OK - so I'm getting past it

[magnetman]

I have just under 2 million pounds in used banknotes. 

 

It can be a little awkward and I try not to disclose the precise location but fortunately there are still some outlets which will accept cash. Even more fortunately this is in plastic notes which means that one does not need to access a bank to get them changed for legal tender. 

 

It will take a while to deal with this and I suspect the blighters will change the format yet again before long. 

 

Gold would have probably been better. It is terrible having to deal with this sort of thing. You really don't want that. 

[nicknorman]

2 hours ago, Goliath said:

why is cash a pain?

 

 

Because you have to have something to carry it in, then when you pay for something you get a load of coins that clutter up the pocket. And then you get to the Supermarket queue and there has to be some old biddy/grey beardy flat cap bloke who spends 10 minutes counting out the 2p coins to make the payment for their tin of sardines. By comparison one waft of my iPhone has the bill paid, and no annoying coins in the pocket.

I haven't been to a cash machine yet in 2023, I think I might have been to one a couple of times in 2022. And I am not exactly a millenial yoof type, I am a state pension collecting oap.

[Ianws]

I recently had to pay in cash donations for the charity I work for. The automatic coin counter worked a treat and took a couple of minutes to handle 5 separate amounts amounting to approx £400. This then had to be banked with notes at the counter. In a major branch in a major town they had 4 operational counters. Each had people with issues that took a long time to sort out. My banking transaction took less than 2 minutes. I was queuing for approx 50 minutes to do it. With car parking costs and the time involved it was a pain for me. I can see how it would be a problem for someone running their own business. 

[MtB]

10 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

 

Because you have to have something to carry it in, then when you pay for something you get a load of coins that clutter up the pocket. And then you get to the Supermarket queue and there has to be some old biddy/grey beardy flat cap bloke who spends 10 minutes counting out the 2p coins to make the payment for their tin of sardines. By comparison one waft of my iPhone has the bill paid, and no annoying coins in the pocket.

I haven't been to a cash machine yet in 2023, I think I might have been to one a couple of times in 2022. And I am not exactly a millenial yoof type, I am a state pension collecting oap.

 

This exactly.

 

One can see the cashier drumming their metaphorical fingers n rolling their eyes waiting while said old biddy/stupid old goat counts out their £18.73 whilst assuring the cashier "No, no I'm not changing another twenty, I definitely have exactly the right change in here, I think, just wait a minute, oh damn thats 20p, I thought it was a 5p..." Yawn. And then I'm through the till and paid with my phone in a flash and we both breathe a sigh of relief.

 

Mind you I enjoy going through the self service till sometimes and getting out a HUGE ziplok bag of accumulated loose change and pouring it slowly into the slot. I hog the till for about five minutes shoving £40 in random change through as the machines takes ages to count it. I usually put my flat cap on to do that. 

[Momac]

36 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I use cash whenever possible, at least in towns where there is still a bank. 

Why can't you use cash if there is no bank?

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

41 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

 

Because you have to have something to carry it in, then when you pay for something you get a load of coins that clutter up the pocket. And then you get to the Supermarket queue and there has to be some old biddy/grey beardy flat cap bloke who spends 10 minutes counting out the 2p coins to make the payment for their tin of sardines. By comparison one waft of my iPhone has the bill paid, and no annoying coins in the pocket.

Sounds very much like a Morrison’s Supermarket

 

[magnetman]

14 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Why can't you use cash if there is no bank?

 

I imagine it was a reference to automatic teller machines. 

[frahkn]

2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

 

Because you have to have something to carry it in, then when you pay for something you get a load of coins that clutter up the pocket. And then you get to the Supermarket queue and there has to be some old biddy/grey beardy flat cap bloke who spends 10 minutes counting out the 2p coins to make the payment for their tin of sardines. By comparison one waft of my iPhone has the bill paid, and no annoying coins in the pocket.

I haven't been to a cash machine yet in 2023, I think I might have been to one a couple of times in 2022. And I am not exactly a millenial yoof type, I am a state pension collecting oap.

How typical are you? I am also a grey bearded o.a.p - though I have never worn a cap of any sort since the 5th form.

 

I pay for everything less than £200 with £20 notes. The remaining £10s and £5s are useful for taxis/tips (I don't drive), while almost anyone will take the coins, there seems to be a street collection service.

 

I don't have an i-phone, I manage with an old Blackberry which has no internet access and is usually switched off. I know how to switch it on, it has a few pre recorded numbers, including RCR.

 

I don't understand the problem people have with cash, it's hugely convenient, or at least was till last night

 

[ditchcrawler]

10 hours ago, frahkn said:

How typical are you? I am also a grey bearded o.a.p - though I have never worn a cap of any sort since the 5th form.

