It's easy to forget a lot of life's simple conveniences until it's taken away from you without warning. I promise this isn't a morbid post of any kind; more about an everyday tool you might use once or twice a day, and something I'm sure we all take for granted.

What happened was, I was a in a mild panic the other night when I discovered that my debit card was faulty. I admit it wasn't in the best of shape with the transparent plastic layer peeling off but apparently, the magnetic bar code was coming apart as well! Seeing how my debit card doubles up as my ATM card, I was naturally quite disturbed.

I wouldn't even be able to pay anything by NETS and was certainly not going to use my credit card willy-nilly; that is only for strategic purchases. How was I going to withdraw my money? That made me think - how reliant are we on this piece of plastic? Back when we were in school, our cash dispensing machine was called Mum and Dad. A weekly allowance had to be managed to last - if I over-spent, too bad. But we were liquid, baby.

When you were considered fiscally responsible enough, the ATM became a must-carry every time you left the house. Your wallet could be empty, that's alright. All you need was to find a machine, and you'd be cool. Having been used to this concept of being able to access my money anywhere and anytime, I was literally jolted out of my security for a moment when the machine flashed that my card was faulty.

FML.

Thankfully, the wave of panic blew over quickly and common sense returned. After a quick call (wasn't even put on hold, I swear) to DBS, got it all sorted and I've already received my replacement card free of charge. What happened to my money situation? An online transfer to my brother's account and that was that. I got my moolah.

Still, this experience is making me regard my plastics in a whole new light. The first thing I'm going to do? Keep my new card in a proper holder! Second? Imma start keeping a piggy bank in my house!!