Hacks

Young Families Must Know about this Hack That Cut Household Essentials Expenses by 50%

2017-05-26 , 2:29 pm

Last Updated on 2017-05-29 , 10:22 am

This is a not a good time to be coming into adulthood. No, I’m not talking about reaching the age of 21 but getting married and starting a family.

Why? Because of the sky-high cost of living in Singapore.

We’ve clinched the dubious honour of being the most expensive city to live in out of 133 cities in the entire world and we’ve defended the title for some time.

Now I’m no expert in Economics so I don’t exactly get the Time-Value of Money, but I do think that the long running joke we’ve always been talking about has some merit; that everything rises in Singapore except our salaries.

So what can you do? I mean, you can save up on unnecessary expense like shopping, partying and eating out; but how the heck are you going to stop buying everyday essentials?

Buy Your Everyday Essentials at More Than 30% Off

Worry not because we, being your good (budget) friends, found a way out for you. Here’s a way to buy your everyday essentials at more than 30% off, and get this, it’s legit and convenient.

You can call it a lifehack, but they’ve been around for some time (think two decades). We’ll call it a hidden gem that most people probably didn’t know.

Where do you go to when you get everyday essentials? Young people my age will probably go for supermarkets because they’re located in every shopping mall across Singapore. Not really cheap but hey, it’s the cheapest alternative you got.

Or is it?

Well, I confess that I’ve thought that way too.

myCK, Neighbourhood Multi-Chain Retailer That’s Damn Good Priced

That was until I knew about myCK. I first heard about them when my mum told me not to get Colgate Toothpaste from any other places but from myCK instead because they’re selling them at $2.90 instead of $3.90.

You might be wondering why I’m fussing over one dollar. Well, wait till you’re buying your own household essentials and you’ll understand because #everysinglecentcounts

And from there, after browsing through what they had to offer, I was hooked. Prices were at least 30% cheaper, sometimes even cheaper than that. And more importantly, I can find most of the essential products that I need, sometimes even the sought-after items that not every retailer carries.

Get this, four bottles of 1L Lifebuoy at the price of $20, while it’s going for $39.20 at other stores.

Or three Dynamo Laundry Power Gel at $20 instead of $31.50.

And trust me when I say this is just scraping the tip of the iceberg. Travel bottles to bring aboard the plane, Rexona roll on deodorant, pads for ladies to deal with their monthly issues, everything’s cheaper here!

And they have 19 outlets scattered across Singapore deep within the heartlands, so convenience isn’t an issue here.

Now, saving a few dollars per product isn’t a big deal, but it is when you’ve to buy many products every week.

Why so Cheap?

I can practically hear you thinking that if you’re still reading this article because I’m a mind-reader #TheMentalist.

Okay, I’m kidding, but I thought the same thing too so I dug a bit deeper. Why so cheap? That’s because of two factors, their store locations and a mix of both local and directed imported products.

Keeping Overheads Low

You’ll realise that myCK are located at the heartlands. In order to keep the prices of their products affordable, they had to keep overheads low, so rental is one of their key considerations.

They also have their own warehouse to centralise distribution so bringing down the logistic cost.

That’s one thing we really love about them because if they manage to keep costs low, it means they’re able to sell their products cheaper. #WinWinSituationFTW, guys.

Cheaper Products from Local Suppliers as Well

The retailer itself offers products from big local FMCG firms and based on a survey we did, the prices are generally much better than you can find outside.

Allegedly, this is entirely possible because they keep a healthy and long-running relationship with their suppliers, which allows them to maintain better and stable selling prices.

Directly Sourced Products

The retailer brings in the direct imported products as well because they wanted to give customers the ability to choose. If you were to look at the ingredients of their products, chances are, they’re written in a language that’s as foreign to you as Twilight is to guys.

But before you go, ooh, that’s not good for me, check out what we’ve found. Singapore is a pretty safe country and all personal care products that goes onto the shelves of retailers has to be registered with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

Life Tip: look out for the imported label on those directly sourced products. This means that the product has been registered with HSA so it makes it relatively safe for local use.

There’s also another benefit to buying directly sourced products beside the cost; and that’s because sometimes, these products can only be found online or overseas. Singapore is a very small market and some (good) brands do not see Singapore as a viable market to sell their products in. Sad, I know.

You know what, don’t take our word for it. Check out the nearest myCK store to you and take a look for yourself.

Chances are, you’ll be hooked just like many of us were.

You’re welcome! ;D

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

Featured Image: Iakov Filimonov / Shutterstock.com