I was at the ATM this morning, and was pleasantly surprised to retrieve my receipt and see 3.5k as my available balance.

I didn’t really know how that could be – I run my budget down to zero (I like the zero based budget, there is a place for everything) and it’s the end of the weekend (by Monday everything is basically accounted for). And I certainly wasn’t expecting any sort of windfall – $400 at the most, maybe, and if that ever comes to me it would be in a cheque (I sent out my invoice again, but doubt I’ll ever see the money – chalk it down to experience and never work for that person again).

Anyway, eventually another receipt emerged from the slot – available balance 106. Yeah, that was me, sadly.

And we came in on budget – even without taking into account the $30 phone topup which I hadn’t anticipated, because our groceries only came to 97 instead of our usual 120 – loving Countdown at the moment and all their reductions.

I’ve been really paranoid lately about going to ATMs, what with hearing about all these ‘plastic sleeve’ scams recently. I pause before sticking my card in and stare at the green sleeve to make sure everything looks kosher. Is it any wonder I don’t trust the deposit machine? I just am not going to insert cash into a hole in the wall, I’m going to hand it over to a real, live person.

Thankfully I only have to use ATMs once a week at the most. We have technology for a reason, and for me at least cash is a thing of the past. It’s way too easy for me to lose track of (or lose completely), easy to steal, and bulky. I get rewards off my Visa. And when you pay by card there’s a record, a paper trail should you need to verify something.