OGFB Finances 22nd September 2021

[PanBiker]

I thought it was time for an update on finances as we have now settled onto the Virtual Server and the new payments associated with the changes. We had a short period of grace when we started the contract which is now over. The donations shown were the result of a short flurry after the last update on finances and were all made during March of this year.

Income

Donations received up to 1pm today (6) : £110.00

Paypal Fees: -£5.12

Net Balance after deductions: £104.88

Opening Balance brought forward: £74.11

Total income over period: £178.99


Outgoings

Quarterly Hosting Fees are due March, June, September, December

In addition we pay monthly for I/P address leasing and the Virtual Server instance that the site runs on.

May: £20.44 - We were incurring charges for extended PHP support as we were running on an outdated version

Jun Qtr: £63.60

Jul: £12.28 - monthly I/P charges as above plus an extra 0.28p for the portion of the month before I could cancel the PHP extended support.

Aug: £12.00

Sep Qtr: £43.16

Hosting Fees for period: -£94.76

IP and Virtual Server charges: £56.72

Total outgoings: -£151.48

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Income: £178.99
Expenditure: -£151.48
Current balance in the sites PayPal account: £27.51

As usual please post any queries you may have regarding the accounting.

[Gloria]

Are you wanting donations Ian?

[PanBiker]

The current balance will only just cover the next two months of I/P leasing bills and will leave nothing for the December quarter hosting fees. My name is on the lease so to speak if we run out of brass and I have a new bathroom to pay for.

[Gloria]

to everyone who looks in on this site please leave a donation

[PanBiker]

Donate button is in the top right of each page within the header banner below the search box. The button takes you to PayPal but you don't need to have a Paypal account to make a donation. If you do donate, thank you for your support.

[Tripps]

I've started the ball rolling. Mustn't jeopardise your bathroom Ian.

Must say that (as usual) I struggled to find how to do it, but I found this link which seems to work .

Donations

[Stanley]

I had no problem Ian. Thanks for letting us know we needed to donate. Let me know when you want more.

[chinatyke]

I've tried but I can't use Paypal, there are complications with me being in China and my telephone number for verification is in Kent. Sorry. I have UK bank accounts with debit cards attached if you know a way!

[Wendyf]

Donation made.

[Wendyf]

I've tried but I can't use Paypal, there are complications with me being in China and my telephone number for verification is in Kent. Sorry. I have UK bank accounts with debit cards attached if you know a way!

You can donate using a debit card China.

[Gloria]

Donation made.

[chinatyke]

I've tried but I can't use Paypal, there are complications with me being in China and my telephone number for verification is in Kent. Sorry. I have UK bank accounts with debit cards attached if you know a way!

You can donate using a debit card China.

I've tried that but the site takes me to Paypal and I can go no further. Now I discover I can't access my Barclays Mobile App to generate a pincode because they have updated the app and I can't find the update in Google Play Store. One day I might get back to civilisation and be able to sort it out! Meanwhile I'll keep the cheese sandwich I made in the freezer until I get really desperate!

[PanBiker]

I've tried but I can't use Paypal, there are complications with me being in China and my telephone number for verification is in Kent. Sorry. I have UK bank accounts with debit cards attached if you know a way!

You must have done it in the past as your user name is Orange, an accolade given to those who donate?

I wonder if there have been changes in the Great Firewall of China? Sounds like it if your banking app has turned it's toes up as well.

[Wendyf]

Do you get a different screen to this when you click on the donate button?

Screenshot_20210923-090448_Opera.jpg

[Tizer]

Wendy, Paypal may have fallen out with China in the meantime...or China fallen out with Paypal.
Mrs Tiz (my finance manager) is arranging a payment from us as I write.

[chinatyke]

Do you get a different screen to this when you click on the donate button?

Screenshot_20210923-090448_Opera.jpg

Yes, same one Wendy. But that page is a Paypal page (logo top left corner) because OGFB uses Paypal. I hate Paypal! Hard work and it charges for the service!

Don't worry, it's at my end not yours. I've had to change my passwords that often because of UK banks not accepting things like my mobile number which begins with 0086 and not 0044 that I'm probably using incorrect data now.

Ian, yes I have used it in the past when I wasn't a senile old goat! I remember Pluggy being involved once, maybe I made a direct payment to him. I can't even do that now from either of my bank accounts, and I can't close these accounts because payments are made into them. I'll take the bull by the horns and ring their call centre eventually.

[PanBiker]

23rd September 2020 was when you donated last time China and that was via PayPal at the time. Yes they do charge fees but there are few alternatives for the site without a lot of hassle.

We could go down the Virgin Money Giving route if I wanted to bash myself over the head repeatedly with the changes required.

[chinatyke]

Thanks Ian. I'm still working on it. Problem is my address. Paypal rejects my debit card based on addresses not matching. I have a UK c/o address which it doesn't recognise. I'll keep trying.

[chinatyke]

Right, I cannot do it. Paypal want to check my transaction by calling my registered number in Kent (my brother) who must enter in a 4 digit key. It seems to happen in less than a minute that they reject the attempt.
It's this strong identification law that came in where the are obliged to double check things. They can probably identify from my IP addy that I am in China and it raises suspicions.
I can probably do it as a normal bank transfer if you supply the account details: account name/number/ sort code/ maybe account address, just whatever the usual details are.

[PanBiker]

Yes its a pain, every time I log into PayPal now they send a six digit code to my registered mobile number as a timed text. You have 10 minutes to complete the log on process or you have to request a new security number. With auto log out in play on the accounts as well it makes doing anything that you need a bit of time with a real pain as it can auto log you out then you have to repeat the process. Preparing this account report was a case in point. I had to log on three times each with a different security number check. No money involved in the process either, all I wanted was a transaction report for a specific date range.

[Stanley]

Funny isn't it. I quite like the way PayPal checks via a mobile security code. The other thing that strikes me Graham is that all financial institutions charge for handling money....
How are things looking Ian? Let us know if you haven't got enough to make you feel comfortable.

[chinatyke]

Funny isn't it. I quite like the way PayPal checks via a mobile security code. The other thing that strikes me Graham is that all financial institutions charge for handling money....
How are things looking Ian? Let us know if you haven't got enough to make you feel comfortable.

I agree with you, Paypal are double checking in accordance with the rules. Those rules have changed to increase the security, better for everyone and usually no inconvenience. In my case they won't accept a mobile number in China, though other banks do so.

Most major banks don't charge for handling money in the UK. I only incur fees when I move money internationally.

I suppose I could post a cheque, do people still use these?

[Stanley]

Yes, I use cheques frequently for payment by post. Totally secure to date.

[Gloria]

On the very odd occasion I’ve had reason to use a cheque and not had a problem with it, think I’ve sent one once in the last two years.
As Stanley says Ian, let us know if you’re not comfortable with what you’ve got.

[PanBiker]

I will check the PayPal balance later and report back.

Graham, I will PM you some details. A cheque would be fine, I could pay it into the post office then transfer it to the site PP account. Alternatively I will send you my backup account details that you could try, saves on the postage.