Given the banking crisis we've suffered through in recent years, it is perhaps understandable that some now think reverting to the old 'under the mattress' storage option is wise.
When it may not be the best course of action, however, is when you share your home with a four-year-old who has a predilection for shredding paper.
Such was the case in the home of Liu Fan, 28, from the Shaanxi province in West China.
Liu Fan left her young son, who was previously allowed to tear up old books by his parents, alone in her bedroom. Here, he found a box under his parents' bed containing a large sum of money, and proceeded to rip it into shreds.
The money, thought to be in excess of €3,500, was being saved for a new apartment the family hoped to pay a deposit on this year, and the lot was destroyed while the parents were sitting in the room next door.
Liu Fan, 28, said: 'We didn't really care when he ripped up the old books we had lying around, and it was easy to buy very cheap old books down the market which he happily ripped into small pieces. I thought if I left him alone with a book for an hour it would be no problem and we could hear the ripping sounds from the kitchen but didn't think anything of it.
The family attempt to piece the shredded notes back together
'My family told me that it was not and I now realise they were right after he found all our money and ripped it up. It was all our savings.'
It was not all bad news for the family, however. Thankfully, one Chinese bank agreed to match the value of the notes and exchange them for new ones.
Mrs Liu added that she had now put a stop to her sons destructive habit, saying: 'I realise that perhaps it wasn't very sensible'.
You don't say. 
