything that we were told at school about how the English go to bed in cold bedrooms, and their miserable children in boarding houses wash themselves with ice water, is the absolute truth. That's how it really is. And today, in the 21st century, approximately a third of English houses do not have central heating, in order to save money. To make the house at least a little warmer, they use gas heaters - scary-looking units on wheels, which not only emit a disgusting smell, but are also extremely fire hazardous.

And in cases where central heating is still available, the British do not use it in a stingy way either: they set a special mode when the boiler works only a few hours a day - only in the morning, for example, and in the evening. And at night, rest assured, it will turn off. Because it’s already warm in bed under the feather bed, and why heat the room in vain when everyone is sleeping anyway?

Warmer

All progressive humanity uses a heating pad exclusively for illnesses. That's why they are sold in pharmacies. In England, a heating pad is a common everyday item (in winter), every house has a special cabinet where they are stored, each family member has their own, and a few more in reserve for guests. When going to bed, everyone takes a heating pad with them, because getting into an icy bed without a heating pad is truly impossible, even if you are wearing two pairs of woolen socks!

Thermostat

And everything would be fine, but in addition to the timer for central heating, there is also a thermostat. And although the scale of most thermostats rises to twenty-five degrees Celsius (and sometimes I have met an optimistic thirty!), you are unlikely to find an English house where the set mode will exceed seventeen degrees above zero. This is considered normal temperature. And if you happen to, say, live with the English and in their absence you try to warm up by setting the thermostat to the usual twenty degrees, then be sure that, as soon as you enter the door, your hosts will first freeze, as if listening to something, and then they rush to turn the thermostat back, exclaiming: “Twenty degrees!” with a note of horror in his voice. It is noteworthy that no English person has anything against this temperature on a nice spring day or a cool summer evening. But twenty degrees of heat in the middle of winter seems like a perversion to them: “It should be cold in winter, because it’s winter. Winter means you have to wear a warm sweater, preferably two warm sweaters, go to bed in socks. And what kind of nonsense is this, why do you suddenly Do you want to walk around the house in a light shirt or, God forbid, barefoot? What kind of strange fantasy do you have for this?

There are, of course (very rarely!), houses in England that are warm in winter. Where you can go to bed without wool socks, where steam doesn’t come out of your mouth and the water in the bath doesn’t get cold after five minutes. But on closer examination it will certainly turn out that one of the household members is half Russian, or half Uzbek, or Chinese, or Moor; or that the great-grandfather was an envoy to India, and therefore the grandmother was used to a different temperature regime, or something else in the same spirit - some kind of catch, so you still can’t honestly consider this house a real, classic English house.

Here is another proof of the wild stinginess of the British, these are double glazing, or rather the lack thereof. Of course, severe frosts do not occur in England; in general, the temperature rarely drops below zero, winter in England is mild and warm. And yet. After all, heat must not only be produced, it must be preserved. And when it’s five to ten degrees outside, double window frames make a significant difference. But the stinginess of the British, spending money on double frames, takes its toll.

Of course, installing double glazing throughout the entire house is expensive, who can argue. But once done, it will save a lot of money on heating! Year after year, winter after winter, five-year period after five-year period, you will save and save! However, this simple calculation does not convince the stingy British. And they, for the most part, continue to pay ruinous heating bills and sit in the cold all winter. They will never understand that the stingy pays twice.

And the British are also original in window design. The so-called "English window" is designed differently from a regular one. This, by the way, is the most common blunder in our domestic films about English life. No matter how much you shoot Sherlock Holmes in Riga, it is clear to everyone that this is not England at all. Because in England, windows do not swing open on hinges, but rise vertically, sliding on special wheels like a guillotine. (Insanity, and that’s all). That is, it would be more correct to say that this guillotine works on the principle of English windows. Because, most likely, the infamous Dr. Guillotin dreamed up his monstrous car after a visit to England, where he leaned out of a window, and the frame suddenly broke off and hit him in the neck.

Fireplaces

The British simply adore fireplaces and enthusiastically burn thick, damp logs in them (and sometimes, instead of firewood, artificial coal is piled up in an unconvincing pile, and what is actually burning is a gas burner). They force you to sit near this fireplace with a glass of strong drink and enjoy life, but life is quite difficult to fully enjoy when the fireplace is roasting you on one side, and your other side is numb (literally numb) from an icy draft!

