Menopause Matters Forum

General Discussion => This 'n' That => Topic started by: Lindilou on February 19, 2015, 12:56:34 PM

Title: The Cost of Living
Post by: Lindilou on February 19, 2015, 12:56:34 PM
I've just been in the post office for four 1st class stamps - £2.48 !  That's 62p a stamp - that's more than 10 shillings !  :o  (yes I'm showing my age, am 56)
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 19, 2015, 01:08:10 PM
 ;D …… and? you couldn't drive the package there for that amount!
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Joyce on February 19, 2015, 01:09:05 PM
Shocking isn't it, I mean the price of a stamp, not your age!  :)   Christmas time is awful, even using second class stamps.  Not everything can be dealt with on the internet. I still have to send letters to friends who don't use a computer.  Maybe should buy some pigeons.  ;)
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Lindilou on February 19, 2015, 01:11:46 PM
The Royal Mail, gets privatised and prices go sky-high, service is appaling too.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Joyce on February 19, 2015, 01:16:04 PM
Service beside us is awful too. We had to ask postie where all our mail had gone. Having had absolutely no deliveries of anything for several weeks. Some of our neighbours were getting our mail & we theirs. Excuse was they'd been using trainees! Not been training them too well then. Now we are getting post at teatime!
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 19, 2015, 01:21:21 PM
Royal Mail has altered their time of pick up from the boxes in the villages and it isn't obvious if it's been collected! however an e-mail to them has illicited a reply  in that they will 'look into the problem I have raised'  ::) ……… occasionally we get the neighbours' post but don't we all have Senior Moments …….. otherwise service around here is pretty good …….
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Lindilou on February 19, 2015, 01:49:09 PM
Yes, they used to collect letters from the post box a cpl of times a day.  Now the LAST collection from our post box is 9am.  Yes, 9am in the bloomin morning -  I ask you !
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: bramble on February 19, 2015, 02:40:27 PM
I use RM a lot and find the service is still very very good. My mail gets delivered between 11am and 12 noon and the daily pick up from my local post box is 4.15pm. When I had to ring them the other day about a problem they were excellent and phoned me back very promptly. My only slight complaint is when I buy stamps from the RM shop online I have to pay postage. My local post office is excellent as well - it is open from 7am to 9pm every day including Sundays. Can't complain about that.


Bramble
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 19, 2015, 02:44:16 PM
Aahhh  -  but reading the notice on our post box it states 'post will not be collected before 9.00 a.m.' - so when then  :-\ - 10 past, mid-afternoon ……. which is why I'm trying to get Royal Mail to put that little day box back in place - the 1 that is stored inside the box which Postie  should swap each time letters are collected  ::)

Where do you live that you get a PO open on a SUNDAY  :o
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: toffeecushion on February 19, 2015, 02:48:11 PM
Ours is open 7am to 2pm on a Sunday :)
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 19, 2015, 02:50:11 PM
Crikey.  Is that really necessary ……….. ?
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: honeybun on February 19, 2015, 04:00:38 PM
Scotland CLKD  ;D


I use RM for everything except parcels. They are far too expensive. I can't complain about our post. It arrives every morning at around 9:30 and the last collection time is 4:15.


Once I had my postman trained not to put letters through the letter box but in the wall hanging box we got on fine...the dog eats the letters  ::)


Honeyb
X
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 19, 2015, 04:28:13 PM
 ;D ……… OK unless it's an ERNIE cheque then  ::)

I didn't realise that PO is open on a Sunday up North ……..  :thankyou:
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: bramble on February 19, 2015, 04:38:05 PM
Some of the sub post offices are part of shops now as is ours so they are open shop hours. Great for the customer and much better than when it was a 'proper' sub post office. Only thing is that the post box is still round at the old post office. I think there are plans to move it. And we still have the little day labels on my post box as well CLKD.
I remember when I moved house to England. I had moved on the Saturday and had earmarked Sunday to go and do my food shopping. Not! All the shops were shut! Had to have a chip shop tea again! There were and are some good things about living in Scotland!
Bramble
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 19, 2015, 04:43:00 PM
Oh come on, we lived in Wales when it was dry on Sundays  ;D - until we had the 'vote' ……….
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: honeybun on February 19, 2015, 09:53:55 PM
You should have tried the very far north of Scotland 30 years ago....nothing happened on a Sunday...not even a hot meal.  ::)

It's changed a bit now but the further north you go the more Presbyterian it gets.


Honeyb
X
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: bramble on February 19, 2015, 10:08:05 PM
HB, I was brought up in the north of Scotland so know all about it! When I moved to England it was the late eighties and I was living in the central belt by then so it was quite civilised for Sunday shopping. I did not realise that England was shut on a Sunday apart from the pubs. One of the first of many cultural shocks for me .....................but I survived and came back home eventually.
B.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Joyce on February 19, 2015, 10:52:06 PM
Those were the days, we all coped fine. Although don't remember post offices being open on a Sunday. I used to work in local shop as a teenager, which had a sub PO, he never opened the PO on a Sunday, but shop was open until 1pm. Of course that was early 70s near Glasgow.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 20, 2015, 10:36:23 AM
Those were the days.  When C.mas and New Year were short holidays, we bought as required until shops opened again!  No fridges.  Milk etc. stood on the marble slap or tiles on the floor in the pantry …….


