Free banking a dangerous myth, says Bank official

borez · 2012-05-24T23:01:18.110982+00:00

Leeds was a building society

borez · 2012-05-24T03:34:03.046135-07:00

THats not true either. Prior to the 90's you had to pay for a bank account with a monthly fee but you received NO credit interest on current accounts and whilst the bank provided loans and investment to business, generally at quite high rates. Savings accounts were separately operated, usually by savings banks or building societies, providing good savings rates as well as low risk investment in housing through providing mortgages. Building societies and savings banks were characterised by being share held by the savers and returned the profits through increased savings rates and lower mortgage rates.

In the financial de-regulation of the 90's many building societies started current accounts (Nationwide being a notable one) which competed head to head with the existing retail banks but provided banking with credit interest and no fee. It was then that the banks matched the building societies and then many building societies converted to banks, become for profit for shareholders. Since then the value for money of the banking sector has been gradually eroded until now we have a situation where the retail banks offer premium accounts for a fee and are trying to frame the discussion about retail banking to gain acceptance of a return to the fee based approach for all current accounts.

SGx · 1 day

Frankie's at the bottom of Edward Street is great value, but the location is not too great.

Donatello's/Pinocchio's is great for budget pasta.

alexdamage · 4 days

Which is an Further Education college, not an art college. Im know Im being picky, but there you go.

alexdamage · 5 days

"an art college and two universities". Small point, but the art college (assuming they mean Grand Parade) has been part of the University of Brighton for decades.

scousethrowaway · 7 days

Check your credit card Ts & Cs. They regularly get changed

scousethrowaway · 7 days

On the subject of student experience, the characterisation by towe1 of it being"lifestyle/living bollocks" is incorrect. Nearly all universities are currently investing heavily in student experience initiatives. Whilst it is true that this is not about funding courses directly, it is about supporting student recruitment and retention. Typical activities under improved student experience might be: improved IT and libraries provision; more joined up student focused administrative processes, for example on line enrolment and course module selection; better, more timely, and accessible personalised timetable information; improved social learning spaces; better halls of residence. The National Student Survey has repeatedly shown that these things matter to students and so it make sense to invest in them.

DesperadosOclock · 8 days

In about 1972, when I was about 10 years old, my parents and I hitched from Brighton to Loch Lomond in Scotland. It took about 3 days. We crossed London by tube, so paid for that part of the journey.

The trick for us to get lifts was that my mum would do the hitching whilst my dad and me would sit on the grass verge by the side of the road. When a vehicle pulled up, my mum would do the negotiation and then my dad and me would come over if the lift was going to happen. It worked pretty well. The most effective lift we got was with overnight truck drivers who in one hitch took us from the Darlington intersection right through to Glasgow including a change of lorry and driver at a depot on the England/Scotland border.

Mind you, in the 70's hitching was considered safe and all the world was full of hippies.

sjgarg · 10 days

Most people buy from overseas because they perceive it to be cheaper than buying locally. The reality is that when they are hit with import VAT it can work out more expensive. At which point it is less of a problem to let the package return and claim a refund through Amazon Marketplace or Ebay.

The key to saving your customers and yourself money is to mark the package as a GIFT or declare the value as something very low, like £1. Then, no VAT is payable. Of course, the HMRC might disagree and impose it anyway, but at least you tried.

Import VAT is covered at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm#3

[Edit: Ive just read further information and the GIFT exclusion is no longer valid. In essence you must now value the package below £15 to exclude all duties, and below £135 to exclude import duty (but must still pay VAT)]

sjgarg · 10 days

If it is being permanently imported from outside the EU you have to pay import VAT http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm#3

stjoad · 10 days

So you can. I live an learn!

stjoad · 12 days

Airplane mode disables wifi.

stjoad · 12 days

The problem with iPhones is the micro sim. You can buy regular pay as you go SIMs over the counter, but for some reason most telecoms companies seem to be more difficult with Micro-sims, using requiring that you sign up on line.

If you have the time I would go with a Lebarra micro sim which is available from Amazon and has good Europe & Asia coverage at low cost. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lebara-micro-sim-card-iphone/dp/B005DQJC32

[Edit: Turns out that the above link is a vendor who gets Lebara sims and cuts them to size and provides a cradle if you want to use it again in a full size sim phone. The real (free) Lebara sims can be got from http://www.lebara.co.uk/ but it still seems to need you to sign up on line and provide an address]

GoldBarr · 15 days

In some areas or schools primary school counts up until age 11. My partner's son is 11 and is still at his first school. Goes to secondary school in September. Also, Dont underestimate the Children

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