Technology brings convenience, but your big new phone, Bluetooth headphones, and wallets filled with trash items that no longer belong there can seriously burden your everyday movement. The idea is to reduce the fluff and only carry essentials you actually need neatly stacked in a nice, quality package that firmly grips them together. I talked to Jake Starr, the owner of The Recycled Firefighter, a manufacturer of quality wallets, to learn how to organize my wallet with little to no compromise. After all, we live in a digital age where big fat wallets full of paper bills and visit cards belong to a bygone era.
Limit Your Cards
A debit or credit card and an ID are unquestionably essential. You would also use a metro card or subway pass, as well as a work access card, every day. Other than that? Maybe you could ditch your social security card because you don’t really need it on a day-to-day commute from home to work or anywhere else during your busy work day. Experiment by leaving out items from your wallet you don’t use on a daily basis and check the results. Whatever you feel is missing, you can always revert to the inventory, but it sure feels nice to identify things you can leave out.
The Digital Age
It is possible to store most of those additional cards digitally and still access them easily. You can use an app like KeyRing or Locked Folder. Just remember to protect it with a strong password. You can even organize your passwords with Dashlane, a secure app that does much more than manage passwords for your infrequently used cards.
Stop Hoarding Receipts
Receipts can quickly fill up your wallet, and you carry them around without ever knowing why only to throw them away eventually. It is better to avoid hardcopy receipts whenever possible. Securely storing digital copies of receipts is easy with apps like Evernote, Concur, or Locked Folder. The goal is to retire your old-school wallet filled with old and worn-out tickets you can’t even read. Introduce a slim wallet into your life and travel light everywhere you go.
You Don’t Need Much Cash Anyway
Generally, keeping a few notes on you is wise, but most of us don’t need much paper money anyway. It is now possible to pay with plastic almost everywhere, and a number of convenient payment services extend the range of options – Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Venmo are fine examples. Again, you can conduct a small experiment and track how much paper money you use in your transactions in one week. That number can roughly tell you how much cash you might need to carry with you.
Put Your Wallet on a Diet
A slimmer wallet is a great tool if you’re trying to reinforce a habit of carrying less! You won’t want to stuff extra things into your slim wallet once you’ve experienced the freedom it gives you. You will finally be able to wear that pair of slim jeans without a bulge gaping from your pocket. Now if only we could use smaller phones too.
You need a quality product that is flexible, durable, and capable of storing all your essentials while also bringing you style and comfort. We all carry expensive gadgets, like phones, laptops, headphones, or anything of value. All these items must be well protected from physical harm or theft, so using quality backpacks and wallets is a must!