Japanese financial habits that help them save
Japan is one of the richest economies in the world. The share of dollar millionaires here is 2.6% of the population. 87% of Japanese people are satisfied with their lives, feel confident in the future, and are proud of their achievements.
At the same time, it is considered bad form for wealthy Japanese to show off their wealth. A rich person can live in a modest house and use a middle-class car. Much more important than having a Villa and a Bentley is the size of a person’s bank account.
However, for almost 20 years (from 1990 to 2009), the economy of this country experienced a prolonged recession and grew at an average of 1.2% per year. Therefore, Japanese citizens are used to saving money. For the average Japanese, discount coupons, Lunches brought with them to work, saving even small amounts for the future is a daily practice.
Carefully planning your financial life
The Japanese have their own, we can say national, family budget planning system, which is more than a hundred years old. This system is called Kabebo. The principles of planning and accounting for family income and expenses were invented by housewife Motoko Hani in the early XX century. Today, her ideas are popular in many Japanese families, and modern stores sell ready-made lined notebooks for budget planning using the Kabebo system.
The main principle of this approach is the need to record the movement of money and make it visible. Japanese families keep two notebooks for planning and budget control. In one of them, people scrupulously record their spending (up to buying a ticket for a tram ride or a box of matches). The second notebook is intended for monthly and weekly planning.
Learning financial literacy from childhood
Japanese citizens teach their children how to manage finances from an early age. Often parents give money to children for holidays. But at the same time, they are recommended not to go to the nearest store for an interesting toy or “Goodies”, but to put the received amount in the bank. Over time, the savings of a young person become significant, and they can spend them on the purchase of a truly valuable and expensive thing. Positive emotions from such purchases will be more than from a pile of trinkets.
In schools, young Japanese keep specially lined notebooks in which they scrupulously write down their daily expenses. School textbooks include, for example, books with the title “What will you do if you get 1 million yen?”
They prefer to pay in cash
Despite the fact that Japan is a highly technologically advanced country, the citizens of this state are very conservative in financial and household life. In 2018, the share of payments with plastic cards and electronic money in the country was only 20%. All other purchases were made for cash.
The Japanese are confident that if they pay in cash, they will be able to save more. When people take bills out of their wallets, they visually see how the money they earn is flowing away. And if you do not have a large amount in your wallet, then you will not be able to buy an unexpectedly attractive thing in the supermarket.