diff --git a/.bin/dumpdb.sh b/.bin/dumpdb.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcc10db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.bin/dumpdb.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+config=config.yaml
+pgformat="-Fc"
+ext=pgdump
+
+while getopts ":p" arg; do
+  case $arg in
+  c)
+    config=$OPTARG
+    ;;
+  p)
+    pgformat="-Fp"
+    ext=sql
+    ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+filen=`date "+backups/%Y%m%d_%H%M%S.${ext}"`
+
+mkdir -p backups/
+dbstring=`yq -r .db.connect "${config}"`
+pg_dump "${pgformat}" -f "${filen}" -T calls "${dbstring}"
+echo "backed up to ${filen}"
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5c93d4c..cb1321f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ Session.vim
 *.log
 *.dlv
 cover.out
+backups/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index de81f13..997e842 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -35,5 +35,12 @@ coverage-html:
 coverage:
 	go test -coverprofile cover.out
 
+# backup backs up the database without calls
+backup:
+	sh .bin/dumpdb.sh
+
+backupplain:
+	sh .bin/dumpdb.sh -p
+
 test:
 	go test -v ./...