Stretching your dollar (Part 2)

This post will be a list of websites that I buy from. Not arranged in order of preference, just what I can recall.

Qoo10 - first up since I just received a delivery from there minutes ago. I like their Qxpress delivery. Most of the time they are punctual and polite. Easy to tell them alternative to place the items in case I've stepped out for a while and can't receive the delivery.

Stuff I've bought: Body soap (this just arrived. Bought because it was an introductory offer). Food (dim sum from Swatow Restaurant, Milo, Korean snacks, otah, ice cream, granola, bak kwa). Household items (cleaning items, laundry detergent, softener, mosquito spray/patch, bedsheets, toilet paper). Others (shoebags, caps, Romoss powerbank).
Tips: check out shop coupons that can be ustacked with event coupons to save even more money. I've bumped up and included stuff I didn't need just to qualify for shipping and further discounts before.
Pros: many promotions
Cons: price not always cheapest (eg. Kinohimitsu Superfood is cheaper on their own website)

Lazada - I like the GSS promos. This round, I bought a Sun Protection box at $29 for $100 value. There are weekday daily promos and brand promos. Check out the credit card promotions as well. I typically use this with the Fuzzie card.

Stuff I've bought: USB drive, Milo, standing fans, digital phone, Keds sneakers, Kinohimitsu, L'Oreal, tester perfumes

Guardian - I only come here if there is a 20% off online and always through Shopback for the rebates. Delivery is efficient. Product range is limited though as in out of stock items have been there for months.
Tip: Add your Passion card number (the 16 digit number etched at the bottom back of the card)

Singsale - once in a while if they have good promos. Suggest you try the size at the brick and mortar shop for the size first before buying online.

That's all for now... I'll do a separate post for buying from Taobao / Tmall.

Stretching your dollar (Part 1)

Some friends have requested that I share with others how I save money buying anything from daily household items to holidays. Basically, I find it fun to look for such deals or promotions and I don't mind sharing... just that I'll just share what I can remember as I go along.
[ disclaimer : I'm not in anyway affiliated with any of the website / apps that I am sharing and opinions are my own. Also, links below are not referral links. I'm not doing this for referral money. ]

First up - before buying anything
I have many adhoc purchases but if I'm not in a hurry, I'd check out some of the following:

Singpromos - I like this website because of its easy interface. There are various filters like onoing / upcoming / started or ends today. They also classify according to categories like Department Stores, online stores etc or Footwear.

Pros: easy interface to search
Cons: many bank advertisements to sign up for credit cards

Shopback - This is an online rebate system that lets you cash out accumulated rebates once it exceeds S$10 directly to a bank account. How this works is that you go to Shopback website, find the merchant you want to buy from (check out the Visa option too for an additional 1%) and click to access the merchant's website.
Fastest cashback I've experienced was using it for Cotton On (no longer a merchant with Shopback) purchases when I got the money in 2 days. Usually it takes 60 to 90 days. I've more than S$300 cashed out since I started more than a year ago. I've used Shopback for purchases at : Cotton On, Redmart, Expedia, BusOnlineTicket, Easybook, Lazada, Guardian, Groupon, Fave, Taobao, Qoo10, Ezbuy etc though some of these are no longer with Shopback.

Tip: install the shopback buddy on your browser to get instant notification if the website supports Shopback
Pros: high cashback during promotions (get the email notification to be in the know)
Cons: missing cashback - I encountered this several times. Easy to initiate an investigation but sometimes it takes up to 60 days and the record was actually wiped out before any conclusion. However, I still continue to use because I consider cashback as a bonus and not a requirement.

Ebates - I don't use this. I tried once and it didn't work so I gave up. Maybe next time...

Qoo10 - I installed this app on my phone so I can go to the Q-lounge daily to click attendance. They give increasing Qpoints every 6th day of attendance so you can claim up to 190 (?) Qpoints which is equivalent to $1.90 credit (redeemable as whole dollars though). Each attendance is also a chance at the wheel where you can get more Qpoints or discount vouchers. Check out the Mameball event too, to play a game similar to Pokemon Go to catch brandmons to exchange for more Qpoints or buy selected items at a further discount. Exchange selected brandmons for even more Qpoints.
Gmarket Korea also has a similar programme.

