Cheap Toiletries

Save!  -Depends.

The long and the short of it:

Don't overpay for toiletries!
NTUC, Watsons and Guardian stores sell them at much higher prices than at some smaller neighborhood stores!

Additional or local tips!
Do a super cheap ass combo by using shopping mall vouchers! (Read earlier post here)
And remember to buy above $20 so you can scan the receipts to get shopping mall rewards points if you're shopping in Capitaland Malls.

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I used to buy all my toiletries from Watsons or NTUC thinking they were the cheapest.
Oh little did I know how wrong I was... I have since discovered Swanston at Chinatown and one that's closer to home, Venus Beauty at Tampines Mall.


Their shampoo, soap and other hair and facial products are wayyyyyyyy cheaper. You can expect to save between $2-6 per item. *Jaws drop* right...


They may be parallel imports but hey, they work just as well for me so why pay more for the same stuff?

Yahoo Finance has just highlighted this too!

Half priced chicken!!!!!

Save!  - $6 per bird!

The long and the short of it:

Cold storage / Jasons has half priced roasted meats just before closing time! Usually at 9.30pm.

Additional or local tips!
Sometimes they will put up the sign at 9.30pm sometimes they will sneakily not put up anything! And sometimes they won't have it at all. So it's a game of chance and chicken.

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I swear Cold Storage does one of the best roast chickens in town for its price and convenience. Their other roast meats aren't too bad either. Their smoked duck steak is another to die for.

Now these roasted items are normally ok priced. They aren't expensive. I mean one whole uncooked bird already cost $4-6 and you still have to use electricity to cook it with herbs and spices and what nots. So $14 for a whole family sized roasted bird is pretty decently priced.

Smoke duck breast. TO DIE for.

Meat overload. Can get a bit jerlat

It looks ugly but tastes damn delicious. Smaller birds yield much a more tender meat while the larger birds have tougher breast meats.

So then, what makes this a frugallivingsg article you say?

Wait for it... (literally)... at 9.30pm, sometimes... sometimes... something magical happens.
The roast meat counter will have a fire sale and everything cooked for that day will be going for 50% off!!!!    *Goes wild!*

A whole roasted chicken is so versatile that I can make 14 meals out of that one single 50% off bird! Frozen and consumed over 2 weeks. And they were all delish. My saliva is flowing just thinking about those 14 plates of pasta.

My 14 meals of pasta from one bird!

Groceries on fire sale that are not for the faint of heart - Expired foods

Save!  - Depends on how much you spend on groceries and how often you get a chance to pick up quick sale items from the supermarket

The long and the short of it:

Expired foods are ok. If they aren't turning green or white with mould and other weird fungi, it's fine to eat them.
Additional or local tips!
Check out the supermarket about 30min before closing time to pick up Quick Sale items which needs to be sold by the end of the day otherwise they will get chucked. These items will normally be at 50% off.

Alternatively, come in early in the morning. These should be the two timings when items get labelled for Quick Sale.

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Now I'm a big proponent of this.

Expired or expiring foods are OK. 
If they aren't turning green or white with mould and other weird fungi, it's fine to eat them.

One big big example is... sliced bread. My parents always makes sure there is a loaf of clean white Gardenia sliced bread lying in the kitchen. It's the daily breakfast food, a versatile staple. They go through a loaf about once every 4 days but if not... they toss out the remaining slices, sometimes even whole loaves even if it is perfectly edible.

Why? Because of this...

They throw out perfectly edible food. And YET they lecture me on starving children in Africa when I was younger!

Hell, they've even gone one step further and toss out the bread on the day of expiration! It's not even about expired food anymore, they are tossing out expiring food because they can.
It's just too wasteful! It's like Singaporeans are too rich or something...


So what's a kid gotta do to convince the parents? Hahaha I started horrifying them by buying close to expired groceries before proceeding to cook and eat them. I've survived for about 3 yrs now having eaten some food items that are long past their expiry dates so there, it's fine.

