Obscure financial holidays to mark on your calendar :)

As “America Saves Week” continues on, I was reminded of some other fun holidays we should all be better about celebrating ;)

After all, why should Black Friday and Cyber Monday have all the fun???

Inspired by a lively convo with @AdvisingWell:

Holidays That Are Actually Good For Your Wallet:

1/10: “Cut Your Energy Costs Day” — A day that encourages people to finally look around for ways to reduce their energy and save on their bills! And a holiday we can blame Canada for as it was first established by the CEEA (Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance) ;)

2/11: “National Inventors Day” — While not celebrated by all countries, National Inventor’s Day came around in the early 1980’s to recognize the contributions of all inventors, dead and alive. And was so chosen on this day (Feb 11th) to honor the birth of one of the most prolific, and famous, inventors in history – Thomas Alva Edison, who once held over 1,000 patents.

2/14: “Library Lovers Day” —  A day to honor libraries, librarians, bookworms, and all other library lovers in your life whether they’re your Valentine or not ;)

3/14: “Pi Day” — An annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi)! Not to be confused with “Pi Approximation Day”, which is observed on July 22, as the fraction ​22⁄7 is a common approximation of π dating back to Archimedes… And while not technically a financial holiday, still a pretty fun one to know ;)

4/1: “National One Cent Day” — When we celebrate the day the first cent was put into use!! Though good luck anyone believing you since it’s also of course April Fool’s Day as well (!!!).

4/16: “National Bean Counters’ Day – “Your accountant’s special day to take off from work, relax and do things that regular people do! Well, within reason… they are still accountants, after all.” – BeanCountersDay.com, haha… Check out their FAQs, they’re hilarious!

national bean counters day

5/2: “National Life Insurance Day” — The first day that life insurance became available in the United States! Wanna guess what time period?? The late 1760s – when “the Presbyterian Synods in Philadelphia and New York founded the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers in 1759. Episcopalian priests created a comparable relief fund in 1769.” – Wikipedia

5/20: National Be a Millionaire Day — A day to “think and dream about what it would be like to be a millionaire.” And one that’s also shared with “National Bike to Work Day” and “National Quiche Lorraine Day”, both of which aren’t nearly as exciting ;)

5/29: “529 Day!” — The perfect time to whip out those college savings calculators and get those investments going!! Unless you already got your free tuition by abstaining from all that sex?!

6/18: “National Splurge Day” — A day I wouldn’t go recommending to everyone (for most, every day is a splurge day! Haha…), however I think we’re safe on this blog, so mark it on your calendar and then get ready to treat yo’ self ;)

treat yo self gif

(Fun Fact: I actually made up this holiday back in 2008, and then a reader pointed out that it was actually “a thing!” And even more wild than that, the next day after blogging about it was the *official* National Splurge Day – hah!)

7/2: “National Simplicity day” — A day to get back to the basics and embrace simple living again! In honor of the one and only Henry David Thoreau who was born on this day in 1817.

“In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.” – Walden, Henry David Thoreau

7/5: “Workaholics Day” — A day to step back and take it easy for once. Since you probably just worked on July 4th BECAUSE YOU CAN’T STOP!!! :)

7/18: “Insurance Nerd Day” — I don’t think you needed the “nerd” clarification here, haha, but yes – anytime you mention the word “insurance” it certainly doesn’t evoke celebration ;) But maybe if you threw a party every year on this day it’ll get people talking? And the person who shows up with the least amount of insurance has to pay for it all?? Who’s in??? ;)

The 2nd Saturday in August: “National Garage Sale Day” — The perfect day to host a yard sale and get everyone’s quarters and dimes!!

8/15: “Work Like a Dog Day” — The opposite of “Workaholics Day” where all the slackers in your life are forced to do something for once ;)

8/17: “National Thrift Shop Day” — The perfect time to go SPEND all those quarters and dimes! ;)

8/25: “National Second Hand Wardrobe Day” — For all those frugal fashionistas!

10/12: “National Savings Day” — Probably one of the best days of the year, if it weren’t for the following day on this list ;)

10/19: “International Be Proud of Your Money Day! — A holiday I may or may not have made up to give ourselves credit for all the financial wins in our lives! Since most other days we’re so hard on ourselves and forget how far we’ve come in our journey!

