General Chat

Thanks for all your replies :-D

I forgot to say that we also do not do grocery or pharmacy shopping online, and have no intention of doing so.

I do however shop online for many of my clothes, both from US companies, and also from Canadian companies. I wouldn't buy shoes, coats or trousers online, I want to try those on.

I also buy most of my books online .............. I sign in to one book store every 2 months or so and check for new paper backs by my favourite authors, and also browse their new releases.

Ann in Gloucs..you are not alone. I have never done an online shop or do i want to do one. I actually enjoy going around the supermarket.
One reason is that its the only place i actually may see someone i know and have a chat with them.Since Ive moved, i dont get any visitors!

But i prefer to see fresh fruit and veg for real and whats available.Also sometimes they have reduced items or one offs in a bargain bucket that you are not going to see online.

For those who are housebound or without transport then maybe online shopping is a godsend for those people. But for many, a trip out to do shopping is also a social outing and exercise too.

When the cheque guarantee card was replaced with a debit card, shops were reluctant to accept cheque because they could be returned unpaid and obviously lose out. A few local shops and garages here will take a cheque but thats only because its a small place and they know where you live if the cheque bounced.

Businesses do get charged by banks for handling cash so although they get charges for handling debit cards, i think overall card payments are cheaper for the business.

Our buses take cash and bus passes.

I do remember when i worked in the bank during the 70s and 80s, many pubs would bring in loads of coins and we needed a trolley to move them as they were far too heavy.The local council would empty all the car park machines and bank all those coins...

i use to fill 2 cash machines for the weekend with 1/2 million in each and sometimes they would be empty on sunday...On a bank holiday weekend, we had to come in and top the machines up so they wouldnt run out..Changed days eh?

I recently went into my bank to exchange coins i had ben saving. The total was only £50. But i had to pay the change in and then draw it out as they wouldnt exchange the coins for notes..Such a small amount couldnt believe it.

Florence in the hebrides

Late last year we received notices that 2 of the places we deal with will no longer accept cheques in payment of credit card bills.

One was the major Canadian department store (HBC), and the letter said cheques would no longer be acceptable for paying a HBC CC bill at a HBS store .......... debit or cash only, please.

The other was from a major gas (petrol) company, and said that cheques would no longer be accepted, DD or bank transfer only please.

Of course, very few businesses now own and run their own CCs ...... most have handed over that part to a finance company, and the above letters were from such companies.

It made little difference to us because we had already set up arrangements with the bank to make payments to these companies, and I now do transfers online.

But I note that cash was still acceptable at the store.

Have a read of this it's about the fees on ctedit/debit cards and direct debits.

.
https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/?hc_ref=ART_jyc66ERDJUs_GYpXvIRl_c8KtMaaGW_FpNh4cOvcTgFR9aHueccR11xhX1aDKo&fref=nf

Anyone wanting to check this out should scroll right down until you come across it.

It is far from unusual for upmarket London residential property to be bought for cash. Two or three million pounds in £ 20 and £ 50 ( there is a shortage of £ 50 ) def won't fit in the average briefcase.

£ 2 M - typical selling price - in twenties weighs around 100kg.
Long arms.

Of course they could just use AMEX or CHAPS/SWIFT.
I guess there must be reasons ...

Cash has always been expensive to handle at banks.

It needs to to counted (several times before its reused or sent off from branch if not required) and stored. Notes are bulky and coin very heavy.

I worked at branches in 1970/80's. When people where still paid in cash the amounts could be staggering. Anyone seen a £1million? It made a difference when the works agreed to use £20 in stead of £10. Making up the payroll was a full time job.

Pubs and clubs could take huge amounts of coin. It wasn't unusual for even a modest pub to take £1000 in 50p and 10p's for a weekend. Bank holidays and events like St Patricks day......you had arms dragging on the floor.

All of this was bought in by security truck, so more handling, more cost. It was all passed on to the customer.

Andy

Always have cash in my purse but never out in the
winter months to spend it. :-)

Maybe worth bearing in mind that a few years ago one of the major banks had computer problems and people were unable to use credit or debit cards and, I think, cash machines. We have a separate account with another building society with £500 in for just such emergencies- hopefully enough for us and the family.

We can use cash, a Compass card (similar to your Oyster card) or a day ticket on our buses; Compass card or day ticket only on the rapid transit Skytrain.

I'm one who also maintains the transaction Record in my cheque book, as well as regularly checking accounts online .......... interestingly I occasionally find slight discrepancies which are the BANK's fault.

I am now paying most bills and the joint CC by online transfer .......... but not DD. OH is resisting doing the same for his own CC, insists on going into the bank to get the teller to do but I think he is not being clear enough in his instructions ..... yesterday was not the first time that I have discovered the money to pay his CC was taken from the joint account not his own!

I don't know how much you guys pay in tips for service in hotels etc, but I worked out that this last trip (3 weeks consisting of 12 days in hotels and 12 days on trains, plus to wheelchair pushers in train stations) cost us around $600 (or about £300+) ............ all had to be done in cash, so we were carrying 5s, 10s and 20s.

Tipping doesn't have to be done, especially on the trains or to the wheelchair pushers, but are they ever appreciative!

