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Post by sprite on Sept 11, 2023 15:32:39 GMT -5
Paypal is great, I don't like storing my credit card numbers on my laptop, so prefer having that workaround.
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Post by Phar Lap on Sept 11, 2023 18:54:09 GMT -5
London Lad gave me a large sum of money for my birthday, it was a significant birthday according to him hence the amount! Most of that is still in the card and envelope as I buy and pay online. But, about four weeks I had to fill up the car, so that was $70.00 from the b’day stash. Two days ago, I returned something I purchased online and bought a second pair of leggings for which I used cash.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 11, 2023 19:15:25 GMT -5
I have been wondering how high schools will go with canteen payments when the mobile phone bans at school kick in. Some schools are talking of all phones being handed in to the office each day (so much extra pointless work). Yet some kids do use their phones for payments. I am sure there will be work arounds, and people will have to get used to holding cash again.
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Post by whothingie on Sept 11, 2023 20:21:52 GMT -5
One of our schools here has a pouch which the phone goes into and locks. To unlock it it has to be run over a scanner which are situated in suitable places.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 11, 2023 21:43:50 GMT -5
LC's school has long had a phone ban but it is an honesty system. And some teachers are fine with kids playing music in class on their phones (with headphones) as the kids work. Others will allow them for photos of work. LC will sometimes call me from the office (recent call was to reassure me that the ambulance that went the school for an allergic reaction wasn't for him - I mean, I don't know how he thought I'd find this out during the day, or that the school wouldn't have rung me if it had involved him. But it was sweet of him to ring, and I think he may have wanted the reassurance of hearing my voice as well).
But generally the phone has to be in the school bag through out the day.
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Post by Phar Lap on Sept 11, 2023 23:40:31 GMT -5
But generally the phone has to be in the school bag through out the day. Much safer in an emergency than in the teacher’s drawer with thirty other phones!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 12, 2023 1:48:46 GMT -5
But generally the phone has to be in the school bag through out the day. Much safer in an emergency than in the teacher’s drawer with thirty other phones! I’m wondering what sort of emergency you think might require a student to call? Schools can contact parents from the office if there is any kind of emergency. There are proper protocols prominently displayed in every room for everything from a lockdown to anaphylaxis. Students also doing that could make the situation more complicated than necessary.
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Post by romily on Sept 12, 2023 1:53:10 GMT -5
It's Germany, the sheep do as they are told, and the banks rule and do whatever they want.
I'm just glad I found an online bank that still offers free current accounts for Germans living abroad as my bank wanted to charge me and I had to switch - was a right old fuff though, had to prove I'm a German citizen by sending i passport details, and proof of address in UK and so on - just so I can have some money in €. And the debit card for that account works in shops, but taking money out is a no no as it's an online bank and I don't even know which ATM would not charge me an arm and a leg.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 12, 2023 4:41:58 GMT -5
Much safer in an emergency than in the teacher’s drawer with thirty other phones! I’m wondering what sort of emergency you think might require a student to call? Schools can contact parents from the office if there is any kind of emergency. There are proper protocols prominently displayed in every room for everything from a lockdown to anaphylaxis. Students also doing that could make the situation more complicated than necessary. I get that... on the other hand, in this country there are plenty of emergencies in schools where you'd like to have your kid have their phone. So they can call to let you know they're still alive.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 12, 2023 6:48:40 GMT -5
Yes, the situation is vastly different in Australia so that wouldn't be a reason for needing/using a phone.
LC's primary school had a landline in each classroom that could connect to the office. I am not sure if that is in the high school, but all the teachers would have mobiles for an emergency.
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Post by kraken on Sept 12, 2023 7:59:50 GMT -5
On Sunday - was hiking with a friend, she wanted to buy a drink but the minimum card spend was £5 and she had no cash.
I keep around £30 in my wallet for any cash only emergencies, can't remember the last time I actually took money out though.
I also keep an emergency parking stash in my car for any coin only parking which these days is few and far between, again I can't remember last adding to it.
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Post by lisamnz on Sept 12, 2023 16:52:59 GMT -5
In Germany you still pay hefty fee's if you take money out of the "wrong" ATM - certain banks work together others don't. I noticed it when I took cash out of my german account and was hit with a €5 fee... Yes, and it baffles me that this is accepted - it used to be the case in the UK, I remember when I used to go into town with my friends from school searching for the "correct" bank machine. They changed it, with all the banks agreeing to accept each other's customers, sometime in the mid-90s, I guess. Why is it 30 years later and customers are still accepting traipsing around town searching for a Deutsche Bank/Sparkasse or whatever as if this isn't an inconvenience... Paypal is really catching on for online payments, though. It used to be this way in NZ as well.
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Post by lisamnz on Sept 12, 2023 16:54:44 GMT -5
But generally the phone has to be in the school bag through out the day. Much safer in an emergency than in the teacher’s drawer with thirty other phones! But far more likely to be stolen.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 12, 2023 17:19:20 GMT -5
I think it's still that way here (finding the "right" atm); if you don't go to one at your own bank you might get a $2 fee, and if you go to one of the sketchy ones in the 7-11 or whatever it might be $3.
