The Most Despicable Thing That You Have Ever Done to Save Money

[Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 04:20
Last edited 04/08/2016 - 14:36

EDIT: Has someone change his/her name to Burger yet?

I recycle my stamps, I am not proud of it, but I do that. I also squeeze every last drop out of my toiletries. I even cut the bottle and spoon with my fingers the remaining.

There was this guy that posted self made McSpider, because he refused to pay 50c extra.

I know a friend who did as many trips as possible on Monday to save opal fees.

So what is the most embarrassing, despicable thing you have ever done to save money?
Maybe you reuse your underwear? Front to back, inside out…

General Discussion

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  • xoom on 28/07/2016 - 07:13

    The opal thing will soon be gone. No more 8 trips then all free after.

    Replaced with 50% off after 8 trips.

    I used up every last bit of toiletries. Not to save money but to use up what i paid for. Like food. I try finish up and only get what i can finish. Its just how im raised. Not to be wasteful.

    • 35
    • inherentchoice on 28/07/2016 - 11:43

      Why is it despicable to finish all the shampoo in the bottle or toothpaste in the tube???

      • 19
      • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 12:23

        it only saves very small amount of money.

        Think about it, a bottle of 500ml shampoo is say $5, whatever remains perhaps no more than 5ml. So it's 5 cents.

        • 2
        • inherentchoice on 28/07/2016 - 12:59

          despicable
          dɪˈspɪkəb(ə)l
          adjective
          deserving hatred and contempt.

          Maybe you should relax a little?

          • 16
        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 13:02

          @inherentchoice: I must say it is a strong word…
          Stronger than my intent… I guess my intention is just shameful or embarrassing.

          despicable
          dɪˈspɪkəb(ə)l,ˈdɛspɪk-/Submit
          adjective
          deserving hatred and contempt.
          "a despicable crime"
          synonyms: contemptible, loathsome, hateful, detestable, reprehensible, abhorrent, abominable, awful, heinous, beyond the pale; odious, execrable, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, disgusting, horrible, horrid, horrifying, obnoxious, nauseating, offensive, distasteful, beneath/below contempt; vile, base, low, mean, abject, shameful, degrading, ignominious, cheap, shabby, miserable, wretched, sorry, scurvy; infamous, villainous, ignoble, disreputable, discreditable, unworthy, unscrupulous, unprincipled, unsavoury; informaldirty, filthy, dirty rotten, rotten, low-down, no-good, beastly, lousy; archaiccaitiff
          "these were particularly despicable crimes"

          • 7
        • dealman on 01/08/2016 - 15:03

          Think about it, a bottle of 500ml shampoo is say $5, whatever remains perhaps no more than 5ml. So it's 5 cents.

          Yes but its simple enough to fill some water in it, Quick shake and you easily have one or 2 showers worth of shampoo left in it..

          • 2
    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 12:02

      Crazy, it's already more expensive than paper ticket.

      Why do they implement something far more expensive?
      Those idiots…

      • 1
      • westernculture on 29/07/2016 - 11:09

        The OPAL free after 8 trips removal will double ur cost, and the more u travel, the more u pay.

        Paper tickets back in the day allow you to buy monthly, quarterly and yearly, which gives you unlimited travel for the duration you purchase.

        • 3
        • Brendoo on 01/08/2016 - 08:43

          It may not double the cost as they are giving a 50% discount after 8 journeys instead of free. For me, it will probably mean a 50% increase instead of a 100% increase, which is still significant. Although they are keeping the Sunday cap of $2.50, so that keeps Sunday reasonably low, even if it's not free.

          • 0
      • Abaddon on 01/08/2016 - 11:32

        Under the new system, should I catch a few buses on Monday/Tuesday I will save $13.83.

        Under the previous system I would save $36.44.

        Seriously considering a move to Melbourne or Brisbane. It's not like the other costs of living in Sydney aren't also ridiculous.