And here’s what’s even more amazing! The notorious fireplace and, accordingly, the chimney are ALWAYS located in the EXTERNAL WALL of the house! It looks, of course, beautiful, but from the fireplace, I dare say, besides beauty there must be some benefit! It is designed to at least warm the room! But it is absolutely clear that the purpose of the chimney is not only to free the room from combustion products, but also to accumulate heat, heating up from the smoke, and, cooling down, release it gradually, thereby ensuring normal air temperature for a long time. time.

What's the point of making a chimney in an external wall, good people? And how could it happen that such a progressive nation, the heir to such a glorious and rich history, which gave football, penicillin, Dickens and Stilton cheese to a grateful humanity, suffers from such obvious, such blatant engineering idiocy?

This riddle excited me so much at one time that I began to ask all the English people I knew what they themselves thought about it. The British thought about it, shrugged their shoulders, threw up their hands, chuckled and agreed that yes, it was stupid of course!

Stairs

Imagine - every time, in order to relieve yourself, excuse me, you have to go up two flights of stairs (if not four), to put the kettle on, you have to go down two flights, and then you remember that you forgot a book in the bedroom and go up again and immediately you go down to make tea, and then the phone upstairs rings, and you go up, but you can’t find a pen near the phone to write down a message, and so you go down again, only to go up a minute later, and then go down again, and So all day long: down and up, down and up, and at the end of the day you feel as if you worked on a plantation for three days.

And young children who are just learning to walk - don’t they risk breaking their necks every day on the damned stairs? It turns out that they are not taking risks. Because for such cases, English stores sell special gates. These gates are installed at the bottom of the stairs and at the top. So children don't fall down stairs. But you have to first unlock the gate, then lock the gate, go up the stairs, unlock the top gate, lock the top gate, do your job, unlock the gate, lock the gate, go downstairs.

Cranes

But if you can finally put up with ladders, hot water bottles and chimneys for rabbits, there is something in the English way of life that you will never come to terms with.

Its name is separate taps.

The British hate running water, considering it a great waste, and avoid it in every possible way. If such a strange feature arose among the Tuvans, say, among the Kyrgyz, or among some other people living in steppe or desert areas, this would be completely justified and understandable. But how and why such a phobia developed in a nation living on an island and surrounded on all sides by water and never lacking it is beyond human understanding.

This, however, is a sad fact. The British, to save water, do not wash under running water. To wash your hands, you are asked to plug the sink with a stopper, fill it with water and wash your hands with soap in this water. Moreover The whole family, in the morning, washes in the same water, and brushes their teeth in the same. After which they dry off with a towel. Without rinsing! The British never rinse anything. They don’t rinse the dishes - they wash them in a plugged sink and put them on the drying rack as is - in shreds of melting foam. They don’t rinse themselves - they just get up from the soapy bath and wrap themselves in a towel. And the hair is washed in the same water, sitting in the bath, and also not rinsed.

That's why they don't have faucets. The bathtub, the sink, and even the kitchen sink will be equipped with two taps, separately hot and cold. And get out as best you can. It is impossible to wash your hands properly, because boiling water pours out of one tap and ice water from the other. But even if you are ready to wash your hands with cold water, it is still impossible - the taps are located so close to the edge of the sink that you cannot get your hand under them. Especially a leg or a cup. What should I do? Fill the sink, wash your hands, flush, refill the sink, rinse your hands, flush, repeat as necessary. Hand washing thus takes approximately eight times longer than in civilian life. And if you suddenly have a whim to rinse your hair washed with shampoo, then the formal ballet begins - kneeling near the bathtub, fill a glass for rinsing your teeth with hot and cold water in the required proportions and pour it on your head until you wash off all the shampoo. (This needs to be repeated about twenty times, depending on the hardness of the water.) If you manage to sneak a saucepan or flower vase into the bathroom without arousing suspicion, this will significantly speed up the process. True, recently some of the most progressive houses have had a shower!

For tourists

Of course, it is impossible for a normal person to wash his face in a washroom with separate taps. But, there is one method that I saw in the old Khrushchev dorm, where, once upon a time, there were separate taps. Here he is. Use it when you arrive in England to wash yourself properly.