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

Comments

      • 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 :)

        • 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

    • 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

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

      Campbelltown used to be STD too (046)

    • 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.

    • 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.

  • SeaSalty on 28/07/2016 - 11:24
    +5

    I don't this but other students do. Abusing the printer at uni at a certain building as it costs $0 to print. It's a glitch/fault in the system.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 11:26

      Oh yeah, I did that…

      It was quite a walk to go there, but it's free…

    • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 11:42

      aaahh yeah
      there were some machines where u could turn the printer off after it scans and it wont charge u for printing (prolly would have killed the machine fast)

      some if you put ur card in but forced the card out, u could get free printing

      • dbun1 on 28/07/2016 - 11:50

        We had the same too - after you released and printed the job, you could turn the machine off before it would debit your account. They soon reversed it so the money was taken first :p

        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 11:55

          I used the free printing for printing text book.
          But soon they become too heavy to carry around, and there goes one tree.

        • BargainKen on 28/07/2016 - 22:26

          @fm: UTS

  • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 11:44
    +1

    at the acrades, during the uni days, you could spin a 1 dollar coins into the machine and it sometimes registered it has a 2 dollar coin lol

    3 games instead of 1!!!!!!!!!!

    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 12:49
      +1

      Have you tried burning the coin deposit with lighter? free games!

      Never tried myself, only seen in movies.

      • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 12:50

        I heard that some machinese which had metal coin slots, you could electric shock the slot and u get free games

        never tried it though

        I remember once for one of the games, it was a DC inside and they didn't set the mode right, so we played it like a normal console game

        love the uni days!

        • xoom on 28/07/2016 - 22:46
          +1

          I heard that some machinese which had metal coin slots, you could electric shock the slot and u get free games

          Back in the glory days of arcade machine places like timezone (showing my age now) a few of the guys would have the clickers from those fire lighters. They wher zapping the metal coin slot.

        • Munki on 29/07/2016 - 11:45

          @xoom: Yep! Didn't work on all machines though, but that's why all the schools' gas heaters had their clickers stolen…

        • Tihocan on 29/07/2016 - 11:53

          A friend of mine got banned from the local Video Ezy for doing that. Was quite funny.

        • lonix on 02/08/2016 - 19:45

          I remember a pinball machine that if you kick it hard enough it gave free credits.

    • dasher86 on 28/07/2016 - 13:35

      i used to spin 5 cent pieces.

  • BigTed on 28/07/2016 - 12:29
    +10

    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.

  • retiredfeline on 28/07/2016 - 12:49
    +3

    I think some of the acts posted here are not despicable. I think to be despicable, your act has to cause some other person inconvenience, hurt or loss. If the only person affected is yourself, like squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out, that's not despicable. An act that I think qualifies as despicable is someone who argued with a supermarket manager about the price tag being 1c different from the scanned price, wasting everybody's time.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 12:50
      +1

      despicable, shameful, embarassing….

      Potahtoes, potaetoes…

      • retiredfeline on 28/07/2016 - 12:53
        +4

        Squeezing toothpaste and taking advantage of a legal Opal loophole are not despicable. The shame and embarrassment are in your own mind.

        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 13:00
          -4

          I see, thanks for the free lecture.

        • retiredfeline on 28/07/2016 - 13:01
          +1

          @fm: Don't feel bad about that either. :P

        • FeRGan on 28/07/2016 - 15:54
          +4

          least it was free :)

    • inherentchoice on 28/07/2016 - 13:11
      -1

      Digital piracy does cause loss to the content creators.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 13:23
        +2

        I think the main problem, which has now been tackled however, is digital streaming.

        Now with Pandora (free), Netflix (only $9 pm). I don't have a reason to pirate no more.
        Before it was so hard and expensive to rent a dvd.

        I think there is some data how much piracy went down after Netflix is out.

        • EnALup on 28/07/2016 - 23:33

          But Netflix does not have new movies, isn't it. Renting it from google movies or others is pretty expensive. $25 for renting? come on… I like the kiosks thats why. reasonable. Thats what other online renting companies should do.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 09:06

          @Gaggy: I am happy enough with old movies… If you want new movies, go to cinema. Bluray is old

        • EnALup on 29/07/2016 - 10:28
          +1

          @fm: I think personal choices. I have a dedicated cinema room. So prefer that in my recliner.
          Though going to cinema is old….

        • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 10:30

          @Gaggy: What I mean is that bluray movies old already, so why not wait another month or two?

        • EnALup on 29/07/2016 - 10:35

          @fm: Oh. I got it. That is true my friend. you have to wait from 2 months to 4 depending on the movie. I do watch good ones in theatre, though does not like it unless it is extreme screen in Hoyts.

