The Swiss are very cautious in financial management.
The average annual income of Swiss is as high as $30,000, ranking first in Europe, but their economy has attracted worldwide attention. Swiss people are careful in their lives and manage their finances well. A Swiss company held a large-scale high-level international academic exchange meeting attended by representatives from dozens of countries. For this reason, the host of the meeting made a detailed budget plan for the conference funds and carefully calculated them everywhere. For example, when choosing a meeting place, we should not only consider the low rent and convenient transportation of the conference hall, but also consider whether to handle lunch on behalf of others to save transportation and food expenses. During the meeting, three meals a day are fixed: breakfast for everyone; Lunch can be selected from the menu; Dinner expenses are paid to individuals, but the amount is not large. As for drinks, the host only provides participants with a cup of tea for free every day. Whoever has one more drink has to pay for it himself. As for banquets, gifts and sightseeing, they cannot be included in the conference budget.
Swiss consumption is very practical, not luxurious. The car penetration rate in Switzerland is very high, but there are not many magnificent Lincoln and luxurious Mercedes-Benz on the road, while Toyota, Citroen, Volkswagen and nameless small cars can be seen everywhere. Switzerland is a watch kingdom, producing many famous watches. Rolex, Radar, Omega and other brands are world-famous, but Swiss seldom wear these watches. Many people only wear ordinary watches, and young people wear cheap plastic watches. In order to save housing expenses, Swiss prefer to rent cheap old buildings, even suburban houses. Urban housing generally emphasizes convenience and applicability, does not pursue luxury, does not engage in high-grade decoration, and likes simplicity, elegance, neatness and beauty.
Dutch shopping malls bring their own packaging bags.
Dutch frugality is famous all over the world, and Dutch frugality is manifested in all aspects of daily life. Dutch people really practice "planned economy" in diet. Every family's monthly food expenses are planned in advance and will never easily exceed the budget. On weekdays, the Dutch don't eat meat for every meal. They usually eat meat two or three times a week, and the table is usually potatoes and carrots. Dutch young people are also very frugal, dress simply and don't eat out. Usually a sandwich or a bag of French fries is a meal.
The concept that plastic shopping bags in supermarkets cost money has been widely accepted by the Dutch. Some shopping malls will provide special shopping bags, but when shopping in these shopping malls, many Dutch people will bring their own bags. If the customer declares to the cashier that "a bag is needed to hold the purchased goods", the cashier will input the price of the bag into the shopping list and give the customer a plastic bag that looks strong.
In a small nursing home in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 70% to 80% of the elderly living here use diapers. Waste recyclers who have signed contracts with large waste recycling companies come to nursing homes twice a week to recycle garbage bags with used diapers in special red boxes.
This large recycling company recycles diapers mainly to save money. It has been studied and developed for several years. Through chemical treatment, diapers are separated into pulp, polymer absorbent and polyethylene. Discarded diapers can be reused as paper and fertilizer after cleaning and disinfection.
A cup of coffee is enough for Germans to express friendship.
Germany is one of the most developed countries in the world in terms of per capita GNP and national income. Germans are rich, but they live frugally, with little extravagance and waste. The world-famous Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company published its annual report in Stuttgart in April 2000, and invited some journalists to participate. The reception was held in the company canteen. The main course is a piece of meat and potatoes, which tourists can basically eat up. Some guests also ate bread dipped in soup on their plates, which was natural and generous, and there was no concern of "losing face". German families treat their guests very formally, basically. In dress, the elderly are more solemn, while the young are very casual. Retirees' pensions are not low, but frankly, they only patronize low-priced shops when buying food. In interpersonal communication, please have a cup of coffee and talk about homeliness, which is enough to express friendship without a big banquet. Houses in Germany pay attention to neatness, practicality, convenience and elegance, and beautify the environment, but they are rarely luxuriously decorated.
The German government also actively publicizes the knowledge of building energy conservation and the government's principles and policies to the public. The German Federal Federation of Consumer Centers and its subordinate state branches also provide information and consulting services on energy conservation. For the convenience of the public, the German Energy Bureau has set up a free telephone service center to answer people's questions about energy conservation. French state banquets are also frugal? At that time, the French president hosted a state banquet for our country, with two main courses-steamed lobster and roasted duckling; The rest are snacks and sweets, plus a lettuce salad. When the banquet ended successfully in melodious music, there was no mess on the table. The French State Banquet was held. There were not many dishes, but the atmosphere was very warm, and waste was eliminated. ? The French government has also taken measures to make full use of natural resources, encouraged the use of energy-saving equipment in industry, service industry, housing construction, transportation and other fields through tax reduction and exemption, and also encouraged enterprises and individuals to develop and use clean cars using solar energy or electric energy, and promoted the entry of clean cars and related equipment into the market through preferential depreciation conditions, so as to achieve the purpose of saving electric energy and protecting the environment.