With a less than positive economic outlook this year, it is only wise to find ways to scale back on our spending. However, there are ways to cut spending without compromising on your lifestyle. In this article, we will share with you 5 tips on how you can Pay Smart & Save More while you continue to enjoy our National Hobby - Shopping.
1. Be In the Know
There are generally 3 major sales periods in a year - The Great Singapore Sale, Post Christmas Sale and Post Chinese New Year (CNY) Sales.
The Great Singapore Sales occurs in June and July annually. However, some major departmental stores may kick start it in end May (to coincide with the start of the school holidays) and stretch the sales period to mid August (ending it with the National Day holiday). Due to the length of the sales period, merchants will be dishing out fresh offerings throughout the 2 months. Clearance items that do not move fast enough may be priced even lower during the second half of the sales period. Visiting the stores several times throughout the sales period is definitely worth it.
As the name suggests, the Post Christmas Sales should start from 26th December. But increasingly, merchants are trying to rake in more dollars by starting their Post Christmas Sales as early as Christmas eve. This will benefit shoppers who have no need to present their Christmas gifts till the eve or Christmas Day itself. But due to the lack of service staff and the necessity to keep their stores closed for at least a day or two, the Post CNY Sales will only start when stores re-open on the 2nd or 3rd day of CNY. Merchants are also betting on the fact that the majority of the shoppers will need to get their hands on new apparels and doll up their houses before CNY. In view of that, price reductions will be insignificant or few prior to the CNY holidays.
Other than the 3 major sales periods, departmental stores also have another major sales event - Anniversary Sales. This event is usually held during their anniversary month but the start and end dates varies yearly to coincide with the weekends and other festivities if any. Suppliers of individual brands will aggressively offer irresistible exclusive deals to outperform their competitors and earn a favourable standing with the departmental stores. It's no wonder some of these exclusive items disappear within the first few hours of the sale.
2. Do a Little Homework
With the ease of online connectivity, it wouldn't hurt to type out the name of the item or brand (you are interested in buying) in the search bar to see if there are any merchants offering a discount on it. Check out a few sites before you decide. Even if an item costs the same online and in store, you may be better off buying it from the internet (if there is no additional shipping cost) as you will save time and transportation cost. Unless it is an item that requires precision fitting.
3. Utilise Your Privileges
Most of us would own at least one credit / debit card or a membership card of sorts. But how many of us utilises the privileges extended by those cards frequently? Take a quick browse through your card website and you will be surprised how many attractive savings you have been missing out on. For many of us who own more than one bank / membership card, keeping track of or comparing which card gives the best discount can be tedious. Moreover, Card A may give the best discount at Shop X but Card B may offer a better deal at Shop Y. Fortunately, the Mobile App BeforeUpay offers the perfect solution for getting the best deal everytime. It is an unbias mobile app that houses thousands of promotions from *20 banks and institutions covering more than 4,000 merchants. The app also allows browsing by bank, categories, nearby or name search. You can also customise the app to show only deals offered by the cards you are subscribed to and adjust the radius of nearby deals. Simply click to download the Android or iPhone version.
4. Maximise Perks from Loyalty Programs
Most merchants have a loyalty programs in place to reward customers who frequent their stores. Thus if the overall price difference is less than 5% from another store, it may be more beneficial to stick to one store for all the purchases you can find as most loyalty programs will offer at least a 5% discount or higher. Some online stores also dish out vouchers for referring a friend. So before you make a first time purchase online, check with some friends if they can send you a reference link for both of you to enjoy some discounts.
5. More Is Less
If you are shopping for consumables, look out for bundle deals. The cost of a can of beer is cheaper in a pack of 6 and it gets even lower in a carton of 24. Some apparels offer up to as much as 50% off your second piece.
Perhaps it's time to gather some like-minded shopping friends.
* 20 Banks and Institutions included in BeforeUpay are:
American Express, ANZ, Bank of China, CIMB, Citibank, DBS, Diners Club, HSBC, MasterCard, Maybank, NTUC, OCBC, Passion, POSB,
SAFRA, Standard Chartered Bank, The Far Card, UnionPay, UOB, VISA
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