10 tech lifestyle hacks for the kiasu Singaporean in you

It's a well-known fact that Singaporeans lead a fast-paced and hectic life. We are perpetually impatient and always rushing - to the office, to catch the train, or even to 'chope' a seat at our regular lunch spot.

So even a five-minute downtime can be seen as a luxury to most of us. Anything that can help us save time (and money) are much welcomed, so we've compiled a list of some easy tech-savvy hacks that can make your life a wee bit more bearable and convenient.

You can thank us later.

1. Scour For Cheap Flights

There are seven long weekends in Singapore this year, which makes for a perfect excuse to go for a quick getaway.

Here's a trick: Delete your browser cookies, or go incognito to get cheaper flight (and hotel) deals. Ticket prices tend to go up when you visit travel sites multiple times.

2. Get Promo Codes For Your Next Uber/Grab/Taxi Ride

Two National University of Singapore (NUS) undergrads have developed a genius platform for Singaporeans to discover ongoing promo codes from Uber, Grab and taxi companies (mostly Comfort DelGro).

Using just Facebook Messenger, save your time on Google-ing and get the promo codes you need on a single platform!

3. Prevent Your Cords From Fraying

Apple's charging cords for iOS and Mac devices tend to fray after a few years (or months) of wear, which is really frustrating because buying a new one isn't exactly cheap.

Instead of spending money every few years to replace them, you can actually prevent cord fraying and breakage by using a spring. Simply remove the spring from a ballpoint pen, stretch it by pulling both ends, and then twist onto cord as you would attach a key to a metal ring.

4. World's Cheapest Amplifier

So you've got a few friends over at your place and the conversation is flowing, but you still need some music playing in the background to up the vibe. The easiest way to crank up your smartphone's speaker volume is by placing it in an empty cup (works efficiently for morning alarms too).

Definitely a life hack that's low on effort and high on impact.

5. Going Dutch

Splitting lunch bills with your friends can be a very tricky thing, especially when there are small and big eaters in the group. For those who just can't be bothered to do the Maths, use bill-splitting app Divvy to do the work for you.

Just snap a photo of the bill, drag each item to the person who ordered it, and see how much everyone owes. It's that easy!

6. Test Dead Batteries

If you don't know if a battery is charged, simply drop it on a hard surface.

Batteries that no longer have full power capacity or are almost dead will bounce a lot, while fully-charged batteries will only bounce once or stop completely.

7. Find Your Car In A Parking Lot

I'm sure there has been numerous occasions when you can't seem to locate your car in a parking lot (or worse still, a multi-storey carpark). Don't sweat it and try holding the remote to your chin, with mouth slightly open, to increase the range of the remote signal.

This does sound a little silly, but apparently it works!

8. Boost Your Wi-Fi Signal Strength

If your home router suffers from a poor Wi-Fi signal, you can easily boost the connection (to acceptable levels at least) with just a few pieces of aluminium foil.

Fold them into a parabola shape and place it on top of your router. This reflects some waves and can increase the effectiveness of your router. Cutting up an empty beer works just as well too.

9. Say No To ERP (aka Everyday Ripoff People)

Get smart and plan your route with gothere.sg. With the app, you can check if your trip from destination A to B will incur any ERP charges. If so, you can utilise the 'minimise ERP' option to see if there's a cheaper route.

You can also click on the ERP gantries on the map to view ERP charges for various times of the day.

10. Printing When The Ink Is Running Low

Running really low on printer ink but need that document right now? Change the font colour to #010101, which is 99 per cent grey. It is also said that certain fonts take up less ink than others.

For example, Century Gothic takes up less ink than Arial. Other fonts that have low ink usage include Times New Roman and Calibri. There is even a font called Ecofont with tiny holes punched into the characters to reduce ink wastage whilst still maintaining readability.

So there you have it, 10 nifty life-changing hacks that can save you both time and money. I'm sure this list is just the tip of an iceberg and that there are plenty of other tech-oriented hacks around.

Since good things must be shared, don't forget to share with us some of your hacks in the comments section below!

Vulcan Post is all about living life with a digital edge, up and coming startups, and people who inspire conversations.
Visit Vulcan Post for more stories.