Plastique

Losing my wallet has had an unintended consequence; I'm thinking more about nearly every penny I spend, because my supply of cash is limited to what is in the new wallet.  I can't just bop over to an ATM and take out $40; because I still don't have my replacement debit card.  I have access to money, I'm still gainfully employed, so I'm not broke, but it is far too easy to whip out that piece of plastic and not even think about any given purchase.  Writing a check takes a minute, and is far more tangible, to my mind, than handing over the card.

In order to get my hands on some green, I have to go to the bank, wait in line either at the drive-up or inside, flash my horrible new driver's license....what a pain in the buttinsky!  And then cash disappears at a frightening rate, too.  One day last week, I pulled out my wallet and counted the cash.  I started adding up what I *knew* I'd spent, and yet there was a discrepancy between what I had spent and what was left in the wallet.  It was only $3, but I still don't know what I spent it on.

I'm muy irritated at the bank where DH and I have a joint account, too.  They got my name wrong when we opened the account, spelling it incorrectly.  I pitched a fit; they refused to fix it just on my say-so.  I had to go into the bank, show ID and sign something, even though the branch manager knows DH...her husband works at the same place DH does.  (Two degrees of separation, again.)  That was obnoxious, and then I waited for them to issue a new ATM card with my name spelled correctly.  I refused to use the one with my name spelled wrong.  I'm still waiting for them to issue a new PIN, almost a month later.  The card is worthless without the PIN.

My one and only one credit card?  I had a new one IN MY HANDS three days, three days after I reported the old one lost.  So this level of effiency is possible, just not from the local banks?  WTF?