 

I pay for everything less than £200 with £20 notes. The remaining £10s and £5s are useful for taxis/tips (I don't drive), while almost anyone will take the coins, there seems to be a street collection service.

 

I don't have an i-phone, I manage with an old Blackberry which has no internet access and is usually switched off. I know how to switch it on, it has a few pre recorded numbers, including RCR.

 

I don't understand the problem people have with cash, it's hugely convenient, or at least was till last night

 

I very really use cash now, Have to get a few pound coins from the post office now and then to pay for the eggs.  I have a grey beard and wear a cap when boating as what was on the top left several years ago. I am well past pension age.

All the taxies I use accept cards, most pubs have contactless for even buying a pint. I carry a few notes in case I need them. I bought some pork and half a mutton carcass from the local farmer, got my wallet out and he said can you please pay by bank transfer, it makes the book keeping easier. Visited the Ashby Canal Association charity shop at the end of the Navigatable Ashby canal, big notice, card payment preferred. It saves the volunteers being responsible for cash. the pubs like it because the barman cant dip the till. They don't have to spend time taking it to the bank or pay the bank to accept it.

What I don't have is banking on my phone, I just don't feel happy with it.

[IanD]

15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I very really use cash now, Have to get a few pound coins from the post office now and then to pay for the eggs.  I have a grey beard and wear a cap when boating as what was on the top left several years ago. I am well past pension age.

All the taxies I use accept cards, most pubs have contactless for even buying a pint. I carry a few notes in case I need them. I bought some pork and half a mutton carcass from the local farmer, got my wallet out and he said can you please pay by bank transfer, it makes the book keeping easier. Visited the Ashby Canal Association charity shop at the end of the Navigatable Ashby canal, big notice, card payment preferred. It saves the volunteers being responsible for cash. the pubs like it because the barman cant dip the till. They don't have to spend time taking it to the bank or pay the bank to accept it.

What I don't have is banking on my phone, I just don't feel happy with it.

 

I don't have banking on my phone, in the sense of online bank account access/passwords/control.

 

I do use Google Pay on my phone almost all the time, which is equivalent to using a contactless credit/debit card -- however it's set up so the phone has to be unlocked (fingerprint) before using it. I think that's more secure than a contactless card, which anyone can use if they find/steal it. You also have instant visibility of your past few transactions.

Edited March 4, 2023 by IanD

[Jess--]

A few years ago while we were still running fairground rides we looked into taking card payments, the best deal we could find would have swiped 30% of our most common transaction as it's minimum fee for a debit card or 80% as the minimum fee for credit (amex would have cost us money to take).

 

Oddly we decided to carry on taking cash only even though that meant changing up frequently, we used to change a few hundred in pound coins at various times of day with the arcade next to us (it helped keep their cashboxes floated), and then in the evening we used to change up all of our £5 & £10 notes with them for £20s, again this was useful for them as those notes were commonly needed for change.

Then every week - 10 days (never predictable) we would take a carrier bag full of £20s to the bank and get charged £15 for paying in cash (but since the amount was well into the thousands the £15 charge barely registered).

[restlessnomad]

14 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's all part of the advertising economy. You use your card for any puchase, and that goes into the database to be flogged off for targetted advertising. Not a problem any more  as most people have gizmos in their houses reporting to Amazon or Google whenever they mention anything that might be sold to them. Not worth worrying about.

I use cash whenever possible, at least in towns where there is still a bank. Of course  the fewer people that use cash, the more banks can close branches, the more you have to use a card and the more profit they make. Everyone's a winner!

dont think the card (debit/credit) issuers know what  i am buying...  Some of them do allow you to group your expenditure so you can track where your money is going... but thats about it.

the store loyalty card may track buying habit.

Another positive about card apart from convenience is its all tracked and people cant avoid paying tax easily. 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

13 hours ago, MartynG said:

Why can't you use cash if there is no bank?

 

I can. But it's then a pain for the shopkeeper as they can't deposit it easily. Most of my cash goes to buskers (the unamplified variety only),  books from charity shops and dossers. I can't see how street people can survive without cash.

I find it quite a change because I've spent most of my life on a cash economy - musicians in pubs get paid in cash from the till (or we did, dunno what they do in these cashless places now), generally the same for other gigs, and obviously busking. My bit of salary from part time employment paid the mortgage and bills, anything else was cash. And,  as I've said, I seriously hate the advertising trail you leave behind with card purchases, though there's nothing you can do about it.

16 minutes ago, restlessnomad said:

dont think the card (debit/credit) issuers know what  i am buying...  Some of them do allow you to group your expenditure so you can track where your money is going... but thats about it.

the store loyalty card may track buying habit.

