3 Important Tips To Make Sure You Maximize Your Money During the Great Singapore Sale
For all you shopaholics out there, the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) might be the one time of the year you’ve been waiting for. With retail spend starting to look like its declining last year, you can expect shops to gear up this year in a bid to attract customers.
Even if you’ve been diligently saving up since the year started, you still want to make sure that you’re maximizing your expenditure and savings. We’re not going to list out all the available sales in Singapore here because by the time we’re done, GSS might be over already. What we can offer are 3 key tips to make sure you don’t end up wasting time and money on the unimportant things:
1. Make Sure You Use the Right Credit Card for Your Shopping
If you are going into this year’s GSS with no plan on what credit card to use, it goes without saying that you’re short-changing yourself severely in terms of how much you could be saving.
You’re probably sick of hearing us say that you should be using the right credit cards in almost every situation of your lives, but when it comes to shopping, there are credit cards that provide specific benefits and additional rebates when it comes to shopping. It’s also important to take note of whether the benefits for your credit card relate to online shopping only, or whether they encompass normal retail shopping.
Then there are cards which allow you to choose where you get an increased benefit from. The ANZ Optimum World MasterCard is one such card where you can choose between 4 categories (Travel, Shopping, Dining & Leisure and Groceries) on a quarterly basis to get 5% unlimited cash rebate on your purchases. Yes, you read that right.
Unlimited cash rebate. If you’re planning on making multiple purchases, this is perfect because you get 5% rebates on each of your purchases up to a maximum of $600 per transaction. No minimum spend, no cap on how many times you can get 5% back. What’s more, new cardmembers also get to enjoy a sign up bonus of an $88 cash rebate by simply spending $388 within 30 days of your application approval. For a more detailed explanation on how the card works and its benefits, you can read our full article here.
You might already know all this, but what you might not know is that for the period of the GSS, you actually get a 10% cash rebate on selected dining and shopping spend. All you need to do is charge a minimum of 5 transactions amounting to $1,500 either between 15 May – 14 June 2015 or 15 June to 14 July 2015. You can get the full details of the offer here.
Using the right credit card for your shopping purchases means that you save over and above the discounts being offered at whichever shop you’re buying stuff from. Just make sure you’re diligent in paying your bills as well, and the cash rebates you get can add up to a significant amount, especially since the ANZ Optimum Card lets you earn cash rebates on your shopping even after the GSS is over. If you’re interested in the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard, you can apply here. Annual fees, EIR and conditions apply.
2. Beware of Insane Carpark Prices
Ever tried parking at Takashimaya for even half a day? Like the rest of us who have, you probably regretted immediately the moment you saw how much you had to pay for parking. If you’re the sort who likes to park yourself in one place (literally) and then move about a conquer many shops at one go, you’re going to want to make sure that all your savings during GSS aren’t eroded by the insane parking prices, especially in town.
If you are heading to town, parking just outside the area and taking a train in is a relatively feasible idea, unless you’re planning on buying something massive like a 50” LCD TV, or you have to deal with bringing the kids around.
Regardless of where you’re heading to, doing a quick search online should yield some good information on the parking prices of where you’re headed. Especially with many carparks in the town area having revised their parking rates over the last few years, you’re going to be sure of the charges before going. Also, you can also check out our article on places you might not know offer free parking.
3. Time Your Shopping Right
Many people end up with a GSS experience that is disappointing, to say the least. No size/stock of what they want to buy, insane crowds to deal with, and more often than not, they end up buying a whole bunch of other things that they didn’t plan to in the first place. Why? Bad timing.
If there’s something that you’ve been dying to get and know it’s on sale, then the best time to buy it is… now. Don’t wait or hope that the sale is going to get any better, just go and get it at its discounted price.
If you have a particular favourite store and don’t necessarily have anything specific in mind but just want to take advantage of this time of the year, going in the middle of the GSS is more likely than not going to turn up with some disappointments. One of the advantages of waiting nearer towards the end of the GSS is that shops tend to offer additional end of GSS discounts, and if you’re really bargain hunting, then this is the period to go.
You probably won’t have to deal with the crazy crowds that you might have experienced over the long weekend that just passed, but if you’re thinking of buying common products such as basic clothing items, don’t get your hopes too high.
Final Word
Conquering the mammoth that is the GSS is really all about being smart. Many people go in guns blazing and then come out wishing that they had planned their spending and time better. The additional bonus of using the right credit card can add up to a sizeable sum of savings, and planning your shopping and “route of attack” can result not only in optimal use of your time but also money.
This article was brought to you by ANZ Bank.
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