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Home / Lifestyle

'Shameless' money saving life hacks

Herald online
18 Feb, 2016 01:36 AM3 mins to read

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Ever wanted to spend a day at the movies, without having to pay for it? Photo / Getty

Ever wanted to spend a day at the movies, without having to pay for it? Photo / Getty

Life hacks usually involve handy tips for storing an abundance of power cords, or provide clever ways to keep your food fresh or remove stubborn stains from your carpet.

But it seems some people have taken the concept much further, as revealed by an online Quora forum which posed the question: "What are some unethical life hacks?"

Viewed over 200, 000 times, contributors responded with some cheeky ideas from hanging out in casinos to get free drinks to more outrageous behaviour such as gatecrashing funeral wakes to get a free feed.

Here are six of their often unethical tips to hack your way through life, if you dare.

Five movies for the price of one

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"Cara" begins by promising she isn't trying to promote her suggestion, stating it depends where you draw the line on ethics.

Her money saving life hacks include "movie hopping", where you buy a ticket to one film then duck into others in the cinema, seeing multiple films over the course of a day.

She also suggests lying about your child's age to score kids' prices and watering down drinks if you're in the restaurant business.

Cara has plenty of unethical ideas for money saving. Photo / Quora
Cara has plenty of unethical ideas for money saving. Photo / Quora

Free parking

If you live in a busy city that charges through the roof for parking, "Imran" offers a sneaky way to park in a central location without paying a cent.

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"Go to a garage or mechanic that offers a free service such as tyre rotation or pressure check," he said.

"Take the car to them early in the morning and say you can't pick it up until the evening. Free parking for the day."

Free lunch

One user, "Peter", suggests checking out local obituary listings and, if you notice a lot for one person, he advises heading along to the funeral service.

"There's going to be a big crowd, many of whom don't know each other."

He then recommends getting a lift from one of the mourners to the "after party" where you can dig into the free food and drink then "mine-sweep" the venue for take away goods.

"This stunt fed me for four years of Uni, 2 or 3 days a week," he said.

Other people's grief didn't put Peter off. Photo / Quora
Other people's grief didn't put Peter off. Photo / Quora

Getting into a party

If you've ever had trouble with a door list at a party, user "Prince" may have just the trick for you.

It all comes down to your outfit, according to Prince: "Wear the right outfit. And that outfit is usually a reflective work vest, hard-hat, and/or a repairman's jumpsuit. Seriously. Workmen get in anywhere."

They also suggest considering a toolbox for "maximum effect".

Scoring free drinks

User "Jan", who also goes by the name "lifelong lifehacker", shared some tips for drinking "good stuff cheaply" by heading to a casino and posing with far more chips or tokens than you intend to use.

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According to Jan, "Waitresses seeing your tokens will present you free drinks to get you wasted. When you're done exchange your tokens."

The perfect ploy for fancy free drinks, according to Jan. Photo / Quora
The perfect ploy for fancy free drinks, according to Jan. Photo / Quora

Exam prep without the prep

Andrew's tip deviated from money-saving but was no less sly.

He suggests sending out a mass email to your class a day or two before an exam letting everyone know you've finished creating a study guide for yourself and would like to swap it with others'.

"Don't actually make a study guide; they send you theirs and you send back someone else's. You get study guides, they get a study guide, it's a win-win for everyone."

- nzherald.co.nz

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