The Best Things to Do in Wellington Before Payday

Those last few days before payday can be agony. Stretching out the paltry sum left in your bank account is never that much fun, but there's no reason to stay cooped up at home when the cash is not flowing. Wellington is blessed with plenty of decent things to do for free to help those days sail by. You'll be feeling more flush in no time.

Mark Beatty

SEE TE TIRITI AND OUR FOUNDING DOCUMENTS

The National Library's He Tohu is an incredibly thoughtful and beautifully executed display of three of the documents that made New Zealand the place it is today.

There's He Whakaputanga, the powerful declaration of independence made by Aotearoa's iwi in 1835, telling colonists firmly that this was a Maori nation. From five years later, there are the nine sheets of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which was first signed on February 6, 1840 and toured around the country gathering signatures. And there's the monumental Women's Suffrage Petition of 1893, which made New Zealand women the first in the world to all be given the right to vote. He Tohu has been beautifully curated — the atmosphere mirrors the significance of the documents, and you could easily spend half a day immersed in this awesome free exhibition.

City Gallery

VISIT CITY GALLERY

City Gallery is brilliant. It's almost always free, it's warm, it's light and it's full of the best domestic and international contemporary art. A sure fire way to feel better about yourself when you've blown all your spare cash buying rounds on the weekend is to immerse yourself in art that speaks to you, challenges you and makes you think. City Galley's current exhibition, Occulture: The Dark Arts, explores the dark arts and the intersection of art and occult. Spooky.

CLEAR OUT YOUR WARDROBE AT RECYCLE BOUTIQUE

Recycle Boutique offers a bit of a double whammy — not only do they have an incredibly decent selection of well-priced vintage and designer duds if you're in desperate need of a new outfit, but they work on a consignment basis. This means you can spend a bit of time doing a massive wardrobe clear-out, bag it up, drop it off and they'll do the hard work. You get 50% of the sale price, and you can take that cut as either cash or sweet, sweet store credit. Recycling clothes is good for your wallet and for the environment too.

CATCH A FILM AT EMBASSY THEATRE

I'll never tire of the grandeur of the Embassy Theatre. Thanks to our old mate Peter Jackson, the cinema that originally opened in 1924 as De Luxe was given a thorough spruce both inside and out in 2003. Plenty of PJ film premieres have been held since, and you can get a ticket for a tenner if you choose your times and days wisely. It's worth a trip to Embassy just to pee in some of the most luxe bathrooms you'll ever see and enjoy those super comfy leather seats. Splash out on a Kapiti choc-dipped ice cream if you're feeling particularly baller.

Milk Crate

SCOFF A BIT OF BAKING FROM MILK CRATE

If you are looking for a small pick-me-up and have a small number of dollars to spare, the baking at Milk Crate is highly recommended. Sink your teeth into a little coconut cake, rugelach, feijoa friand or pistachio ginger slice and your financial worries will melt away. It's also a great spot for people watching as the bourgeoisie of Cuba Street stroll by.

Arctic_fox55 via Flickr

LEARN AT WELLINGTON CITY LIBRARIES

The public library system is a mecca for the broke, the cold, the bored and those who just want to pick up their reserves. Wellington's central library on Victoria Street is the perfect place to head if you are feeling stingy but need some quality entertainment to get you across the line to payday.

Not only is there an actual shittonne of literature (they have over 600,000 books in their collection) but plenty of non-fiction — now could be the time to learn to knit, cook Moroccan food or revise that language you did four years of in high school. There are also newspapers, magazines, a formidable zine collection, CDs, DVDs and even vinyl to loan for free or cheap. If you can't find something to keep you happy for a few bucks in the public library, then I think you may be a lost cause.

Kristina D.C. Hoeppner via Flickr

TAKE YOURSELF ON A DIY STREET ART TOUR

Our little city is great when explored on foot — it gives you the opportunity to stumble across its magical little enclaves spontaneously. Load up Vivid Wgtn on your phone and seek out street art across the city, with works by both established artists like Pinky Fang, Xoe Hall and Toby Morris, to pieces by lesser-known painters who might just become your new fave.

Image: City Gallery Facebook