Reno completion..

We're almost done with the reno!

Armed with mops and brooms, we'll start to clean up our new nest and shift things in. We've stocked up quite a number of items at our respective homes and they're taking up so much space..

Hehe we're such suckers for the "bullet" dustbins at Friven and Co that we bought 3 of them at their 70% off sale..

Bargaining at the Big Stores

There's a little known fact that most are not aware of: that big electrical department stores can be rather flexible with their pricing.
A few neighbourhood stores are well known for having much lower priced electrical appliances than the recommended retail prices usually displayed on large electricals chain stores.
Here's a strategy that we took:
1) Large electrical chain stores are good showrooms. You can also ask the sales persons for details on each model, and take back a brochure or two.
We've encountered some pretty good sales people at Best Denki Taka, Bishan, Harvey Norman Millennia Walk who are rather patient and know their stuff.
2) Call up neighbourhood stores and ask for best quotes
3) Go back to a few select electrical chain stores, and see if they can match or better these quotes
*tip* Harvey Norman stores at a particular IT mall or convention centre seem to be pretty competitive *ahem*.
4) Take the best deal (package them to reduce transportation fees or hassle).

Even with such well thought out plans, there are always Wild cards in a UNO deck.
The recent IT show gave an unbeatable price for our TV because of useful vouchers thrown in as freebies.

Dang! You can't plan everything.

Mass Market Alternatives

For those in the know, there are places that you can get affordable furniture at prices that are generally lower than those of retails stores.
Such outlets do not typically have a nice shopfront in an airconditioned shopping centre, but can be found in industrial estates and even online.
If you look at some of the neighbourhood furniture stores, they typically do not stock much at their shops except for old fashioned tables and chairs.
However, they have some colour printed catalogues of the latest furniture collections from furniture manufacturers in Taiwan and China.
If you look closely, you'll even find some of the same furniture retailing for 3 times the price in major furnishing hubs like Furniture Mall.

These stores sometimes also carry rather good "flattery" of designer pieces. But due to legislation they would be averse to admit so.
If you are a frequent browser of home furnishing magazines, you might find these alternatives rather familiar when you walk into these "factories".

For chairs, you may want to check out the backlanes of Eunos Ave 5 (behind Paya Lebar Singpost Centre) and search for Gnee Hong or Comfort Furniture.
For dining tables and beds, try contacting Mr E of Hommage Furniture. ;)

Studio shoot

After the very fun (but tiring) time that we had with Michael and Eric, the bridal studio photoshoot turned out to be more anticlimatic. Maybe we were pampered too much by the dynamic duo with their jokes and spontaneity. Maybe because our bridal studio photographer was having a bad sore throat. Or just that because half the time was spent in the studio indoor shoot that it became less interesting?

The bridal studio shoot, being more formal, was also more "posey". The hulk complained that she had to strike contortionistic poses that defy the normal human postures. It was easier for the purple dinosaur though. The male maxim for the day was to just "act cool". It wasn't that hard. hahaha..

Presents from banks..

Credit cards. Once a status symbol and part of the much-sought-after 5Cs, they are now just wallet-fillers. Barney and Hulk are determined to make full use of the discounts, rebates and vouchers provided by credit card companies to stretch their spending power to the max.

Since rebates are capped at a certain amount for specific durations, usually Barney and Hulk have typically applied for these cards EACH.

Here are a few cards that we are using/have used to get some rebates:
1) Standard Chartered Platinum Card
Back in Dec 2007, they had a promotion for signing up with this card. There is a whopping 10% cash rebate on purchases within the first 2 months
of card activation.
The catch: It was capped at the first $1000 of spending. Meaning a maximum of $100 rebate.
Barney and Hulk each got one, and with payment for air conditioner installation,
lightings and miscellaneous items, $200 of cash rebate was clocked. QED.



2) Standard Chartered Manhattan Card
The card is one of the lesser known ones outside the circle of people who are preparing for marriage as it was launched some years back and there has been little publicity for the past 2 years or so. However, many are leveraging on its cash-rebating power since there does not seem to be a restriction on the type of purchases on the card.
The catch: You get max rebate of 5% with spending of above $3k within a month (less rebate with less spending). Each quarter you are entitled to only $300 of cash rebates. This means that you should limit your spending to $6000 a quarter.

No problem! Barney and Hulk planned their spending, even taking the risk of paying
for some items in full to capitalise on the cash rebates (from reputable shops of course). Some of our friends who were privy to our payment schedule plans were either impressed or disgusted at the lengths we have gone to ensure maximum redemption.
Next intended target: Banquet bills ;)

3) Standard Chartered Business Platinum Card
This is a new card being launched by the bank, similar to the Platinum Card in Part (1).
Hence we will adopt the same strategy. 200 bucks, here we come!

To date, we have clocked almost $600 in cash rebates and still counting.
By our best estimates, our cash rebates can go up to $1.2k.