        • NWLikeShopping on 29/07/2016 - 17:18

          This is true. For those who CAN stream, which isn't all of us, and also have fairly conventional tastes (again, isn't all of us), those services may be a solution.

          I'm still stuck on very-limited, high-latency, bad-for-streaming 4G, and streaming is no fun for me.

        • The Gent on 29/07/2016 - 21:18

          You can stream Windows OSes? :O

          ;)

      • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 14:08
        +8

        can cause loss

        a lot of the stuff I download I wouldn't have paid for anyway

        • Kangal on 28/07/2016 - 14:16
          +2

          Movie Trailers are not what they used to be.

          And besides copyright infringement =/= theft.
          Theft = you take someone's belongings, that person has no belongings left.
          CI = you take someone's work, that person nor loses nor gains anything. (ie/ sharing)

        • BargainKen on 28/07/2016 - 22:28
          +5

          @Kangal: I've pirated stuff that I liked and went on to pay for later. It cuts both ways, piracy can also be cheap advertising. If it's worth it I'll pay for it.

        • Tal_Shiar on 29/07/2016 - 01:31
          +1

          @BargainKen: I'll buy GoT on blu ray when it's a complete collection. Would never have found Stranger Things if I didn't pirate either

        • NWLikeShopping on 29/07/2016 - 17:20

          @BargainKen: I watched a certain movie on youtube 3 or 4 times over the past few years. I bought it during the recent JB Hi-Fi sale for a whopping $7 or so, figuring that it was high time I paid for it since I liked it enough to watch it more than once, LOL.

        • BargainKen on 29/07/2016 - 17:51

          @NWLikeShopping: I used to buy movies all the time on DVD, had a few hundred, cost me a bomb, never watched more then once, so now i rent or stream from whatever service im subscribed to, i rarely watch a movie twice.

    • blerk on 01/08/2016 - 10:12

      If the store has signed up for the Supermarket Scanning Code of Practice, that 1c price difference could mean getting the whole item free.

      • retiredfeline on 01/08/2016 - 12:06

        I seem to recall it was a 99c item so not worth more than a couple of minutes.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 13:06
    +2

    Btw, about the underwear, true story.

    I was travelling out of town once, and I forgot to pack underwear.
    I arrived late at night, and no supermarket or any store that seemingly would sell underwear at that time, so I flip it inside out, and wear it.

    The next morning, I go to supermarket and then shower.

    • Kangal on 28/07/2016 - 14:14
      +1

      You gotta go:
      - Correct side
      - Back to Front
      - Inside out
      - Inside out + Back to front
      …Then wash.

      You can really stretch out your Monday dacks to Thursday, then go late-night shopping (while having an awkward scratch in public)

      • elliot91 on 29/07/2016 - 09:19

        :/

      • Praeto on 29/07/2016 - 13:57
        +6

        I'm not sure wearing my thong back to front is a workable solution!

        • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 23:13
          -1

          Or g string

      • moo on 30/07/2016 - 17:16

        Do u normally wash up after no. 2? If not, changing to 'back to front' may risk transferring faeces to the front. Food for thought 😀

    • Benjamin258 on 28/07/2016 - 14:15
      +1

      You can wear underpants 4 times:
      1: forwards
      2: backwards
      3: inside out forwards
      4: inside out backwards

      Socks unfortunately don't work flipping forwards and backwards, so you can only wear them twice:
      1: forwards
      2: inside out forwards

      • kryptoz on 29/07/2016 - 00:12
        +4

        … unless you count swapping the left and right socks! ;P

      • lostn on 29/07/2016 - 00:14
        +3

        You can recycle condoms too…

        1. Normal way.
        2. Flip it inside out and use it again.
        • Kangal on 29/07/2016 - 01:44
          +4

          But the second use must only be for anal.
          Otherwise its a pain in the ass.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 09:07
          +1

          @Kangal: ewwwww, ew ew ew!

        • Normal-Paper on 01/08/2016 - 22:11

          Murdoch university were giving out free condoms at the career fair lol

    • macrocephalic on 02/08/2016 - 12:44

      You know it's really easy to hand wash stuff in hotel sink and dry it overnight.

  • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 14:13
    +5

    I know some people threw textbook out of library bathroom windows, that was pretty bad

    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 14:36
      +1

      wow, that's really really despicable, but which library is this?

      • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 15:10

        UNSW

        • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 15:24

          How despicable, is this still happening?

        • djones145 on 28/07/2016 - 15:25

          @fm:
          dunno haven't been to uni for a LONG LONG TIME lol

    • bluesky on 28/07/2016 - 14:51
      +3

      I remember hearing of this too, when I was in Uni. The worse thing was that when the few copies of the textbooks were lost/reduced due to this, they were not replaced (or replaced soon enough). It was like collective punishment for all other students who needed them. So I think this can properly be classified as despicable.

