Imagine if your neighborhood pharmacy could only accept cash because it wasn't allowed to open a checking account and had to pay exorbitant fees on credit card transactions. Same with your favorite spa or local health food store.

All perfectly legitimate businesses. All coping with an unendling string of banking bad dreams.

That's what medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado have repeatedly faced. Colorado voters legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 2000, and since that time, dispensaries have flourished.

I've never applied for a cash back credit card, but I suddenly have one -- at least for the next few weeks.

My Bank of America airline rewards card has unexpectedly morphed into a cash back credit card through the end of June. During that time I'll receive 3 percent cash back on purchases made at gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores and restaurants.

It's an interesting tactic to try to entice more spending on a card I usually only use a couple times a month, when I hit those rare locations where American Express cards aren't accepted.

Seems like an intriguing way to drum up business at a time when credit card usage across society is in decline.

Come Jan. 1, a new provision in the federal government's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will prohibit the purchase of over-the-counter (OTCs) medications from HSAs, FSAs, and similar accounts unless you have a doctor's prescription.

So that means paying for those remedies for tummy troubles and throbbing heads from your HSA or FSA will be off-limits. Your attempt to purchase the products with your HSA or FSA debit card might be blocked, or if the transaction does go through, you might need another stiff drink when you see the stiff penalty you might incur.

But last week, a consortium of pharmacists and grocers asked that the rule be rescinded.

It's a sign of the times. As consumers shy away from making credit card purchases and running up debt, layaway programs at retailers like Kmart and Sears are making a resurgence.

But they aren't alone. Now even some pawn shops are getting in on the layaway act. Outside one Value Pawn and Jewelry shop in Tampa, Fla., a banner with Santa Claus, one of his reindeer and a Christmas tree proclaims "Layaway now for Christmas." Put 10 percent down, and the purchase is interest free till the jolly old elf arrives.

I've traveled from Bosnia to Bali to Boston, and many points in between, and this month's trip to Egypt was the first time I've ever had my bank card eaten by an automatic teller machine.

It was a stifling hot night in Luxor, and all I wanted to do was grab some cash at the ATM across the street, run back to the coolness of the hotel, and pick up some souvenirs in the gift shop.

I inserted my ATM card, and watched it disappear into the bowels of the machine -- never to be seen again. Thus began my adventure with Egypt's tomb of the lost ATM cards.