Another positive about card apart from convenience is its all tracked and people cant avoid paying tax easily. 

 

Store loyalty cards certainly do - that's what they're for!

[sigsegv]

43 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

, I seriously hate the advertising trail you leave behind with card purchases, though there's nothing you can do about it.

With modern banks like revolut, you can make any number of virtual debit cards which would help mitigate the tracking to some extent (though its most useful feature is if you're using a site of potentially less repute for a purchase). Create a new virtual debit card, tell Google pay to use it, buy your stuff and cycle it back out for a new one. I tend to do this every month or so, and obviously it won't help protect you from Google's tracking of your purchases but it makes me feel a little better

[Stilllearning]

Each time I go to our local butcher/deli/smokehouse and everything else, I know exactly why I use cash. The bill miraculously gets significantly smaller. On Thursday it was a 30% reduction for “espèces”.

[magnetman]

I was out in west London recently at a pleasant small pub with relatives. Once we had finished the food one of the relatives got her cash out and then the lady said "no cash". Slightly awkward moment but I just offered and used my card. 

 

It is interesting to think about the fact that they would in fact take cash if you actually didn't have any cards. I doubt they can do a body search and I doubt they would want to lose the £150 written on the bill. 

 

 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, sigsegv said:

With modern banks like revolut, you can make any number of virtual debit cards which would help mitigate the tracking to some extent (though its most useful feature is if you're using a site of potentially less repute for a purchase). Create a new virtual debit card, tell Google pay to use it, buy your stuff and cycle it back out for a new one. I tend to do this every month or so, and obviously it won't help protect you from Google's tracking of your purchases but it makes me feel a little better

 

I don't think Google pay can actually track what you have purchased can it? There is no way to link the actual purchase items to the transaction that I am aware of. Unlike a store loyalty card which does it with considerable accuracy! Though I think it could if you loaded your store loyalty card into your Google Wallet though??

 

Though Google Pay alone does of course track where your purchase is being made.

[bizzard]

It's not much good waving a debit card in front of someone you want to do a deal with, ''knock em down in price''. You can'y beat waving a wad of bank notes in front of em for that. Make they're eyes boggle.

Edited March 4, 2023 by bizzard

[magnetman]

There was a Turkish restaurant with a sign "cash only-our card machine is broken" and beside it was a hammer. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by magnetman
Edit to correct weight units

[Ken X]

One thing I learnt from my finance bod last week is that if HMRC are not happy with your tax return they can look at all the store loyalty cards you use as part of their investigations.  I haven't got any but big brother is certainly watching. 🙂F

[Arthur Marshall]

28 minutes ago, Ken X said:

One thing I learnt from my finance bod last week is that if HMRC are not happy with your tax return they can look at all the store loyalty cards you use as part of their investigations.  I haven't got any but big brother is certainly watching. 🙂F

What has always slightly (I'm pretty cynical, so only slightly) baffled me is how the vast majority of people give away their privacy so easily. Everything "free" just has a price you've missed. Then they complain that their rights are being trampled on and that it's all too invasive. They probably ask Alexa how to stop it.

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

What has always slightly (I'm pretty cynical, so only slightly) baffled me is how the vast majority of people give away their privacy so easily. Everything "free" just has a price you've missed. Then they complain that their rights are being trampled on and that it's all too invasive. They probably ask Alexa how to stop it.

 

ChatGPT would probably come up with a better answer than Alexa.

 

 

 

[Lily Rose]

Aah Alexa.

 

The last "person" I speak to at night and the first I speak to in the morning. Except when I'm on the boat.

 

Frankly I don't care if she's listening all the time, I can't imagine she'll hear anything of much interest to anyone.

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

 

I don't have banking on my phone, in the sense of online bank account access/passwords/control.

 

I do use Google Pay on my phone almost all the time, which is equivalent to using a contactless credit/debit card -- however it's set up so the phone has to be unlocked (fingerprint) before using it. I think that's more secure than a contactless card, which anyone can use if they find/steal it. You also have instant visibility of your past few transactions.

That sounds sensible. My phone only relies on a pass number to get in and there is always the risk of leaving it open. Its just a cheap Android 

[Captain Pegg]

On 03/03/2023 at 16:01, frahkn said:

Certainly, there is the Wellington, next door, but I was meeting some people. If I'd gone into the Wellington I probably would have stayed and missed my rendezvous.

 

I can't think of anywhere closer to the Good Intent than the Joint Stock (except possibly the Square Peg, you will never find me in a 'spoons pub), anyway it was in the wrong direction.

 

 

The Old Joint Stock is fine as a place to meet normals and for stuff like work events. But in @Goliath's case I don't think he should he feel compelled to pay it a visit just because he's not aware of it.