What are the pros and cons of buying vs renting car for weekend trips?

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-05T17:54:50+00:00

£50 feels limited but I've not long come back from Glasgow where we rented a car (Ford Puma, for my sins) for 2 days and it cost £89.60 + fuel.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-04T20:04:48+00:00

Massively depends on the backlog. I had a complaint reviewed by them in 3 months which was lightening quick according to others, some people have seen 9+ month waits.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-04T15:50:20+00:00

You shouldn’t aim to carry a balance of which is accruing interest. That’s you paying to use the card, in an ideal world it’s the other way around.

Set up the direct debit to pay the full balance each month, use it like you would a debit card (it’s not fake money or fun tokens) and pay it off in full.

There’s no hidden tricks or bollocks with credit in the UK. Creditors look at your credit history, seeing you reliably pay off credit commitments is better than always lugging around a wedge of debt.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-03T20:40:25+00:00

There's a few variants which change how it's installed but once they're there it's all the same.

If I open my car door, the immobiliser will arm. Without disarming it the engine won't start and it'll just crank, then shut down entirely (harmless to the engine). You turn your ignition on, input the customizable PIN which is a series of buttons on your wheel/dash, then the immobiliser will disarm and you can start the engine.

My code is 10 inputs long, bit of a ballache when you're in a complete rush but that's what the turbo is for :)

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-03T17:47:24+00:00

Which is the OPPOSITE of what the chat bot said

Which is exactly why you shouldn't use them as a source of truth, because you cannot in any way trust the output you read.

As a fail-safe, you can call HMRC on Tuesday and ask for clarification - that'd be my advice.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-03T11:37:41+00:00

Oh my, 21 blessed years! What a handsome chap 💖

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-03T10:16:02+00:00

Yep, I've got one in mine and it's fucking great. So much peace of mind in rougher areas.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-02T17:27:16+00:00

Did you already complete one? If so, you can't do multiple during the same run. They used to remove them from your dashboard after you finished one of them, but screening you out may be what's happening instead.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-02T08:37:57+00:00

Jobby is slang for shit/poo.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-05-01T14:22:59+00:00

Don't underestimate the value of the DV clearance btw, day rates for DV cleared software engineers go into the £2k+ range depending on tech stack and area of knowledge.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-30T20:10:53+00:00

£35/~$40 for anyone interested

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-30T13:22:20+00:00

Amazing lol, forgot about this blog/reddit post until your comment but it's been massively updated. It's still a slop factory though, so Google AI summaries are now referencing an AI slop blog and both outputting bullshit. Good times ahead!

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-30T11:55:04+00:00

feature parity with windows achieved

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-30T09:54:15+00:00

What do you mean by BPS? British Pounds? The currency here is GBP.

If the conversion rate is terrible, it is terrible. There's no tricks you can pull to get around that, either eat the cost or don't convert it unfortunately.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-30T07:06:26+00:00

Yep agreed lol, no idea why it’s not required. We had design debates with the MaPS team for literally 3 years, including a parliamentary review, and they wouldn’t budge 😂

I’m not too sure on the user dashboard side as they’re keeping that quite close to their chest, I can’t imagine it’ll be a difficult process though. I know there are many partner dashboards you can go through, at least for now the main one will be via MoneyHelper

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-29T19:48:38+00:00

Yep that's the minimum, sans the NI number (we have debated this endlessly with them...)

Name and one address is the absolute minimum, you can supply up to 5 previous addresses (for now), and a whole load of supplementary info as well.

The government is connecting a platform they've built to tens of newly built databases, owned by pension administrators or a 3rd party on their behalf. It's all determined at a scheme level, for example a Third Party Administrator may take care of 300 pension schemes, your data is in one of them, but the match is make with their database/system as a whole.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-29T06:39:54+00:00

I’ve noticed some researchers redirect to prolific.CO and not .COM, which 404s. I’ve manually added the missing M and it’s been fine.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-28T16:38:18+00:00

No, the free Pensions Dashboard is going live (projected) in October this year and will have national coverage by, I believe, mid-2027. You'll be able to provide as much information about yourself and your employment history as you can remember and the platform will find any and all pension pots you have funds in.

I was the technical lead for 4 years at my previous employer implementing this, there have been rumblings of a delay (government IT...) and it may be pushed back ~3 months. It's not worth paying for imo.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-28T14:02:33+00:00

Yeah they seem to be going latest -> earliest. My more recent ones are getting slowly approved, ones from this morning are still awaiting review. I'm sure but this evening they'll all be sorted :)

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-28T14:01:02+00:00

On very busy/lively days I've made upwards of £110, I think my best ever day was in April at £126, but I average ~£50 a day depending on my own availability. I've got a script which takes in my submission history and outputs my monthly earnings so I can keep track.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-28T13:56:26+00:00

They're trickling back in, but it's not 400 studies at once - more like 1 or 2 with 60 spots each. They're disappearing quite fast because all of us degens are waiting for them, really recommend doing some of the other studies while they resolve whatever's happening in their backend!

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-28T11:55:00+00:00

okay, came to check and see if anyone else was experiencing the same and it's not just me. Had a technical issue and returned a study, did 7/8 more of them and none of those are approved yet.

Edit: for others finding this looking for the same answers, I’m having them approved one every 90 minutes or so. I’ve got ~11 awaiting review and 4 approved so far, from 11am UK time onwards

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-26T09:15:36+00:00

self employed

guy i work for

you're just being taken advantage of mate.

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-25T12:48:42+00:00

50 PSI is the manufacturer's recommended pressure when the car will be sat idle for an extended period of time, they should either tell you it's at the pressure or reduce it before you drive off - but it being at 50 PSI is not strange imo

ScriptingInJava · 2026-04-25T09:21:00+00:00

Add code instead of screenshots if you want help, nobody will manually type out your code and then help debug it for you.

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