“ It takes one, tiny, manageable change to form a habit “: or, with Cashy, the Arab world’s first personal finance social media platform , to change a bad habit into a good one. “ UAE Saves Week ” is Cashy’s initiative to change the country’s dismal savings record –in 2012, only 35% of residents saved regularly — into a national trove of nest-eggs for the future. Other Gulf countries fall even further short: only 29% and 26% of Qataris and Saudis are regular savers, respectively, and only 1% of them considered their savings to be “more than enough” for the future.
Now in its second year, Cashy’s campaign encourages people to buck this trend, starting with “ Saving Sunday”, an injunction to save that day’s wage. Each day of the week has a clever, catchy tip, like “Pack your lunch Monday”, reminding working people that “ just 50 AED a week on store-bought lunches is 2,600 AED a year wasted ” on rushed meals. “Wise up Wednesday” urges financial empowerment through self-education.
The most important lesson? Even a little change goes a long way.