Tips: the $2 off a $15 item can also be used for accumulated items, eg. you can use the $2 if you buy 3 quantities of the same $5 item. Install Live10 app and collect more vouchers other than the event ones. Discounts can be as high as
Pros: many promotions.
Cons: conditional vouchers

Fuzzie - I discovered Fuzzie gift cards recently. I like it's instant rebate because the rebate is instantly subtracted and I only pay the difference but I don't like it because it makes me want to buy more. LOL. They have cards for various merchants and because it is relatively new, some of the staff at these merchants don't quite know how to redeem from the phone.
I've bought : Lazada, Althea, Books Depository, Ezbuy

Taobao - they also have a loyalty points programme where you can collect points to offset final purchase price of selected items. Number of points increases from 5 by 5 points to a maximum of 30 if you collect daily.

Ezbuy - collect ecoins. Can't be used for offsetting price. Only for lottery chance of winning more ecoins or vouchers.

That's all for now...

What have I been up to?

Recently?

Crocheting.

I didn't like crocheting in the past for a few reasons - the holey nature, the stiffness, the ties with amigurumi. Not sure how I got started again but I think it was something to do with DS' blanket. Last year or actually, year before last I started knitting a blanket for DD that took almost 2 kg and 11 months. Huge and heavy blanket that DD put aside because she said it was too heavy. She chose the pattern and the colours. I chose milk cotton yarn. Now that DD has hers, it was time to make DS' and he chose 5 shades of blue. Somehow, when the blue yarn arrived, I wasn't inspired. Perhaps dreading the next 11 months of knitting. (DD's got so big it covered me when I knit it). It was about this time that I chanced upon a yarn kit that had 10 different colours and almost a different colour for each row. This would negate the boredom, I thought. It was also about the time when they released some nice Korean dramas and what best to do is to crochet and watch dramas. I finished marathons and almost completed DS' blanket.

Back in a bit... the delivery guy just arrived with the yarn winder an I can't figure out how it works... LOL!

Malacca Travels

We've been to Malacca a few times, returning only yesterday from the most recent trip. I wasn't able to find much craft stuff there. There was a fabric shop or two, mostly selling either dress or curtain fabric. Else there is Daiso.

Just want to blog some points about Malacca.

• Cendol opposite the red square - they used to open at 9am, then 10am, now they open at 11 sometimes. They've also diversified and are selling watermelon with the inside juiced with a handheld blender.
• Claypot rice at the Mahkota Parade foodcourt - Just follow the smells or look out for the long queue. Value for money claypot cooked in a flash.
• Ee Ji Ban Chicken Rice Ball - we have eaten there every trip, sometimes a few times in a trip. DS and DD like the vegetables and the cincalok omelette. I prefer this to the Farmosa because the chicken rice balls here are hand formed and thus not so tightly packed like the golf balls in Farmosa. We chanced upon it while roaming near Hotel Equatorial.
• LW pineapple tarts - they have several outlets but we go to the one that displays the world record pineapple tart near the stage at the end of Jonker street.
• Banya Peranakan food - not too bad for the buah keluak but this is a halal restaurant
• Tastebetter durian puffs - stuff one into your mouth for a new experience. Get these from the shop near the stage at Jonker street and not from the basement outlet at Dataran Palawan which sells dried out puffs.
• Unicorn Cafe - recent find. Babi pongteh is a must.
• Brands outlet and Padini - DS' favourite shopping places
• Cotton On and Nichii - DD's favourite shopping places

We've always stayed at Mahkota Parade Hotel but we're not going back there anymore.

• Pros - huge room with 2 bedrooms and 2 toilets, sitting room and kitchenette
• Cons - crossing the road to Mahkota Parade, pathetic state of rooms (most recent stay)

Cost is around S$150 per pax for 3D2N F&E if you go through the agent but S$100 if you DIY. For this last trip I used bookticketonline.com and Expedia.

