Parking Again!
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16-10-25 22:13Card or electronic payment only is already banned in many States here and will probably go nationwide.
https://eiexchange.com/content/cashl...es-make-change -
Community Manager17-10-25 08:27@olduser I lost the count of how many apps I have on my phone! It drives me crazy. And parking in this country is way too expensive too. I went to Richmond one day and I had to pay 18 British pounds because there was a festival of some sort and we couldn't find free parking.
What's the most you guys have paid in a parking?Lily
Got a question or want to start a discussion? Create a new post here. ✍ -
17-10-25 09:48I had to park in London (Victoria) a few days ago and it cost £52
I had to book as it said this was essential when parliament is in session - which gives an idea of who uses it 😆
It was posh though… it’s underground with a gate that has number plate recognition -
17-10-25 12:30
I can remember the days of cash in the pay packet, and when buying something none essential translating the price into the number of pay packets, that would usually make me stop and think, was this, must have, item really worth six months hard work?
About that time I read a financial magazine article, (I stuck my nose into anything even then) "The Future of Banking", the drift was to sell to employers the savings to be made by paying employees by cheque. The idea was, employees would open bank accounts, and they would start to pay by cheque, or bankers card. At the same time, encourage retailers to except cheques and cards, offering to the retailers the ideas, ease of handling, higher sales due to customers not physically handing over real cash, of course mobile phones were not around then. As the article pointed out, the Banks could extract a fee at every stage!
As far as I can see, like sheep almost all of us have been herded into the same pen, waiting to be fleeced.
In return we can splash the cash so much quicker, what do we do with all this time we saved?Last edited by olduser; 17-10-25 at 12:33.
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17-10-25 17:47@olduser
I do the same with smaller purchases vs. hourly wage, but sometimes it gets depressing wondering how long you had to work to pay for a meal in a restaurant, and whether it would have been cheaper to take 2 hours unpaid leave and cook it yourself
And people wonder why accountants are seen as boring 😆 -
18-10-25 12:06When my sister lived in Swanage, it cost me £12.50 in the summer, and £3.50 off season. This is the only car park I have ever used to pay for.
As to using apps to pay for anything, that is a complete no-no for me.
Not that long ago my wife and myself found ourselves in King's Cross Station. We decided to grab a cup of tea before heading home on the Underground. As soon as we stated our wishes, one lady began making the drinks, another tried to pass us a card machine. I told her I would be paying cash. She pointed out that they only accepted card payments, I said to forget it, at which point the lady who had made the drinks promptly poured them down the sink. We left and found a place up the road who took cash. -
18-10-25 14:19@Rolebama
Sounds like something I saw yesterday, a programme with Steve Coogan on it, set in a coffee shop. He asked for a cup of coffee, but the barista told him to use the app – as he couldn't make the coffee until he received a work order from the computer. SC asked why and who would be making the coffee; and the barista said "me", and just went back-and-forth from there 😊 -
19-10-25 13:12@Drivingforfun We have had a local cafe we have used for years, no problem. The owner has semi-retired, so he hired a Manager. Scan the QR Code for the table number, then scan the QR Code on the menu to order. All the while the staff just watch and wait behind the counter. We went elsewhere.
What was once a friendly, busy concern doubling as a bit of a social centre, is now empty, except for the staff. -
19-10-25 14:05I have yet to see a QR code with a notice saying, "the owner of the QR code excepts full liability if any user is caught up in a scam as a result of using the QR code."
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19-10-25 20:04I agree with some of the comments above. I dislike having to mess around with QR codes to order a meal and avoid places with that system. I also dislike apps for paying charges like parking. The car parks in town have a pay-by-app system, but when I tried to use it once, it failed, and they tried to fine me. They do have a pay-by-card machine, which I am happy to use, though.
When I was a young man in the 60s, I disliked having the weekly cash envelope. Many of my outgoings - rent, rates, etc, were monthly and balancing it all was a pain. When I was paid monthly directly into my bank, it made my financial life easier.
I am fortunate that, unlike Mr Micawber, my income exceeds my expenditure, so I don't have to count every penny. When things were tighter, I used to think of purchases in terms of the hours it took to pay for them. These days, my concern is "Do I really need it?" For minor purchases, like tea or a cream bun, I happily tap my credit card.
Note that I use my credit card for all non-regular purchases. My bank pays me 1.5% interest on my current account balance, but I also receive up to 50+ days of free credit on my credit cards. Naturally, they are paid in full when due. -
Community Manager20-10-25 14:47@Rolebama I don’t like places that only accept cards. What if someone gets paid in cash? Or just isn’t comfortable with “tapping,” since it’s still quite a new thing for some people? My favourite bakery in London does this and I'd rather they didn't.
I used to only use cash as a student as a way to keep myself on budget, like someone mentioned above, you really feel the loss of money more when you’re handing over something tangible.
And speaking of expensive parking, I think the priciest one I ever paid for was at St. Thomas’ Hospital right after I gave birth. I don’t remember the exact amount, but I definitely didn’t want my husband leaving my side after our son arrived. When he finally told me how much the parking was costing us daily, I was like, “Nevermind, go move the car!” 🤣Last edited by Lily; 22-10-25 at 14:53.
