5 money-saving hacks for first-time S’pore homeowners to furnish new BTO

For many young Singaporeans, HDB’s “Built to Order” scheme is a common topic of interest amongst those who are preparing to move out of their parents’ home.

But buying and renovating a flat is a pretty big financial decision. As much as we fantasise about our dream flat, many of us are bound by financial constraints that force us to prioritise certain factors.

When planning a budget, for instance, it may be difficult to resist splurging on cute furniture and decor to achieve your preferred aesthetic.

However, you do not necessarily need to break the bank in order to furnish your new BTO flat.

Here are 5 ways that you can save money when furnishing your new flat:

1. Look for second-hand furniture

If you are not fussy and do not mind furniture that is not brand-new, seeking out preloved furniture can be a huge money-saver. After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

The easiest way to start is by browsing Singaporeans’ favourite online marketplace, Carousell, online classifieds site, Gumtree, and Facebook Marketplace, and world’s largest second-hand dealer Cash Converters.

If you wish to cast a wider net online, you may consider joining relevant Facebook groups. Freevo and Singapore Neighbourhood Freecycle offer preloved furniture for free. Others like Free or Below $100 Used Furniture and Barter, Sale, and Blessing have used furniture going for free or for reduced prices.

You can also consider dropping by any Cash Converters physical stores, Hock Siong, and Thrift House Marketing if you wish to check out the goods in person.

Depending on your criteria and a bit of luck, you may be able to obtain some items for free or at least much cheaper than retail price.

2. DIY (with friends and family)

You can also save quite a lot of money by doing things by yourself.

Like painting your own flat, for instance.

Both Raffles Paint and Nippon Paint offer professional painting services that start at S$1300 for a 4-room flat.

According to Raffles Paint, an average 4-room flat requires a total amount of 42 L of paint, including ceilings.

However, you can purchase 42 L of R. Coat interior paint from Raffles Paint for S$340.

Local paint brand Gush offers 42L of Cair Interior Paint for S$628, which is still well below the budget of professional painting services. Other brands that you may consider include Nippon Paint and Dulux.

If you’re thick-skinned enough, try roping in your friends and family (up to eight people!) to help share the labour load and speed things up.

Apart from painting, you can also make modifications to second-hand furniture, such as by adding a fresh coat of paint, a new frame, or shortening the legs of a bed frame or table.

For those that are more ambitious, especially those of you who are really skilled with carpentry and the tool box, you can even try making your own customised furniture from scratch.

3. Hint to your friends and family to buy it for you

People often struggle with what to give others for occasions such as birthdays and house-warming parties.

Consider creating an Amazon wishlist to share with your friends and family.

Some merchant websites like Taobao may not have the same function but you can always compile the links into a shareable Google docs format, stating your preferred design, colour, etc.

Remember to include a diversity of items with a wide range of prices to suit the budget of each individual or group.

While the element of surprise is no longer there, at least the gift will be practical (far better than chucking it in a corner of your home or worse, throwing it away).

4. Pay for online shopping in overseas currency where possible

When looking for items online, some of us may be tempted to pay for items in SGD even if there is an option to pay in other currencies since it is the currency we are most familiar with.

By paying in SGD, you will incur both the bank administrative charges in foreign currency, plus the Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) charge.

Hence, when checking out your cart, it is sometimes actually better to pay in foreign currency instead since you won’t incur the DCC charge. This means that your total shopping cost might very well work out to be cheaper.

For foreign currency transactions, make use of YouTrip’s contactless Mastercard, which features a multi-currency wallet.

Boasting the best wholesale exchange rates, YouTrip supports payments in over 150 different currencies worldwide with no extra fees.

Compared to most money changers, YouTrip’s real-time exchange rates are also much closer to the rates that you see on Google, typically with a marginal difference of 0.1 per cent to 0.4 per cent.

You can even access the live rates and lock it down at any time via in-app exchange for 10 selected currencies: SGD, USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, HKD, AUD, NZD, CHF, SEK.

For other currencies, you can check the live rates here by entering the relevant details of your transaction.

5. Look for similar products on Taobao

When it comes to affordable goods, Taobao’s prices are hard to beat. Since almost everything is made in China these days, purchasing furniture and other home decor items directly from the source with minimal middlemen involved will keep costs low.

For instance, check out this Nordic Bedside Dressing Table that costs S$209.93, inclusive of sea shipping to Singapore.

You can find very similar products on Taobao using a reverse image search.

On Taobao, for instance, I found a similar table, with the option to add a mirror and chair (that comes in two different styles).

This 90cm table costs RMB396 (S$81.71), excluding international shipping fees.

A pro-tip is to look out for customer reviews with pictures of the shipped product that attest to its quality.

For shopaholics who intend to buy more than one item, Taobao’s consolidated shipping is your best bet.

Sea freight may be a little slower than air freight, but it’s also cheaper. This makes it the ideal choice for shipping heavier items like furniture if you can afford to wait a little longer (15 to 25 days) for items to arrive.

Shipping charges for large packages via sea freight start at RMB225 (S$46.47) for packages under 0.5CBM. According to the Taobao merchant, the item measures at around 0.129CBM (0.58m x 0.26m x 0.855m).

Thus, the total cost, including shipping charges, for this item is S$128.18, saving you around S$81.75.

To save even more money, remember to check out with cards such as YouTrip, which will allow you to save on additional fees incurred from foreign currency purchases as compared to using regular bank cards.

Available on both the App Store and Google Play Store, it only takes around three minutes to register.

For new YouTrip users, sign up with the promo code <MSTAOBAO> from Feb. 15 to Feb. 28 for a guaranteed S$10 cashback on your Taobao purchase that can be used for your next Taobao purchase by Mar. 31, 2021.

If you’re reading this article after Feb. 28, sign up with this promo code <MSYT5> for guaranteed S$5 upon successful card activation. Find out more information on how to get started via their website.

This sponsored article by YouTrip has given the writer something to look forward to when she finally gets her own HDB flat.

Top images via Pexels.