        • 1
        • Bargaingeek on 03/08/2016 - 06:53

          Melbourne public transport also extremely expensive. $4 per trip. No saving scheme

          • 0
      • fatal on 28/07/2016 - 19:00

        Because price isn't the only factor in life?
        Convenience plays are large role too and being able to recharge on the go is huge!

        • 0
        • supaderp on 29/07/2016 - 05:32

          I'm pretty sure convenience was not a a part of their initial business case as a "financial benefit".
          The ROI was most likely based on headcount reduction and savings on paper tickets (consumables).
          Somewhere, NSW transport screwed up.

          • 6
        • marka on 29/07/2016 - 16:33

          @supaderp:

          Convenient (for the government)

          • 1
  • Firefly on 28/07/2016 - 10:33

    Came up with a recipe for Eneloop casseroles.

    • 33
    • Kangal on 28/07/2016 - 14:07

      Was the taste shockingly despicable?

      • 6
    • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 22:19

      How many recharges do you get out of it?

      • 2
    • FatGPT on 28/07/2016 - 15:48

      Can you pls share recipe for my Ozbargain dinner party?

      • 1
    • MrSammyMcG on 28/07/2016 - 21:25

      I actually at this. 😂

      • 1
  • scrimshaw on 29/07/2016 - 12:09

    Convinced Australians that we don't need Fiber to the home and that node is good enough. And we can save millions of dollars.

    Plan somewhat succeeded.

    Do I win the despicable award now?

    • 23
    • Spazzwan on 29/07/2016 - 17:57

      More deserving of ignorance award.

      • 2
  • Dr Prepper on 04/08/2016 - 10:57

    I heard of one bloke who kept offering to get the lunch orders from the sandwich shop.All his co-workers thought he was such a nice bloke.

    Months later the boss decided to go to the sandwich shop on his own .As the boss goes around the corner he sees the "nice bloke" making everyone's sandwiches out of an eski from the boot of his car.

    • 21
    • mrluke on 04/08/2016 - 12:15

      That's genius

      • 1
    • SnakeDoctor on 04/08/2016 - 11:11

      HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

      That's awesome/hilarious ?

      Reaction ?

      • 0
      • [Deactivated] on 04/08/2016 - 14:19

        If I can give +100, I would…

        • 3
    • outlander on 04/08/2016 - 21:17

      WINNING!

      • 0
  • plmko on 28/07/2016 - 10:48

    During my Uni days, I found a certain computer room in my Uni that allowed access to local drives and was not monitored by the download limits. Suffice to say I did all my downloads/torrents there so my 10gb home limit was always good.

    Although having said that, from my perspective I don't think it was 'despicable' considering how much fees Uni was robbing from me. I feel sorry for the kids these days that have compulsory student union fees.

    • 17
    • Caped Baldy on 28/07/2016 - 23:27

      At UNSW, the wifi is monitored for torrenting and they handed out a few fines to students. I had a uni group assignment and we used a private room which had computers. A couple of us unplugged the ethernet cables and plugged them into their laptops. 100mb/s upload and download "untraceable" torrents.

      • 4
      • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 09:03

        Why don't they just block the port for torrents…

        • 3
      • haydenvr on 29/07/2016 - 13:14

        be careful… in some of the buildings they have alarms if you move/touch any of the cables

        • 0
    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 11:18

      Ahhh the uni days…

      • 3
  • jon_leong on 28/07/2016 - 18:01

    Paying anything with 2 cent rounding down using cash, and throwing anything that rounds up on the card.

    • 14
  • TrailerTrash on 29/07/2016 - 10:15

    My biggest haul was using 'olden days' computing tweaks (aka CPU Slowing) to win a McDonald's "Rocky Beach" competition.. 1st 2nd and 3rd place because I wanted a new phone!!

    Each win gave an Ericsson T10 Flip Phone, Rheopaipo boogie board (good one), 12 month supply of Mushroom Record CD's, heaps of vouchers, clothes, McD coupons etc.