Now there are obviously certain things that you should not eat in this manner. Namely, eggs, diary products, oils and canned foods which are bloated or have turned black when they should not. But honestly, even if these items have not gone past their expiration date, I wouldn't eat them if they have obviously turned bad. So just use your common sense. But in case you need some help to start off. Below are some examples:

• White bread that's white. No wispy fungal spores or mould is safe to eat.
• Vacuum packed preserved meats such as sausages, smoked meats and bacon. Best if frozen. Frozen goods last indefinitely.
• Canned foods such as beans. No tomatoes cos the acidity might eat through can. I've had that happen to me so don't chance it.
• Dried goods. Beans. herbs, mushrooms... Dried goods if kept properly dried will last indefinitely.

If you need more convincing, here's an article from TIME magazine that supports this. It's aptly named - Only Suckers Abide by Food Expiration Dates.

Oh and on top of saving food, you'll save money cos near expired items in the supermarkets have to be cleared asap and will often be sold at deep discounts.

Going to the market with NTUC Vouchers

Save! - About $130/yr if you spend about $50/week at NTUC.

The long and the short of it:

Buy NTUC vouchers at a discount and use said vouchers to shop at NTUC. Remember to use your card to get LinkPoints.

Only applicable if you are not spending over $500/month using the OCBC NTUC Visa Plus! card which is only available to NTUC Union members. Cos that combo gets you can even better rate.

Local tips!

Check out Gumtree, Carousell, HWZ and the usual forums for people trying to cash in their vouchers. Just be careful of deals that sound too good to be true. Don't get scammed.

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Now that you've whet your appetite doing some frugal groceries shopping, here's a more advance level challenge. Using vouchers at NTUC.

Not many people know this yet or don't bother with it, but you can still receive NTUC LinkPoints when you shop using NTUC vouchers. (I've checked with them on email and have tested this out so it works as of 4 April 2014)

So where's the extra savings? Well, there are usually people on forums such as Gumtree, HWZ and Carousell looking to cash in their vouchers. NTUC vouchers should go for at least a 5% discount on those forums. Sometimes, the vouchers may even go for 10% off. Just make sure collection is not out of the way otherwise your 5% savings will end up enriching SMRT or SBS!

A word of caution - Don't get scammed!

If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

An example would be a super good voucher offered at 40% discount but requires you to do payment via internet banking or Western Union and they will mail the vouchers over afterwards. There is a risk that the seller will run off with your money.

Cash On Delivery (COD) is the safest or paypal (Should be able to claw back payments).

Save more on groceries by not buying from supermarkets!

Save! $5-10 depending on what you buy for groceries and how much food you go through each month.

The long and the short of it

Go direct to suppliers or pseudo suppliers for certain groceries. Especially pantry items.

Local tips!

Look up Phoon Huat or Kwong Cheong Thye. These are the two I know. If you know more, please share!

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When you think about groceries shopping you think supermarkets such as NTUC, Giant, Mustafa, Sheng Siong or even the wet market. For most items yes, it will be cheaper to get at the supermarkets but there are some items that can be gotten cheaper at... the suppliers of course!

I've looked up and did a rough comparison and if you're buying the following, it's actually cheaper to get from... Phoon Huat!!!! (HUAT AH!)

Items that are definitely cheaper:
- Unsalted butter (if you bake)
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Cooked whole beans
- Nuts (raw or otherwise) *heard victoria market carries them at good prices too but haven't checked. Thing is, confirm cheaper than supermarkets can le.
- Vinegars
- Oils
- Frozen fruit meats
- CHEESE!!!! OMG GOD DAMN CHEAP! (Ok not cheap but cheaper. Soooo much cheaper)
(1kg Mozzarella is only $11.80! Eat till cheese come out of the ears!)

Just be sure to call them before you head down so you don't make a wasted trip and plan your journey so your cost savings don't end up spent on petrol or the bloodsucking SMRT and SBS. I personally like the Aljunied MRT branch cos its super big and tends to have items in stock. Calling before hand is important.

Phoon Huat catalogue here but no price list. Sadz.

On the other hand, Kwong Cheong Thye is where you can get your chinese / asian cooking sauces and also other ingredients. However, they only have 1 retail outlet near Aljunied MRT.

My mum only goes there to buy the Yu Sheng veges and sauces for CNY (HUAT AH!!!)
I saw other nuts and assorted pantry items too.