It’s more likely the retailers who passed on the fee will claw it back somehow. They’ll add it on a someother ‘charge’.

We rarely have more than £20 in our purse / wallet. If we are going away somewhere we usually have some more, just in case, but even then only £50 or so each. We have no other cash at all in the house.

When shopping contactless is always our first choice, if within the £30 limit and the shop accepts it otherwise chip and pin. Most shops I use have no lower limit, or if they do it is only £5.

These days we hardly ever issue cheques at all, perhaps one or two a year. Even the likes of birthdays where we used to send a cheque in the post are now invariably made by on-line bank transfer - in the recipients account same day.

The bank I worked for first introduced charges to businesses for cash and cheque handling back in the 1970's, and it wasn't cheap either, as Kath has already alluded to. In fact I don't know of any shops who still take cheques.

And, you have to blame those horrible people in Brussels for ensuring retailers are no longer allowed to add an extra 2.5% or fee if you pay by credit card. Presumably those charges will be re-introduced if we do ever leave the E.U.!

In our area you don't need to pay by cash on the Stagecoach buses, you can just tap your contacless card, the same way we tap out free bus passes.

I spend a lot of time in London, so can use my bus pass on the buses, but I can’t use it on the underground as London residents can. I have an oyster card which I used to top up, but now I don’t bother with that. I just tap my credit or debit card on the readers and use that instead.

Rollo - Although you may have obtained your Bus Pass when you were 63, the qualifying age is increasing to match the accelerated female retirement age.
Someone currently aged 63 won't qualify until they reach c65/66 (can't be bothered to check on the dot gov site ;-))
.......
EDIT - giving an arbitrary DOB of 1 Jan 1955 ie just turned 63,
The date you qualify for a bus pass is:
on 1 January 2021, if you live in England [ ie 66 ]
when you turn 60 years old, if you live in Scotland,Wales or Northern Ireland
The dates may be different in some areas, check with your council when you can apply for a bus pass.

You can get a 60+ Oyster card from Transport for London if you live in Greater London.
https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y/bus_pass/1955-01-01
......
On the rare occasions we visit Central London, we include an all day travel card with our train ticket. If you're not familiar with the busses, its easier to get around by Tube.

I've done the grocery shop online, just the once. Since I'm a visual shopper, there was one mistake and one close disaster. Who in their right mind would want 6 kg of Tomatoes rather then a pack of 6 individual ones? The mistake was ordering a single serving bottle of lemonade rather than a family sized one. Not the end of the world.

I shop online, and I couldn't manage otherwise for all the heavy/bulky stuff. I get most of the fresh veg etc up the road ( more often Dan does it as he is at the PO pretty much daily) & use cash for the charity shop books and the odd buy ;-)

But I pay nearly all the bills direct debit or online with debit card.

I like a bit of cash handy, even if it's the copper & silver in the piggy bank lol.

Interesting about the no cash London buses, I must remember that if I go down anytime.

We use a credit card for most things and pay off the balance in full the following month. That earns loyalty points which pay for the Christmas shopping.
Small traders like our hairdresser of gardener get paid by cheque.
Only tend to use cash for very small items in shops.
Sometimes use a contactless debit card for small shopping items to save time.
If we draw cash out it's only £100 or £150 which lasts a couple of months.

"I understand if you use public transport you need cash......what is a bus"

Whatever age you are paying cash to travel by bus in London is impossible.
It is also impossible not to notice the thousands of large red buses esp the Boris specials.

Travel by bus for those over 63 or disabled is free in the UK (bus pass card required ).

Cash has a lot going for it. Universally accepted. Not possible to hack or clone. Anonymous. Fast. The coins are a pain if you are not in the habit of carrying a handbag or purse around with you. I just dump silver/copper in the charity box and the £1/£2 in a pig opened now and then.

The end of cash i.e. banknotes would also be a very signficant blow against democracy. A cashless society would suit Corbyn and co. just nicely.

Am I in the minority? I have never yet done an on line food shop. I know I am a minority because I actually enjoy food shopping (sad?) We don't have any local to us shops except for a McCalls supermarket, a co-op supermarket and a Tesco Metro supermarket. We do have a local chemist and bakers but we lost our butcher and greengrocer many years ago.

I do think using a book and using proper accounting procedure (a bit modified to my way) keeps my brain working. I enjoy checking it myself rather than by spread sheet (which I have done in the past). I also keep a listing of all credit card expenditure within that accounting system so know exactly how much we owe at the time of payment, this I check with the statement and all is paid off, I never pay interest. I always use CC not debit where I can.

Von, we have a fireproof safe for cash kept in the house.

I wish more firms would make jackets/coats with inner pockets for women. If I am going to town I wear the one coat I have (Klass) that has an inner zipped pocket My purse fits in this one nicely and is, I feel, more safe than in a handbag. If I wear another coat I use a 'bum' bag under my coat. I do have card and cash in my purse.

Von, I used our local shop every day when we rented the apartment at the coast, whilst waiting to move in here but I was smoking then..lolol they took cards but I could also draw cash at the tiny chemist!

That I could manage because a) I knew them b) they helped me carry stuff c) I got all the gossip d) it was only a short hobble (on crutches) from the apartment. That's a declining service.