    It was McD's first real online presence and their game was online and would ask a series of multiple choice Pop Culture questions. The longer you took to click on the ABCD option, the points would decrease.
    We're talking around 1999/2000, so it was a Flash-based game and running on my Pentium x386 I realised if I ran a CPU slowing .exe, the game would run S..L..O..W.. and give me plenty of time to get maximum points!

    Anyway ran it, nailed the answers, gave my name, my girlfriends name, my mates name and actually had like the top 10 high scores, but that was too obvious so the judges booted a few where I used the same name.. anyway still won Top 3 and shared the goodies around!

    No other comps ever came close to that haul and it was a rush learning all the answers (coz you still had to know the correct responses) and then getting the perfect scores. Fun times and got the phone in the end.. although despicable [I guess] when I look back..

    • 13
    • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 13:44

      I loved the T10, which colour was it?

      • 1
      • TrailerTrash on 29/07/2016 - 14:10

        Got an Aqua (mine), Pink (gf) and Black (mate) from memory..
        Yeah great phones!

        • 1
  • Dr Prepper on 29/07/2016 - 01:23
    1. "Stealing"thrown out bread or cakes from a supermarket dumpster when I was a kid.

    2. When I was at high school I would keep old cups for months from places like hungry Jacks which had free refills.maccas used to have free drip coffee refills.
      3.Waiting until 5 minutes before lunch ended to ask the canteen ladies if they had food to throw out.

    3. I did my HSC and an entire degree using the computers,printers,internet and copiers at an office I was supposed to be cleaning at night.

    4. Offer to get the coffees for everyone at uni so I could free coffees from my loyalty card.

    6.I proposed to wife with a cubic zirconia had it changed to real diamond after almost 10 years of marriage when she was pregnant and her fingers were swollen.

    • 12
    • imurgod on 29/07/2016 - 04:09

      6 wow!

      • 8
    • Fizzydrink on 29/07/2016 - 12:30

      5 mustve been so bad he didnt mention it

      • 7
      • Dr Prepper on 29/07/2016 - 16:06

        5.) Ok ok….I ate other people's "garbage" from tables at food courts all through Highscool and uni. Out of habit I still can't walk through a food court without scoping it out for partly eaten meals.

        • 3
    • JimB on 29/07/2016 - 07:19

      6- did she know at the time or fibd out?

      • 2
      • mousie on 29/07/2016 - 09:22

        Diamonds are intrinsically worthless

        • 8
        • JimB on 29/07/2016 - 09:27

          So are many things but doesn't mean we don't want them.

          • 0
        • ProjectZero on 02/08/2016 - 12:44

          Thanks Adam! I still say try explaining that to your SOs when you propose.

          • 0
        • weskambul on 15/08/2016 - 17:39

          @ProjectZero: Done such, turned out well

          • 0
        • ProjectZero on 16/08/2016 - 11:08

          @weskambul: hahahahaha you got lucky maybe, shes a keeper… DON'T EVER LET HER GO! =P

          • 0
      • Dr Prepper on 29/07/2016 - 15:58

        Nope when she had the youngest her hands and feet became gigantic so she kept her rings and bracelets in her bedside.I took it to a jeweller to upgrade to diamond after 10 yrs of marriage.

        • 1
        • Dr Prepper on 29/07/2016 - 22:52

          @lostn:

          dude, i knew though.

          • 11
        • lostn on 29/07/2016 - 20:11

          If she never knew, you probably didn't have to change it.

          • 0
    • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 23:20

      4- what would be despicable is to stamp it yourself.
      I did that with subway, until they stop that loyalty card.

      • 2
    • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 09:28

      4- the HSC, that's really gold, it is despicable perhaps. But it's not so bad, given the good motive. It's commendable.

      • 1
    • FiDad on 29/07/2016 - 12:40

      What about 5? Too despicable to list here?

      • 0
    • Normal-Paper on 02/08/2016 - 09:46

      Wow… You sound like you were homeless as a kid lol

      • 0
  • inherentchoice on 28/07/2016 - 04:28

    Pirate bay. Back in the day.