But what do I know, I can't remember the last time I went to an atm that wasn't at my bank. (Or any atm at all, for that matter.)
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Post by groo on Sept 12, 2023 18:38:42 GMT -5
It is necessary to have a dollar or two dollar coin in ones pocket to secure a shopping trolley at Aldi.
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Post by Phar Lap on Sept 12, 2023 18:45:21 GMT -5
It is necessary to have a dollar or two dollar coin in ones pocket to secure a shopping trolley at Aldi. Both Coles and Safeway were giving these out free at one time. Same size, same shape, but different colour - they were black. It goes on your keychain.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 13, 2023 3:53:20 GMT -5
I had a simpler version for Aldi.
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Post by sprite on Sept 13, 2023 4:17:18 GMT -5
I can remember a news story here of a private ATM in some village that was charging £10 for withdrawals. Perfectly legal, but it was the only place to get cash there.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 13, 2023 5:12:47 GMT -5
That's wild that you have to pay to get a shopping cart. Do you at least get the money back when you return it, like with those Smarte Cartes at the airport?
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Post by weeg on Sept 13, 2023 5:23:21 GMT -5
I used cash twicw on Saturday! One for for something under the £5 minimum card transaction and I didn't have the time to look for something else I wanted to round it up. The other was a pop-up cash only bar inside a bar which had an event running.
I always like to keep at least £20 and some change on me. Taxis (the kind you can hail in the street) theoretically all take cards, but a lot of them either refuse or moan.
I opened a specific travel bank account that doesn't charge a fee for other currencies and give about £200 free withdrawals a month in overseas ATMs. It also has excellent split bill and shared expense tools, which are surprisingly handy.
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Post by tucano on Sept 13, 2023 5:27:40 GMT -5
That's wild that you have to pay to get a shopping cart. Do you at least get the money back when you return it, like with those Smarte Cartes at the airport? Yes, you get the coin back when you return it. Have a vague idea that it was introduced to stop people stealing trolleys and dumping them elsewhere, but I could be wrong.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 13, 2023 5:35:03 GMT -5
Actually I'm sure that's exactly why, having made off with a few shopping carts (trolleys) in my misspent youth!
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Post by scicaro on Sept 13, 2023 5:59:03 GMT -5
I can't remember the last time I used cash. Even gift collections and flea markets use the mobilpay app that allows you to pay people using their phone number. It's getting so that even cards are disappearing as it's cheaper for businesses to use mobilpay and people use Google Pay or Apple pay instead of the physical card.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 13, 2023 6:30:36 GMT -5
I can't remember the last time I used cash. Even gift collections and flea markets use the mobilpay app that allows you to pay people using their phone number. It's getting so that even cards are disappearing as it's cheaper for businesses to use mobilpay and people use Google Pay or Apple pay instead of the physical card. This reminded me to check how much we have in the cash supply at home - people were stuck in some of the floods//fires here, when the power was out and they couldn't use phones to pay, or eftpos machines etc.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 13, 2023 6:41:08 GMT -5
Not just when the power was out. Nearly all the ATMs, petrol stations, banks, you name it, are in the flood plain in our town, so even with power, we ran out of cash and petrol.
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Post by romily on Sept 13, 2023 8:25:12 GMT -5
Yes, it was because shopping trolleys were stolen – the system was in place in Germany for ages, in the UK it’s much more recent and only certain shops use it (funnily enough Tesco in town A does, Tesco in town B doesn’t, both similar places).
At work we had collections for colleagues leaving cards or the like – but they do that via paypal as well now because nobody has cash!
I use bank cards, and tap them without a pin (which I initially was concerned about) – where I draw the line is using my phone to pay for things via an app. Google knows so much about me, I’ll be damn if I also tell them about my money spending habits. No bloody way. But then I am old – was at lunch with three co-workers in their 20s / 30s and knew not a single band they talked about, knew what spotify was but not what options there are and that you can’t live without it, and don’t get me started on all the TV subscription providers. I felt like a right dinosaur, sitting there imagining the landline phone with rotating dial I grew up with and got rather sentimental about it. The nice ratatat sound when the dial went backwards…
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Post by psw on Sept 13, 2023 9:15:48 GMT -5
Another reason for coins for shopping carts is that people leave carts all over the parking lots, blocking spaces and being generally hazardous, but can retrieve their coin if the return the carts to a designated station. Some people, of course, can't be bothered and just pay up.
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Post by tzarine on Sept 13, 2023 14:45:14 GMT -5
I still prefer to have a paper train ticket rather than buying one online, in case my phone battery dies. i always have a printout of my boarding pass for that reason, too i love paper train tix, they end up as bookmarks
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Post by crazycat on Sept 13, 2023 18:29:48 GMT -5
I carry around $30 in cash for emergencies but I rarely use it. I don't know the last time I visited an ATM. The cash I have is mainly from things I sell on facebook marketplace.
I used cash a couple of weeks ago at the local barbers. He takes cards but I prefer to just round up the amount and give him the cash and not have change.
School often has gold coin donations for things so I need to keep some coins at home for that.
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Post by groo on Sept 14, 2023 1:19:22 GMT -5
Spent $2 on a kilo of tomatoes. It seemed hardly worth hauling out a card - cash was faster.
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