Cheap Branded Kids Clothing in Bangalore

Posted on October 30, 2011 | 3 Comments

I have two little daughters. Everyone envies me. “You can dress them up so”. True. So on the eve of my older daughter’s birthday I walked into Mantri Square to buy a pretty birthday dress for her. There was nothing less than Rs. 1,000 for a six year old. I despaired. I hadn’t planned on spending so much for her dress alone. There was still the party and the gift to be bought. There simply was no princess or mermaid dress to be had for so little. The younger one too would demand to wear a new dress.

At this juncture, I conferred with my friend Usha, a penny saver if I ever met one. Go to Srirampuram, it’s behind the big Mall you are at now, she said.

So I did. A labyrinth, I almost lost my way. After much asking around, I went to the small stores all next to each other. Rows of trousers, tops in wonderful colours stood waiting to be the chosen one. Then I saw a very pretty ocean green dress, with Ariel the mermaid (my daughter’s favorite) on it. It was a Disney dress. Definitely expensive, I thought. 250/- madam, for you 200, the shop assistant said. I was thrilled. I picked a few more dresses-jeans, tops for my little ones. They were all good brands like ZAP, Benetton, Disney, etc. A bag full of clothes for both my darlings and I paid Rs.1000/-.

Mermaid Party Dress

I never visit big stores now. My daughters have many pretty dresses all that look good and have lasted while they grew taller and plumper. Jeans, winter jackets, summer dresses, and party-wear – my kids have it all without burning a hole in my budget. Now, when someone wants to buy clothes for their kiddos in Bangalore, I ask them to visit Srirampuram. A good wash and press later the dresses are good to go.

I find it wasteful to spend a bomb on clothes, they will wear but for a few months. Once the children are done with them, we donate them and may I add in good condition. Over time we discovered stores that sold menswear. My husband bought a nice pair of jeans at Rs. 550/- as compared to the usual 1000 bucks and above. We have picked furnishing, dress materials and towels too at great prices.

Now when there is an occasion the children need to go to, a new dress is no longer a cause for concern. Look around and ask about. Every city has thrift markets where clothes are affordable and look great too.

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Posted in Saving, Shopping

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Make Use of Balance Transfer on your Credit Cards

Posted on October 21, 2011 | 2 Comments

If you have been running a high-interest balance on your credit card, then you should take a look at the balance transfer facilities offered by many credit card companies.

The general interest rate on your credit card outstanding will be about 3.2% or more. Using a balance transfer facility you can reduce your interest payments considerably. How is that possible?

This is how it works. Lets say you have two credit cards: one from Citibank and the other from HSBC. Both the cards have a  credit limit of Rs. 1 lakh. The HSBC card has a considerably small outstanding while the Citicard has an outstanding  of Rs. 50,000. Currently, you are unable to pay up this in full,immediately. In that case, you will have to continue paying a high interest rate of 3.2% plus on the outstanding balance.

At the same time, since you have an HSBC card, you may be able to avail a balance transfer facility on it. In my case for example, HSBC offered to take over my outstanding balance on the  Citibank card at a low interest of 0.99%. This is a substantial saving compared to the 3.2% on my Citi card. There was a small transaction fee of approx. 0.5% to 1%. I negotiated with the bank to waive this transaction fee.

You too can have a talk with another card company,about a balance transfer.You will need to tell them the amount you are looking for and the details of the card on which you have the outstanding.The card company, after approving, will:

  1. Either directly transfer the funds to your outstanding card account, or
  2. send you a cashier’s cheque in the name of the credit card in which you have an   outstanding amount.

This outstanding amount will now reflect in your new credit card statement, but at a much lower interest rate. (0.99%. in the case of my HSBC card)

Within balance transfer, different cards offer different schemes. The scheme I chose offered it at a rate of 0.99% on reducing balance of the outstanding loan during the lifetime of the loan. Some cards may offer 0% interest for the initial few months (3 to 6 months), and post that charge an interest rate of 0.75 to 2%.

You need to understand what best suits your requirements, and within what time frame you plan to payoff the entire amount. The important thing is to look at minimizing the interest payments and to aim at clearing the outstanding as early as possible.

If you have an outstanding on your credit card, a balance transfer is a good way to offset the high interest.

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Posted in Credit Cards, Debt

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