    • lostn on 29/07/2016 - 00:13
      +1

      I just photo copy them and reduce them so that two pages can fit on one A4. It's much cheaper than buying the textbooks.

  • onetwothreefour on 28/07/2016 - 14:42

    When I was at school I had a collection of foreign coins, not sure where they came from. One day me and a mate picked all the coins that were the same size as the local coins (pounds and pence) and took them to school and used them in the vending machine. Bought loads of Mars bars and packs of skittles that day!

    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 14:44

      Hmm I wonder if there is any coins (cheaper in value) that is the same size with ours…

      NZ $1 is the same size with ours $2 is it?

      • brilliantthings on 29/07/2016 - 07:22

        Before the euro came in, the German 1 Deutschmark coin was about the same size as the Aussie 10c coin. It only worked at the underground train stations, so I got an enormous supply of Worther's Originals. Shameful

  • Mitch1984 on 28/07/2016 - 15:14
    +3

    Back in the uni days I used to take the expired tag off a soon to be expired poor quality meat and put it on a scotch fillet or porterhouse.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/07/2016 - 09:10
      +1

      Why is this neg, I think its valid… Its hard to peel it off the wrap though

      • Euphemistic on 29/07/2016 - 14:40

        someone locally (no, not me) was busted buying 1kg of devon or cheapest meat he could find from the woolies deli, then sticking the label over the expensive steaks and taking it through the self serve checkouts after leaving the chap stuff on the shelves somewhere.

  • iluvtofu on 28/07/2016 - 15:30
    +4

    Used to be able to call people on a public phone box without paying and it would always ring until somebody picked up, and sometimes connect for a few seconds before hanging up because of no credit. I'm annoyingly persistent and sometimes called people half a dozen times or so to get a message across, until they called me back on my mobile.

    I lied and said I was out of credit, but really, mobile phone rates were expensive back in the days.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2016 - 15:52

      I think that still works now.

      Few years ago I got locked out, no keys, no mobile, no money…

      So I call my friend inside the house from the payphone…

    • Sage on 02/08/2016 - 23:29

      How do you do that?

  • My2cents on 28/07/2016 - 16:58
    +9

    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….

  • jon_leong on 28/07/2016 - 18:01
    +14

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

  • chumlee on 28/07/2016 - 18:01

    Haven't done this yet cause it's despicable but I wanna save money on toilet paper by taking them from toilets at work but my greed will leave the office with no square to spare

    • xoom on 28/07/2016 - 18:10
      +10

      or you could get fired for theft. people could argue its chump change for toilet paper but its not about the money to them. its the principle. theft is theft. be it $2 or thousands.

    • lostn on 29/07/2016 - 00:13
      +2

      Don't do that. Karma will bite you in the ass one day when you find there's no toilet paper because someone else had the same bright idea.

    • BargainKen on 29/07/2016 - 07:46
      +1

      I'd rather wipe my arse with sandpaper, would hurt less too

    • Islund on 29/07/2016 - 09:16

      A guy I used to work with lost his job for the security cameras in the warehouse where he worked captured him putting a carton of toilet paper in the boot of his car.

    • sa5ha on 29/07/2016 - 22:29
      +1

      Better yet, save your pooping business for office hours and you can both use office time and toilet paper for your number 2s!

  • ganymede on 28/07/2016 - 18:05
    +7

    The Most Despicable Thing? How about signing up for multiple free pizzas from Domino's with multiple email accounts? :P

  • Name on 28/07/2016 - 18:12

    Hitting multiple buttons on a vending machine in quick succession in the hopes of getting an extra soda or packet of chips..

    Or even better when you realise the machine is broken and you can get something for much cheaper. I bought about 18 cans of 500ml mother for about $3.60

  • outlander on 28/07/2016 - 18:13
    +8

    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

    • 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.

  • Bullion78 on 28/07/2016 - 18:22

    I played this pinball machine at the local video shop for a couple of years back in the 90s that cost $2 for 3 games however you could stock 2x 5c coins together and it would always work. Always felt slightly guilty, especially the day the owner came to collect his revenue. Oh yeah forgot to mention i worked in the shop but machine was outsourced. That glitch got a fair hiding.

  • cloudy on 28/07/2016 - 19:15
    +8

    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.

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

      Have u ever shower together?

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

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

        • [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?

    • JayM on 28/07/2016 - 22:56
      +3

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

    • imurgod on 29/07/2016 - 04:04

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

    • xcess on 31/07/2016 - 19:34

      just pee in the garden

      • 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.

  • altomic on 28/07/2016 - 19:28
    +8

    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.

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

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

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

      That is great :D

    • Wallace on 29/07/2016 - 00:57
      +4

      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!

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

        I did that too.

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