11/19: “Women’s Entrepreneurship Day” — A day created by social entrepreneur Wendy Diamond, that “empowers, celebrates, and supports women in business worldwide.”

11/21: “Use Less Stuff Day” — A great time to re-evaluate how we consume in our lives!

“All our stuff – cell phones, clothes, cars, disposable chopsticks, and on and on – comes from somewhere and has to go somewhere when we throw it out. That takes a big toll on the planet…” – GreenPeace.org

Yup! And one of my favorite bloggers in this area is Bea Johnson of ZeroWasteHome.com and the Zero Waste movement. She’s a bit hardcore, but what a mindset to work towards!

11/22: “Buy Nothing Day” – An excellent day, if it wasn’t followed so closely by Black Friday??? What’s the point of holding back your dollars one day, just to unleash them all on another? Now if we’re talking about Buy Nothing *Months*

12/5: “International Volunteer Day for Economic & Social Development” aka “International Volunteer Day” —  An international observance mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985 that offers “an opportunity for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels.” Try saying that 5x fast!

12/18: “Answer the Telephone Like Buddy the Elf Day” – Totally not a financial holiday, BUT HOW FUNNY IS THIS??? “Simply answer the phone and say “(Insert your Name) the Elf, what’s your favorite color?” – NationalDayCalendar.com

buddy the elf gif

12/20: “Free Shipping Day” — A frugal lover’s wet dream, provided you’re not over spending just to get the free shipping 🤦

And there you have it! A bunch of excellent excuses to celebrate this year!!

*** GO MARK THEM ON YOUR CALENDAR, STAT! ***

And when you finish, give yourself a break and participate in today’s holiday – “Public Sleeping Day”… Though maybe not if you’re at work ;)

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12 Comments

  1. Adam February 28, 2019 at 8:37 AM

    I spent a good bit of my life in the bicycle industry, so Bike to Work Day is ingrained on my personal calendar… and now it’s joined by a specific date to shoot for joining the two comma club! The year, of course, depends on how the market does. But it’d be fun if I could make it happen on or about May 20. I’ll check back in eight to ten years with an update. ;)

    1. J. Money February 28, 2019 at 11:35 AM

      Haha please do!! Maybe I’ll try guestimating my official day too and seeing how close I get :)

  2. Paul February 28, 2019 at 8:58 AM

    Sweet parks and rec meme!

    Also, I find it interesting that splurge day is followed immediately by simplicity day. Its almost like they cancel each other out.

    1. J. Money February 28, 2019 at 11:36 AM

      Not if you do it right! :)

  3. Minimal Millionaire Mom February 28, 2019 at 2:10 PM

    Thanks for doing the research on this and putting it all together. Like the Millionaire day and thanks for adding the Buddy the Elf one…made my day!

    1. J. Money March 1, 2019 at 9:43 AM

      I wish people actually did that latter one as it sure would make the day more interesting, haha…

  4. Kris February 28, 2019 at 5:06 PM

    Haha, I actually knew some of these days existed but the others made me lol!! Answer the Telephone Like Buddy the Elf Day and Insurance Nerd Day?!! XD
    Hey you forgot National Step In a Puddle And Splash Your Friends Day!! It was back on January 11th. You gotta keep up with this J!! :) Unfortunately I could find a puddle and a friend to splash water on. Oh well…there’s always next year!!

    1. J. Money March 1, 2019 at 9:44 AM

      Okay that is good, haha… My kids are going to love you for that one ;)

  5. Daphnee Kwong Waye March 3, 2019 at 12:11 AM

    This list is genius! Bookmarking it for future reference!

    1. J. Money March 4, 2019 at 6:50 AM

      Glad you like it! Make sure to pluck some off and put ’em on your calendar so you’ll never forget! They’re super important! ;)

  6. Keith Schroeder June 24, 2019 at 8:09 AM

    I don’t want to upset anyone, but you forgot 4/20. I don’t imbibe myself, but it is getting legal in more places.

    1. J. Money June 24, 2019 at 10:26 AM

      Haha, you speak the truth on that one…