Price rises/ inflation

My barber doesn’t let you pay by card at all! I mean who doesn’t two years after Covid began?!
 
When you say contactless, that just means using a credit/debit card right?

Japan is so different, most people didn’t even HAVE debit cards until the last 5 years, credit cards are paid off in full within a few months mandatorily, and a lot of people use cash apps like PayPay, Linepay etc
 
I'm definitely seeing prices rise. Supermarkets have fewer offers and they're either not as good or are on something you wouldn't touch with a bargepole (ie microwavable frankfurters or black pudding).
 
The only cash I use is to pay my cleaner or my drug dealer. Even my Mum is getting the hang of transferring cash...
 
Diddy said:
When you say contactless, that just means using a credit/debit card right?

Japan is so different, most people didn’t even HAVE debit cards until the last 5 years, credit cards are paid off in full within a few months mandatorily, and a lot of people use cash apps like PayPay, Linepay etc
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Yeah but also when you pay with your phone you hold it up to the card reader in the same way you would with a card. Is it the same in Japan or is it like China where you just pay through the app?
 
Whenever I have cash, I end up spending it on stupid shit because I can just forget about it afterwords...
 
Kate said:
Yeah but also when you pay with your phone you hold it up to the card reader in the same way you would with a card. Is it the same in Japan or is it like China where you just pay through the app?
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I hold my card (or phone) up the the reader. Is that different from you?
 
No, that's what we do. But I remember at a couple of places in China having to pay using an app, where you didn't hold it up to anything, the transaction just went through by MAGIC (the internet)
 
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Kate said:
Yeah but also when you pay with your phone you hold it up to the card reader in the same way you would with a card. Is it the same in Japan or is it like China where you just pay through the app?
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It’s a bit of a lucky dip now, some places will have contactless card use, others have that sort of ApplePay thing where you tap your phone, others use apps with barcodes like China.

I’d say the barcode method seems to be the most common and it’s quite a competitive market here (not sure what the difference is though)
 
I saw something that I can’t find now about how in the future you might just be able to walk into a store and take whatever you want and it charges you automatically though your phone somehow
 
I also literally only withdraw cash when I go to the barbers. I'm guessing it might be something to do with how they file their taxes. I had friends who did bar work when I was a student who were only paid cash-in-hand for possibly legally dodgy reasons.

On the subject of price rises, fucking hell the electricity thing is terrifying me. I have a smart meter and it's just gone through the roof. I do work from home so I'm always plugged into something, which doesn't help, but I've gone from £1.50-£2 per day to close to £4 overnight.

My lovely aquarium is probably responsible for a lot of it, so I'm giving them a lot of side-eye at the moment. How much oxygen and filtered water do Plaice Jones and Be'Fin'Da Carlisle really need?
 
Oh wait sometimes you just scan their shop’s QR and type in how much you want to pay, press send and they confirm you did it (it also makes a noise you can’t switch off)
 
Omg is BeFinDa Carlisle actually your fish’s name? :D
 
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RJN said:
I saw something that I can’t find now about how in the future you might just be able to walk into a store and take whatever you want and it charges you automatically though your phone somehow
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We already have those - Amazon Fresh! I haven't tried one yet.
 
Suedey said:
Shall we go for crypto gang
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think-smart.gif
 
Kate said:
We already have those - Amazon Fresh! I haven't tried one yet.
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That sounds cool but also like someone could pickpocket your phone and also a bunch of expensive items and then leave your phone outside and there’d be no way to catch them
 
Sweden is pretty much leading the way into a cashless society, isn't it?
 
I think we’re among the most extreme, yes.

We changed most of our coins a couple of years ago and a lot of people (me included) barely know what they look like.
 
I feel guilty using cash these days. I asked in a taxi the other day "is cash OK?".
 
We've just had by far the most expensive weekly shop we've ever done. Almost £90 for the week. Not so long ago it was £55.
 
Before we've had the crisis, I had little to none physical money, everything was in the bank and for the most part i relied on the cards and the internet to get going. Then radical left won and the shit hit the fan very quickly. They imposed the capital controls which meant you had no control on your money since there was a limit on how much you could use or withdraw daily and all of the sudden they also wanted out of the common currency. Which meant your money could at any time turn to a currency that would be equivalent to nothing and other unknown implications. I remember going to several ATMs each day (because most were empty) trying to withdraw what I had in. It was extremely stressful and tiring and it took ages but I eventually did. At the end nothing happened and things got back to normal but since then i feel awkward about relying only on electronic money.
 
Three years in Iceland and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I´ve paid for something in cash. I remember how perplexed I was when I first came here and bought a drink and was automatically handed the card reader, as if cash wasn´t an option. :D
 
Ag said:
We've just had by far the most expensive weekly shop we've ever done. Almost £90 for the week. Not so long ago it was £55.
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I spent £120 in Aldi at Easter. Admittedly, it was Easter so I bought a few extra bits but I can’t think I’ve ever spent more than £60 in there before. I don’t shop there all that often so it was a real surprise to see the jump…
 
Suedey said:
Lidl tomatoes are the best. I usually get the vine ones.
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For a shop whose model seems to be based on not giving the consumer much choice, they seem to have a huge choice of tomatoes. The ones we usually got are now £3 a tray which seems ridiculous when you can get decent ones for half that price.

Still, anything is better than something calling itself a 'British salad tomato'. British salad tomatoes really should be in that thread which includes all the shit things about the country.
 
And regarding the general theme of the thread, I'll be cancelling the BritBox subscription when I've finished watching cycle 12 of Britain’s Next Top Model, amd I'm now halfway through cycle 11.

Disney+ will be next. Not planning on giving up Prime or Netflix, though.
 
lolly said:
For a shop whose model seems to be based on not giving the consumer much choice, they seem to have a huge choice of tomatoes. The ones we usually got are now £3 a tray which seems ridiculous when you can get decent ones for half that price.

Still, anything is better than something calling itself a 'British salad tomato'. British salad tomatoes really should be in that thread which includes all the shit things about the country.
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Please not those awful rubbery tasteless things!!
 
lolly said:
And regarding the general theme of the thread, I'll be cancelling the BritBox subscription when I've finished watching cycle 12 of Britain’s Next Top Model, amd I'm now halfway through cycle 11.

Disney+ will be next. Not planning on giving up Prime or Netflix, though.
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We only have Prime and Netflix. I suspect we shall keep them.
 
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