    • 10
    • angelkulit025 on 28/07/2016 - 11:18

      Have you stopped now? not me though ;)

      • 14
      • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 12:24

        I have since Netflix is out.

        • 21
        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 15:25

          @Kangal: Stan and Presto is just too unfriendly, too slow, too hard to use.
          Yes I mean Netflix.

          • 32
        • bargaino on 28/07/2016 - 22:40

          @fm:
          Stan has improved a lot. Presto is still horrid.

          • 5
        • EnALup on 28/07/2016 - 23:29

          How can netflix replace that. Netflix has old movies. It is more for like tv shows or old movies.

          • 5
        • Kangal on 28/07/2016 - 14:05

          You mean Stan?

          • 1
        • Praeto on 29/07/2016 - 13:49

          @Gaggy:

          I'd have Netflix even if it was just their original content alone. Their library of older movies is a bonus.

          • 1
        • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 08:56

          @Gaggy: they have exclusive though like dare devil

          • 0
      • westernculture on 29/07/2016 - 11:06

        Especially with PIA deals floating around…

        • 0
    • BargainCowboy on 28/07/2016 - 17:55

      He said despicable, that's a privilege.

      • 7
  • BigTed on 28/07/2016 - 12:29

    A few things come to mind…
    1. as a student in WA in the eighties I used to put my multirider into the machine on an angle and it would just chop off the edges.
    2. when I was in Newcastle in 1990 there used to be public phone boxes that you could phreak by dialling a number and then get free calls to anywhere - made several long distances calls for nothing.
    3. currently the 'worst' I do is download movies and when the soap in the shower is starting to get small enough I just squish it into the new soap so it all gets used up.

    • 10
  • My2cents on 28/07/2016 - 16:58

    PriceBeat a Baby Pram at 'Babies R Us' using a screenshot from BabyBunting which I photoshoped to show the item as being available (although Baby Bunting was out of stock). Figured if they couldn't be bothered checking the actual website that its was actually available, then it must be fine with them….

    • 9
  • OzTightArse on 02/08/2016 - 17:01

    I park in the nearest suburb with free all-day parking, then ride my bicycle to the office for about 4km

    • 9
  • driver33b on 28/07/2016 - 11:11

    Back in the last century there used to be up to 10 public pay phones at Post Offices'…rows of them…there always seemed to be one that made free calls to 'STD' numbers (long distance)… Sydney used to be 'long distance' from the Central Coast! Locals seemed to know which one it was and sometimes you had to stand in line to use it. I always felt guilty using it….still used it though.

    • 8
    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 11:23

      About payphone, I used to drill a hole in a coin, then put a fishing line into it.
      Works on some payphone, not always.
      Need to pull out before it takes it away.
      That was a very long time ago.

      Now it's all about looking for the cheapest unlimited calls.

      • 8
      • FeRGan on 28/07/2016 - 15:51

        A "friend" tried that trick on a poker machine once :)

        • 4
        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 17:09

          Paying child support now?

          • 9
      • kryptoz on 29/07/2016 - 00:09

        it's called Viber/Skype/Gtalk/Facetime/etc, all free anywhere in the world, you just need both users to have internet access ;-)

        • 0
      • AJW on 30/07/2016 - 10:28

        Wow, I just remembered I did that for space invaders lol…used about 3 drill bits to get a hole in a 20c coin, got my ass kicked for breaking dads drill bits but it was worth it, that coin on dental floss lasted me weeks in timezone and arcades :)

        • 0
        • CarnivalMonkey on 31/07/2016 - 00:37

          used to be able to bend a thick gauge length of whipper snipper cord into a hook shape and poke it into the coin slot and it would register as a 20c coin being inserted.

          worked great on the old table top machines.

          would load it up on credits when i left so the next kid could play

          • 0
    • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 11:43

      I remember once prank calling someone at a pay phone and it went through, for two days my relo's made free international calls LOLZ

      • 0
    • timmysbiscuits on 29/07/2016 - 09:05

      Campbelltown used to be STD too (046)

      • 0
    • lonix on 02/08/2016 - 19:42

      There used to be a trick when the new pay phones came out where put your coin in and you could poke a flattened McDonald's straw into the coin return slot, and the coin would drop out and then you could make a free phone call.