• Bookticketonline - I missed out on the Big Box trips because I wanted to wait for Black Friday deals. We ended up using Boon Lay shopping centre instead. Finding the unit to get bus details was a bit unnerving at first because I couldn't find the unit. The numbering of the units in the shopping centre is a bit odd. They are not in running order. The trip there had a stop for breakfast which didn't happen with the previous trip. Then we were caught off-guard with insufficient food. The return trip was also worrying and it didn't help that the lady at the counter made a comment that she was surprised that there was a Holiday Inn stop and asked me to call should the bus not appear. It did appear, but as a Five Stars bus (more comfortable than Konsortium) though I noticed the smaller travel agency sticker later. Both bus trips ended and started at Holiday Inn which is next to Mahkota because I couldn't get one that did.
• Expedia - so many deals available. Ended paying less for the room than the coach rides. Checking in was hassle free. I'd try Expedia again.

Changing of SGD there is also easy. It starts from S$2 but you'll get a bad rate. There are also credit card promos and DD's Popular card worked in Mahkota.

Tourist privilege card at Mahkota used to be much better but now we don't bother much. Perhaps for the bowling next time...

Getting local products is easy, either at the pink shop up north from the red square else at San Shu Gong which has outlets at Jonker Street and Dataran Palawan.

That's all for now. Have a safe trip always...

I've been Carouselling

Those times when I used to craft late into the nights, now I spend Carouselling at my 2 shops:

* iwantabunnybag - where I will sell my handmade stuff. I've listed new items as well as some old ones. Yet to list all because I'm more interested in crafting than selling but I have to sell, to make room for more craft items to come in. So many more I want to try...with washable Kraft paper at the top of the list.

* yellowdaffodils - where I will destash and sell stuff I found cheaper elsewhere. This is a huge *embarrassing* amount that I'm still in the midst of uploading too.

For any of you who want to sell on Carousell, please consider
1. Profile - limited number of characters allowed for you to share shop policies. Many don't read this but you can always refer them to it.
2. Payment modes - ibanking and ATM transfers are most common besides cash on delivery. There's also Dash and Paylah or concealed cash. I don't like the concealed cash method for the simple fact of my word against yours.
3. Getting and accepting offers - this is a double-edged sword. Accepting an offer opens the door for feedback and it is this that makes or breaks reputation. It's 2-way though so the seller gets to feedback on the seller. Either party also gets to comment on the feedback left. I don't fancy this actually though I don't mind. I've interesting offers too. One that offered and canceled and offered again but disappeared. I also have one that insisted on paying me more *thank you*
4. Learn the acronyms/lingo
BNIP brand new in package
BNWT brand new with tag
CC concealed cash
PM private message
CTB chat to buy
Convi convenience
Low-ballers those who bid really low
5. Meet ups - some insist only on meeting, some don't want to meet. I don't like it but depending on the vibes I get from the conversation, I might. Too many times have I been stood up by inconsiderate buyers.

Moving house...

I shifted my stuff from DD's Carousell shop at the little quaint shop to mine at 'iwantabunnybag'.

It's been a slow start after a long break but I do have some new stuff. I can't blame the hot hot weather for the lethargy but I do want to get a move on, now that more fabric has arrived :-).

I've also embarked on another adventure, this time going for a dressmaking course. While I can sew, I do not know how to draft a pattern in the traditional way, from measurements. I like it that this course's schedule is so flexible that I can go whenever I want, within a certain number of months. I'll post some pics up at a later date.

Till then, drink more water in this energy-sapping season.
God bless!

Say what?

In a nutshell, I'm back.

After months of emails flying back and forth to clarify this and that, I've been given the green light to proceed so I'm back online :-)

Sadly, there's another reason why I'm back, like, now. 

I'm raising funds again, this time for Nepal. I first heard it when my course mates were talking about it on Saturday afternoon and the thought of doing something kept gnawing at me.

In another nutshell, this is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to list some items for sale on Facebook and yes, ALL proceeds will be donated. I'm thinking of International Medical Corps at the moment because Facebook said it will match the donation. Read about this here.

So hop on over to Facebook soon ....

ps: as per last time, I'll post the receipts here, for accountability. If you prefer, by all means donate directly.

Singapore Red Cross
International Medical Corps