Sales Season Game Plan: Spend Smart, Save Smarter

Before you even open that shopping app, decide how much money you’re comfortable spending this month using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule to make sure your savings are safe.

This rule suggests dividing your income into three parts: 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings or paying off debt.

Then, stick to that number like it’s your bestie no matter how tempting that flashy jacket looks.

List down what you actually need or planned to buy and rank them by priority.

• Skincare restock (yes, sunscreen counts)
• The air fryer your mum keeps hinting about
• Gifts for upcoming birthdays or Christmas
• New wireless earbuds because your current ones mysteriously lost one side
• Cute boba tumbler so you can BYO (bring your own) and still flex on Insta

💡Tip: Add to cart early and track prices. If it suddenly "goes up" before 11.11 then "drops" again, you'll be able to differentiate the inflated-price sales from the real deal.

There is always a 99% chance that your hit list would go above budget, we’ve all been there. To fix this situation, channel your inner shopping guru and separate the needs from the wants.

• Needs: The essentials that keep your life running smoothly (think: toothpaste, skincare, or that trusty pair of jeans).

• Wants: The fun stuff that’s nice to have but not urgent (those glow-in-the-dark sneakers can wait).

When your list exceeds your budget, don’t panic and just hit the pause button. You can always come back to it later when your budget allows.

Combine platform vouchers + brand vouchers + free shipping codes + bank promos + cashback links. Your job is to become a loyalty-card wizard.

Some vouchers are actually stackable and may require you to use different payment methods or meet specific conditions. Experiment with the payment options and mix and match until you get the best combo for discount.

💡Tip: Sometimes splitting into multiple checkouts nets you more vouchers and the best deals usually drop at midnight!

Alright, now for some money magic: using credit cards to get extra cashback or rewards points when you shop online. This is like getting a discount on your purchases except it’s in the form of cashback or reward points back in your pocket.

For example, CIMB e Credit Card offers 12X Bonus Points for online shopping, auto-billing (recurring payments i.e. telco, online streaming services, utility bills) and in-store contactless spend on eDay (28th of the month), all year round.

• These Bonus Points are as good as cash! You can use the Bonus Points to redeem selected flights, hotel stays and more.

• Otherwise, you can also use it to pay at our participating merchants at a conversion value of 500 Bonus Points to RM1.

💡Tip: Always pay your credit card bill on time to avoid interest fees as those can totally wipe out your cashback/rewards wins.

After the sale, transfer whatever you didn’t spend into your savings account. Future you will thank you when you’re sipping boba bought with interest, not impulse buys.

Lastly, review where you scored the biggest savings. Knowing your deal hotspots means you’ll be even more lethal during the next sale season.