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21-10-25 13:26I was in the Army when it changed from a weekly Pay Parade, where we received a cash payment, to direct payments into a bank account. I seem to remember that was in 1969. All it meant to us at the time though was that instead of queueing at the Squadron Office, we queued up at the Bundesbank counter, and we could only draw multiples of 10Deutschemarks.
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21-10-25 13:34As an aside to all of the above. Many well-regarded economists have stood up and railed against the idea of a cashless society, and the attempts of destroying the so-called Black Economy. Their general thought seems to be that it is only the Black Economy, and hold-outs like me that keep the cashflow running, without which, we, as a nation, would go bankrupt.
I do not understand economics in this sense, I just prefer, where convenient to me, I would rather pay cash. Yes, I do use DDs, but again, for my convenience. (Easier and sometimes cheaper for me rather than driving miles to buy some things.) -
26-10-25 11:34Another piece on parking from the BBC news on line;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c993p8ppz05o
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26-10-25 13:16Southend is classic in that article. 7,000,000 visitors pa, £6,000,000 pa 'needed to keep infrastructures in place', yet they definitely 'don't make any money'.
Maybe if they stopped dipping snouts, they would make money. -
26-10-25 15:45Whilst living in Norfolk, I needed to attend Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge.
Cambridge, due in part to it's age, is one big parking nightmare, and Addenbrookes had just about outgrown its site, like many hospitals.
I tried hospital transport but they used 7.5 ton vans converted to buses, which of course they wanted to fill, the result could be finishing at the hospital at 16:00 arriving home 20:00 as they dropped other patients off on the way, by car the journey would take 1 - 1.5 hrs.
Driving there was slightly better, If I could find a parking space, and catch the hospital site bus maybe another hour to get to my appointment.
In the end I tried Park and Ride (I think) the cost was £2.00 for parking (up to 22:00), and bus, the buses ran about every 10 mins around many different routes in Cambridge. For hospital users that worked very well, but I did notice if anyone was shopping, and bought bulky stuff it was a problem getting it on, and off the bus.
I can see why Local Authorities (LA) are always scratching around for money, successive governments imposed more work onto LA's but have reduced the LA's grants intentionally, and accidently. Accidently by underestimating what services passed from government to LA's, would cost. And since Thatcher's era, government has put a cap on rate rises. -
27-10-25 21:30
We pay property taxes here, much like your rates or council taxes, and any annual increase is capped at 1%, and every year without fail the local council tries to increase or remove the cap altogether citing their desperate need for even more money to waste.
Fortunately it fails every time because the voters have to approve it, and for a very good reason. ☺
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6txdzdtERmc -
28-10-25 12:46That is interesting, but I have to ask: Why did he not interview those responsible for the affair?
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28-10-25 16:13
It's the same here, and probably worldwide. People scream about council tax rises on the one hand, and whinge about things like potholes and bin collections on the other, but fail to see the connection. -
28-10-25 19:08
The perception is that councils waste a lot of the money they collect on things that do not benefit the community.
It's also worth noting that over half their income comes from general taxation via the government, and a fifth from business rates. -
29-10-25 14:37A good scam our Borough has introduced is additional charges for ground maintenance and janitorial services, because obviously local taxes don't cover road sweeping, grass cutting and street light repairs. Similarly, the road maintenance budget doesn't cover pothole repairs, but does cover painting red lines across the road and building ramps.
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30-10-25 21:58
Because it's all done behind closed doors.
Could be worse though if I still lived in California. (The estimate is $1.1 billion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t99SM3b_zo -
30-10-25 22:20Some boroughs would rather collect rent than parking fees it seems.
https://www.beyond.radio/news/local-...r-green-light/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl2rzn3e6lo
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-65265542
https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/huge-milestone-ugly-1960s-multi-10416450
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31-10-25 13:40It is a problem, because 'affordable housing' is fine if you live on your own but if you live with a cat best hope it doesn't die, because you won't be able to swing it! 😮
On the way to hospital in Sunderland, there are several building sites, I noticed some new concrete pads, and I thought they are going to build some houses with separate garages.
Next time I went passed they had full house scaffold up, they are building houses on them!
On the journey I can clearly see the different generations of houses, they are getting smaller, and smaller. I am keeping an eye open for the first one I see, where the whole front opens like a dolls house. 😏
Houses v Car parks, tricky. -
31-10-25 14:22@olduser I have seen houses locally where the ground plan of them is only a little bigger than the average garden shed. When a friend bought his first house in Northolt, the wife and I were invited round for a drink. (Sort of housewarming.) With just three of us in his living room, we had to shuffle around to get in and out. His furniture consisted of a two-seater settee and a computer chair. Another friend got a place on Hayling Island. A ground floor flat, approx 8ft wide and 20ft long. Front door opened direct into living room, with a 2ft 6in corridor passing bedroom, toilet and bathroom to the kitchen. The list could go on.