I'd like to see Sundays being free for all again, also Bank Holidays: no supermarkets open. 
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: rosebud57 on February 22, 2015, 09:18:42 AM
Postal service is pretty good in our neck of the woods.
Although the postage prices have gone up a lot they are now more in line with the rest of europe. 
When we lived in Germany the postage prices were huge compared to here.
Don't forget RM has now got competition from other companies and is now longer a monopoly, hence the price rises.
We don't really send that much by post so not that bothered.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 23, 2015, 03:27:59 PM
As a complete meander: how much would you spend without asking your OH/DH?

Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: rosebud57 on February 23, 2015, 04:08:07 PM
I have never 'asked'. 

I usually 'confer' but he knows I buy what is needed, unless its books for which I have a terrible weakness.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: honeybun on February 23, 2015, 04:09:04 PM
It really all depends. All big household stuff we decide together. Small stuff I do what I like and he never asks...never has done. I have bought big stuff though when he was working away from home a lot.....like a house, oh and a car  ;D

For birthdays and Christmas we generally ask for what we want, set a budget and stick to it.

Why do you ask CLKD?

Honeyb
X
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 23, 2015, 04:27:36 PM
I recently spent rather a lot of live meal worms for the birds and when my statement this morning arrived I got a Very Black Look from Himself  :-\ - however: he knows I'm buying them and he does spend on his hobbies and buying at auction/antique fairs.  I would usually go up to £100.00 without discussion ……… and he spends far more on his brother than I think he ought  :-\    >shrug< ……

My Mum had a card from Royal Mail on Friday - apparently a package that I had sent didn't have enough postage applied  >:( even though I had made sure that the package was weighed before being posted ……… it was 11p short!  ::) so the charge was £1.11 the quid being for 'handling'.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: honeybun on February 23, 2015, 05:05:00 PM
I'm generally in charge of the money so if I got a black look I would dump the lot on him and ask him if he could do any better.

If you don't comment on his expenditure then..... ::)


Difficult though


Honeyb
X
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: purplenanny on February 23, 2015, 06:29:23 PM
That happened to me last week CLKD...I was "allegedly" 10p under but I know my weights!
Mine was a birthday gift so a tad embarrassing

I also had a birthday card directed back to me (1week later) saying address incomplete.
My envelope clearly shows the house name and postcode
Very annoying!

 >:( (http://>:()
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 23, 2015, 07:04:46 PM
It is annoying - but we both enjoy watching the birds.  Words will be said ……..  ;)
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: honeybun on February 23, 2015, 07:47:23 PM
Sometimes I think of words that could be said.....then I think why bother....and do what suits me  ;D

He will probably have forgotten in a few days....so  ::)

Honeyb
X
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Lindilou on February 27, 2015, 01:44:34 PM
I bought some epsom salts.  In a fancy packet/box £9.99.  In a plastic zip bag £4.99, same weight.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 27, 2015, 04:05:05 PM
Stores 'own make' ?
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Taz2 on February 27, 2015, 04:52:27 PM
I recently spent rather a lot of live meal worms for the birds and when my statement this morning arrived I got a Very Black Look from Himself  :-\ - however: he knows I'm buying them and he does spend on his hobbies and buying at auction/antique fairs.  I would usually go up to £100.00 without discussion ……… and he spends far more on his brother than I think he ought  :-\    >shrug< ……

My Mum had a card from Royal Mail on Friday - apparently a package that I had sent didn't have enough postage applied  >:( even though I had made sure that the package was weighed before being posted ……… it was 11p short!  ::) so the charge was £1.11 the quid being for 'handling'.

Sometimes weighing isn't the problem CLKD - it's the actual size of the package. I posted a card to a friend recently but failed to put the Large Letter stamp on it and sent it with a normal one. She had to pay as well.

Taz x
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Lindilou on February 27, 2015, 04:55:43 PM
Stores 'own make' ?

No, just different make, it was from a health food shop.
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 27, 2015, 05:18:01 PM
Thanks Taz - our local PO explained that to me yesterday: Note to Self  ::)


Lindilou - paying for fancy packaging then!
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: Lindilou on February 27, 2015, 05:56:11 PM
Thanks Taz - our local PO explained that to me yesterday: Note to Self  ::)


Lindilou - paying for fancy packaging then!

Yep, won't be doing it again i can tell you, must of had a meno moment  :-\
Title: Re: The Cost of Living
Post by: CLKD on February 27, 2015, 09:18:54 PM
It's allowed  ;) [see doing stupid things thread]