OCBC and CapitaMalls: Providing value for money deals.

At the sharing session with Sean Seah and friends, there was plenty of food. It was like a pot luck session and I saw a few boxes from Polar. They are famous for their puff pastries and Swiss rolls, I believe. Their curry puffs cost $1.80 each and I always thought they were quite expensive. So, until quite recently, I never did buy Polar curry puffs.

Wah! AK recently bought atas curry puffs?

Well, I got them for $1.00 each and that was the first thing I said yesterday to the group. Yes, terrible. I totally forgot that initial impression is very important and they probably thought, "What a cheapskate..." Of course, I went on to say how they could also get $1.00 curry puffs from Polar, oblivious to what they might be thinking.

Actually, it is all thanks to the OCBC Frank VISA card that I have now. To get the special deal, I use the NETS Flashpay function. We will also need the NETS Flashpay Savers app which is free to download. The app lists many special deals and one of them is from Polar.

Each time, we are allowed to buy up to a maximum of 4 curry puffs at $1.00 each and pay with NETS Flashpay. A discount of almost 45%! That is a pretty good deal!

So, ever a sucker for great deals, I tried their curry puffs. Not bad but, honestly, I still prefer Old Chang Kee's curry puffs which are cheaper, heartier and tastier.

What? You think I am saying this just because I am an Old Chang Kee shareholder?

Aiyoh, terrible. How could you think like that?

Anyway, I am very sure there will be comments after this to suggest curry puffs which are better than Old Chang Kee's and I promise not to delete them as long as they are not advertisements. Nice AK.

Then, to augment the impression participants might have that AK is a cheapskate, I told them about how I admire CapitaMall Trust's management very much and how I think they are doing a good job of driving shoppers to their malls. How does this show I am a cheapskate?

I revealed how I am a CapitaMalls credit card holder and also a CapitaStar member. For a whole month, I get free parking in all their malls any day of the week for 3 hours per visit per mall when I have $1,200 worth of spending using the credit card. The spending doesn't have to be money spent in their malls too. It could be payment of bills at the AXS machines etc.

Assuming that we visit their malls 10 times a month, we could easily save $30 in parking fees. That is 2.5% of $1,200. My sister shares my car and I also go out with my mom once every few days just to spend quality time together and do a bit of grocery shopping. We make sure we visit a CapitaMall when we go out and not a competitor's mall. When I meet up with friends on weekends, I always suggest meeting in a CapitaMall. Sneaky!

Anyway, there is another reason why I like CapitaMalls. Getting discounted shopping vouchers!

Once a year, they will have this special deal for members to buy $300 worth of vouchers and get another $30 for free! I bought plenty last year and I am buying again this year. Everyday, for a limited time, each member is allowed one purchase per mall. The purchase of vouchers will count towards that $1,200 spending to get free parking too. Nice.

We use the vouchers mostly when we shop in NTUC Fairprice supermarkets in CapitaMalls but they are accepted in most of the shops, really. So, it is like getting a 9.1% discount on our groceries, on top of getting Link Points (about 1.3% rebate) and NTUC shareholder rebate of 4%. When I go shopping with my mom on Tuesdays, we get additional 2% discount for senior citizens too.

Some money, we have to spend. If we can save some money in the process, why not?

Related post:
1. CapitaMall Trust: Buy the retail bond or the REIT?
2. Save $: Frank Card, Signature Card & Dividend Card.
3. Supporting my businesses and getting paid in the process.