How to…be as cheap as the Dutch

Finally, I have the inspiration to write down something about one of the strange Dutch stereotypes that we are the Cheapskates of Europe. We are not the only to share this ‘wonderful’ title: in Spain, the Catalan are supposed to be cheap, and in Great Britain, it is the Scottish who hold their title. However, we are a full nation (and not a part of a nation) that is known for this habit…

First I want to accentuate that the next points will be stereotypes, which may be partly true and sometimes still applicable in some parts of the country, however, the city districts are becoming less cheap and adopting a more generous lifestyle. Nevertheless, it is still fun to read some of our ‘tips’ of being cheap.

1. Stamps are not only for postcards:

actually, we sample “zegeltjes” on any occasion to save money or to save for goods, such as coffeecups (Douwe Egberts coffee), discounts, and other products. Some saving methods are so intricate that you have to keep a whole accounting department in order to make sense of all the saving you have to do and calculate all the stamps you need for a coffeemug that would have cost you 2 euro in the store. It will bind the client to a certain shop, in order to get the stamps the consumer wants. I am not sure if it is really a money saving tool, but it sure makes the Dutch look cheap, LOL. More information on http://www.scholieren.com/werkstukken/6811 and here and translation on http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

2. Scrape everything together:

This fantastic tool is typically Dutch: “de flessenlikker” or a “jar licker”, which is used to help you get every last scrap from the bottle of a long jar or a pack of yogurt or “vla”. More cute info over here

3. Compare, compare, compare…

I does not matter if you are doing groceries or shopping for a car…the Dutch compare different prices, turn to consumer’s test magazines, and browse through tons of flyers in order to find the best deal…It makes a great conversation item to say that you saved a lot on your apple Ipod, when you bought it on X instead of Y. It is also a side of competition…if you could find a cheaper deal than your friend, you are the man (or the woman).

4a. Staying in, instead of eating and going out…

Unlike our mediterranean friends, and the rest of the world, we still save on food…we do not go to restaurants a lot, we still cook a lot at home, and…shock, some even bring their own sandwiches to school or work.

 What we save on food and staying in a lot, we splurge on making our home as “gezellig” as possible (which means displaying a lot of stuff).

4b. If eating out…

(Sorry for the cursing man for the people who can understand Dutch, not my video)

Yup, you can take some cheap fried food out of the wall…Other options are eating more fried food in the snackbar, or taking out chinese food (about 10 euro for a big meal)

5. Cycling again, and other forms of transport. We even have bikes to carry all your children, groceries and so on:

and the double decker bike:

6. Markets!!! They are not typically Dutch, but they still matter on saving money. Even the smallest town have a weekly market…

Personally, I am not sure if it is really cheaper, but their slogan used to be “op de markt is uw gulden een daalder waard”, which means “at the market your 1 euro coin is worth 2 euros” or “you get more value for your money at the market”

So, that was my impression of how to save money-or be as cheap- as the Dutch. You can find some more information about our strange habits from an ‘outsider’s’ view in the wonderful book The Undutchables