Things that can be achieved from home using a home computer, an internet connection and a debit card

The “long river” company (and just about everything under the sun) is at your fingertips.
For me it’s books to download on my iPad.

There are websites where one can personalise a greetings card and get it sent direct to the recipient.

Either a preset image, or a photo that one uploads, or artwork that is in the same file format as that used by a photo.

Or have the card sent to oneself and frame it using a frame that is sold as a photo frame or a certificate frame that can be ordered over the web and delivered with a grocery order.

A lot of family history research can be undertaken online. I’ve traced one of my lines back to the 1500s in this way. Of course a great many records are not digitised but a lot of those can be located online and then ordered from the relevant archive.

The short answer is - almost anything you can imagine!

Same day delivery from Morrison’s via Amazon.
An excellent service.
(Although whether you can get it may depend upon your whereabouts.)

There is also an increasing number of book titles that can be borrowed on your device from your county library. And a debit card is not needed!, only your library card.

DG who lives in USA is 21 next week so this morning I have sent him a personalised card via Moonpig and then a cash amount via PayPal and DS. That way they get dollars and I pay in Sterling.

ElderlyPerson if it wasn’t for the three things that you mentioned in your title, I have absolutely no idea how I would have managed for the past eighteen months.
And that is understating things!

Oh indeed, I use Moonpig (other card sites are available) a lot especially for personalised cards for the grandchildren, as you say with photographs . I also send “letterbox” flowers, read three national newspapers online, pay for postage and arrange to have parcels collected by the postman, book deliveries by our friendly Hermes courier, obviously email friends, waste too much time on sites such as this, watch films or TV series via Netflix or Amazon Prime, take part in Zoom meetings and classes, enjoy Zoom webinars and “virtual” tours of U.K. cities or abroad (TAS) and listen to Radio programmes I may have missed on BBC Sounds, as well as TV on iPlayer/ITV Hub etc!

Paying my family and my neighbour, directly into their bank accounts for shopping they got me, when I was sheilding

Oh and online banking of course.
Consulting YouTube for tricky (to me) things like hanging printer cartridges or crochet stitches.
Booking doctors appointments (although I haven’t had to do that since before Covid) - there is no end to the list!

Yet some things cannot.

For example I wanted to post a letter sometime before the pandemic and could not get to the letterbox.

People often say "ask a relative or neighbour" but what if that is not possible as relatives live many miles away or one does not wish to impose upon a neighbour, who may not be in a position to help anyway, notwithstanding the sweeping generalised advice about "asking a relative or neighbour" that often gets trotted out.

changing printer cartridges- in case anybody thinks I regard them as artworks!

Buying foreign currency and having it delivered directly to your home....a distant memory.

For example I wanted to post a letter sometime before the pandemic and could not get to the letterbox.
You need parcel.royalmail.com/
Royal Mail Click and Drop - your postie will collect the next day (and you can leave it outside the door if you don’t want to hand it over in person)

EP, you can buy postage online and postman can pick up parcel or letter. I did it with a letter I wished to send to Italy.

Crossed posts, Maw! ?

I do everything on line, our whole kitchen was viewed and ordered online, including registration of warranties. New carpets, two piece suite, three mini break holidays, greenhouse and various plants. I bank, make investments and buy insurance for the house and cars. In fact there’s very little that’s not done online here.

Thank you Maw, that’s very handy to know

> pay for postage and arrange to have parcels collected by the postman

The problem there though is that one needs a printer to print the label.

Though, although I have not used it yet, even that could theoretically be resolved by using the viking online print house to print the hardcopy and then that be delivered to one by Royal Mail.

Disproportionately expensive for just the label to be printed but if one is having other loose sheets being printed the label could be added into the same job, as long as one is happy to have it on the same size sheet and choice of paper or card.

But it depends how important and urgent is sending the parcel. Still a lot cheaper than getting a printer and having to do setting up and ink cartridge stuff if one rarely prints anything, and does not already have a printer available.

It is unfortunate that Royal Mail does not allow one to just write the umber on in pen, even if that would mean an extra fee because they would need to print the label from that pen written information.

I could not imagine having a computer without a printer!

MawBe

I could not imagine having a computer without a printer!

I haven’t got a printer ! I suppose before retiring there was school printer and I don’t often need one now that I’m not working. . If I do I have a friend who prints for me or I go to the library.

I haven’t even got a “computer” . My laptop died and I just use iPad now.

Well, I could buy one if needed, ordering over the internet, delivery by DPD, note on the door delivery option, but I rarely print, so for me paying for a print and having it delivered is far cheaper and much better quality than I could get with a printer at home.