This article here is written a little too late for 2009. Maybe you can apply this for Valentine’s Day 2010.

On this day usually couples would specially meet up for a special valentine’s day meal and maybe some programs after that. Usually on this day movie tickets will be sold out too.

You ask. I’m broke (or I’m saving up to marry her soon), what can I do?

You should actually tell her about your financial status (be honest about it!). Pretty sure she won’t feel disappointed since a relationship isn’t a 1-person thing.

I would suggest that you can actually spend the day at home. Think about the ways you can manupulate with my idea and make it better. I’ve just got a very rough idea.

1. Spend the afternoon shopping for something to cook for dinner. How about preparing Fish & Chips or steak since it isn’t at all hard to prepare? Further more, they wouldn’t cost much.
2. Preparing for dinner together would definitely bring you together. Don’t you find it sweet to be able to prepare food together?
3. It’s not weird to have dinner with your parents on Valentine’s Day. Prepare a share for your parents too!
4. Now do wash the pots, pans and plates together. Blow foam on each other.
5. (After this) You might want to shower (together?). I’ll pass this since my blog is suitable for the general public.
6. If you’ve got DVDs, you can both watch a movie together and enjoy some soda (or even ice cream).  If not, download Joost and start watching some interesting programs lined up for you. Veoh isn’t a bad choice for videos too! We saved you $20 for movie tickets. Why not donate them to our paypal account? ([email protected])
7. What’s next, its up to you.

What I got above is a very brief idea that can really save you lots yet let your partner feel important.

Hey Felix, I’m not on a budget, but I’m out of ideas.

No matter where you are, I’ve got ideas for you. It’s how you make it possible.

• Spend some time doing community service, such as helping out at an old folks’ home or orphanage. That’s a way of sharing your love with the less fortunate. (This idea is highly recommended by felixker.com)
• Book a hotel room. I would suggest that you a room on the high level. I don’t remember hotels having any restrictions against outside food in your room. Bring back food from anywhere. You’re free to dine on the bed or at the tables. It’s your room for the day and night! If you’re celebrating with your bunch of friends, this would be a good idea too. Most rooms should have a small bar with a fridge, so you can have your beer/wine chilled. The only problem is you’ve got to keep the noise level down.
• Have a family car (7-8 seater preferred!)? A 7-8 seater would have 3 rows of seats. You can both park the car somewhere and sit together at the second row having your romantic meal. Since most family cars are specious, you can enjoy romantic music (or if there’s DVD/TV, it would be better!).
• Pamper your partner with a massage and facial session. The both of you can spend 2-3 hours at the massage parlour or beauty salon together. This is a good time to relax together.
• You’re both gamers? Why not spend a few hours at a cyber cafe. Play a team game together which can improve your relationship. What’s better than protecting your own loved one?

Look, the possibilities of having a wonderful and romantic day with your loved ones are almost unlimited whether you’re rich or not. All you need is your own originality. Think out of the box. Do something that you wouldn’t do on normal days.

READ ON

Personally, I think you should be sweet to your loved ones everyday. Valtentine’s Day has become a very commercialised day. Prices of flowers, gifts and dinner got jacked up for this special day.

It’s Valentine’s Day everyday!

I’m a fan of NTUC Fair Price, Cold Storage, Giant, Carrefour & Watsons and guess I should share some tips on saving more money that I practice.

1. Buy or borrow newspapers and check out promotions/best buys!
   Very often these stores will advertise on papers about their promotions. When a store advertises, doesn’t mean that it’s got the best price in Singapore. Don’t come back commenting that you bought something much more expensive but was on promotion. (Read #2)
2. Start to compare and remember prices
   You don’t have to go around the different stores looking remembering the prices of everything. Just roughly remember the price of stuffs you get more often. Example: Glico Pocky at 85cents at NTUC Fair Price. For some stuffs, Carrefour may be cheaper. If you’re getting stuffs in larger quantities, sometimes Giant offers a better deal! If price isn’t an issue, go over to Cold Storage for some fresh deals.
3. Start buying house brands
   Some people got the concept that house brands lacks quality. Not true. Maybe food wise, the taste may not be as good as some popular brands. Other than that, I guess they’re comparable. House brands are cheaper because they are less advertised. However, not always house brands are cheaper too. Remember, compare. (Read #2)
   Brands and stores:
   Fair Price – Fair Price
   Watsons – Watsons
   Carrefour – Carrefour
   Giant – Giant
   Cold Storage – First Choice
4. Buy what you need
   Jot down a list of items you probably will need. I am a bad shopper as I always walk around the store for very long, aimlessly and buy everything that I see that’s on promotion. This is very wrong. Buy only what you will need to use or eat. (Buy more? Read #5)
5. Buy 3 get 1 free?
   Do you really need 3? If today, Giant starts to hold a promotion for Organic salt and offers 3 packets for the price of 2. Are you going to get it? Do you need 3 in the first place when you’re going to take a year to finish 1. There’s an expiry date to most items. (Not forgetting Active Ingredients too!) Think about it.
6. Free Gifts vs. No free gift (Not always true!)
   Buy tomato ketchup and get a free apron. Good deal isn’t it? Let’s put the word free aside. Normally when there’s no free gifts, tomato ketchups on shelves could be priced at a dollar or two cheaper. So make sure you check if you could get the one without a free gift at a better price. Don’t be misled by the word FREE; nothing is free in the world. Unless you need the free gift, else it’s not worth forking out the dollar for it, although it’s a good deal.
7. Quality vs Quantity.
   I would take clothes detergent as an example. There are brands such as “Attack” that produces detergent that is 2 In 1. Which means you do not need to buy any softener. And also you do not have to pour as much detergent as other brands because it’s thicker. That’s why you have to know what’s value for money.
8. What size should I get?
   Again I shall take clothes detergent as an example. NTUC Fair Price sells 2 Litre and 3.5 Litre Attack 2IN1 Liquid detergent for $7.65 and $11.95 respectively. But which one to get? Since detergent isn’t perishable, start calculating. $11.95/3.5L=$3.4142/Litre for 3.5 Litres bottle and $7.65/2L =$3.825/Litre for 2 Litres. Isn’t it obvious that buying the 3.5 litre bottle can save you more and it’s going to last you a longer time? Bigger bottles doesn’t mean cheaper sometimes though. Just be more calculative.

After reading what I’ve written above, it doesn’t really matter whether the item is $9.95 or $10 (Cheaper doesn’t mean better, refer to #7). What’s important is you save through the tips above.

Next week, if I get some time to walk around the store again, I’m going to cover what you can get with many 1 dollars in your pocket. And again it’s going to save you quite a bit (8 bits and you get a byte!) too!