      There was another one on the orange pay phones where you would press the follow on button and then hang up immediately after, and if the dial tone was there after hanging up you could make a free call.

      The good old days.

      • 0
    • sathion on 02/08/2016 - 23:23

      On payphones and prepaid Telstra mobiles I remember being able to mash the # key and get free calls and on sms spamming resend would eventually send the sms.

      • 0
  • outlander on 28/07/2016 - 18:13

    Had to think on this, for a while there I had convinced myself I was always a good person, but then I pulled up this memory and that made me laugh

    Okay, so in 8th grade my best friend and I where trying to buy something from a vending machine outside the gym while avoiding gym class. I put my money in, pressed a button but nothing happened. I pressed eject, but nothing happened. I looked into the coin slot, and that's when I realized it had got stock in there. That pissed me off, so I got my wire (I carried wire for some reason in those days), and jammed it into the coin slot, trying to fish my coin back out. Well, I must have gone a little too far down, because next thing I know, a whole stream of coins came down the return shoot, like I had just won the jackpot at the slots.

    Turns out people had come up with the clever idea that if they stuck two 5c coins together, they could trick the machine into thinking it was a $2 coin. Ofcourse that didn't work, and the machine jammed up, and then everyone who put money in would loose it.

    Well, needless to say, all that week, the vending machine would jam in the morning, and mysteriously unjam at 4 o'oclock. A nice little money earner. At the time I thought I was being entrepreneurial, when in reality I was straight up thieving peoples money. lol

    • 8
    • smpantsonfire on 28/07/2016 - 18:40

      Went on holidays, checked out the gaming room in the hotel, same deal. Lots of free pool games for the week.

      • 0
  • cloudy on 28/07/2016 - 19:15

    Sometimes after me and wife get home and we are both busting to pee, I would let her go first and just ask her not to flush coz I would just contribute to the waste before I flush for us both. Saves water.

    • 8
    • JayM on 28/07/2016 - 22:56

      If it's yellow let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down.

      • 3
    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 19:24

      Have u ever shower together?

      • 0
      • cloudy on 28/07/2016 - 20:16

        Yes, but not coz I wanted or believed it saves water.

        • 20
        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 21:04

          Of course not, it's to kill two birds with one stone. Or is it two stone and one bird?

          • 0
    • imurgod on 29/07/2016 - 04:04

      This is the winner for me. Thats saying something given the stories on this thread.

      • 0
    • xcess on 31/07/2016 - 19:34

      just pee in the garden

      • 0
      • cloudy on 31/07/2016 - 21:22

        Not sure if u female, have a wife or gf, but asking a female to pee outside wont go down well.

        • 0
  • altomic on 28/07/2016 - 19:28

    uni days at Monash Clayton - bought a parking ticket at the start of the semester, took it home, scanned it, MSpaint to edit it for everyday of classes for the rest of the semester and print out.

    Aliexpress US$1 ring —-> anniversary present.

    • 8
    • Wallace on 29/07/2016 - 00:57

      Monash Clayton, I would attend the party after the graduation to get free food and drinks even though it was not my turn to graduate!

      Also, I would look out for special lectures where the Uni invited a guest speaker and they would serve free food after the lecture. I would arrive just before the lecture finished and patiently wait for the free food to be served!

      • 4
      • Dr Prepper on 29/07/2016 - 01:26

        I did that too.

        • 0
    • fruit on 31/07/2016 - 19:08

      Link for ring?

      • 1
    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 21:00

      I always thought about the parking ticket, never actually did it though.

      • 0
    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 21:39

      That is great :D

      • 0
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