Save!

At the risk of shameless self-promotion (hey, at least I'm risking embarrassment at the same time), I'm urging everyone to check out a bunch of stories we did for The National's personal finance section last weekend on saving money. I talked to around 15 people on the street in Abu Dhabi for the main piece, and - surprise! - it turned out that virtually none of them were able to save any money. It actually is a bit shocking that so few people here seem to save, given the high salaries and tax-free living. Then again, I can definitely see where they're coming from, given my own (pretty poor at the moment) saving habits.

Here is an overview. Bradley Hope did an excellent job digging into the UAE's National Bonds savings scheme. Here is a look at term deposits in the UAE. And if you doubt your own ability to save, check out this guy's story. He makes Dh2,600 a month - and still saves Dh1,400 of that.