Congratulations to singles and families who've decided to build their own homes! And when one separates from the comfort of the fully furnished biological family house, he needs to complete a showcase of basics.
Drew and I were able to complete our home with furnishings in less than a year and kept upgrading until we have collected a few really cool stuff any budding family would love to have in the home...in less than 2 years! Yey! But don't get me wrong, we don't get triple digit grands a month...nor do we have whopping credit card bills! (We've never owned credit cards by the way. Our applications were never approved! I wonder why?!) We just know where to get the good stuff! And I'm sharing them to you!
1. For washing machines, refrigerators and air-conditioning system, take a day off to the Pier. It's not a store name! You ACTUALLY have to go to ships' docking station near Intramuros. And I really meant DAY OFF by the way, because they sell super efficient and affordable surplus stuff (mostly Japanese and operate on 110 volts), you'd have to really take time in visiting each seller, test the best products they have to offer and haggle for the cheapest price. We got this no-frost small ref, a/c and automatic click-and-go washing machine for around 11k total!
*We still dream/plan of having branded, quality appliances though. But these will do for a start! The a/c system really cools our small bedroom...The fridge turns liquid into ice in no time while giving you the comfort of not having to defrost...And the washing machine is laundromat material!
2. For branded lcd tv, monitor, computer, pc peripherals and gadgets, go to tipidpc.com and tipidcp.com. We already got 2 brand new Sony digicams, lcd monitors, computer parts, cellphones and mp3 players at about 30-50% off mall/market price. My husband also sells Altec and Edifier speakers there with the username demitri_66.
*If your budget is too tight and you want to settle for non-branded counterparts, you can always visit CDR-King.
3. For bedroom, dining room and living room sets, drop by Paco, Manila...near Paco Catholic School. There's a wide range of choices in furniture there from wood, to metal, to plastic! You will be surprised that your dream dining set from SM appliance center or Blims can be yours for half the price at Paco. We did! We got a 4-seater wooden dining set with glass top, Ella's wooden baby cabinet, queen sized Uratex foam and metal bed frame (all of which we sold and replaced for a good price when we moved to a smaller place...), leatherette covered-Uratex foamed sofa, glass center table, wooden tv rack, computer table, and computer chair from there.
4. For kitchen utensils, try the Japan Home. They have really cute and unconventional pieces, usually sold for 66 to 88 pesos apiece. We got sugar-salt-milk glass containers, glasses, knives, kitchen scissors, and mini drawers from there.
5. For other wooden house items like the full-body mirror (which had a stand that I didn't use in the house...) and the magazine rack shown in the picture above, you can get them at the EDSA Shangrila mall. I was amazed too when I found out that this kiosk in the middle of one hallway (...going left if you entered the mall via its EDSA entrance!) that sells wooden items are in fact selling them for a very cheap prices considering the mall they're in! I forgot the name of the kiosk though, sorry.
6. For electric fans, gas stove, blender, light bulbs, pots, pans, pails...in short, everything else you needed but didn't see at the places above, visit Makro. That member-preferred store doesn't just cater to retail-store owners, but to your empty house as well. You may also want to get some grocery items while you're at it because they also sell affordable grocery items! We got our 2 burner gas stove, electric fans, pails, dippers and cleaning materials from there.
Well, if you anyone doesn't find this post or the places I'm talking about, we'll be more than happy to sell stuff to you. With tubo of course! Hehehe!
your every woman,
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
