I haven’t had much to write about lately. I’ve been quite busy at work and with school work. The good news is I should be finished with my master’s degree in September. There have been some good and some bad aspects of my program, and I plan on giving it a lot of attention on the blog, following commencement.
Now, I’d like to run with the meme (from AllThingsFinancial, Chrees’ World, My Open Wallet, Financial Train Wreck, and Stop Buying Crap) and answer the Viking call, “What’s in your wallet?”
For a while I stopped using a wallet, and kept only the essentials in a small credit card case and a money clip. It was kind of frustrating, so I switched back to a wallet. I’ve managed to stuff quite a bit in there without it getting huge. I keep it in my coat mostly, as keeping the wallet in my pants pocket gets uncomfortable.
Here’s what I have:
* Driver’s license
* AAA card (I’m a member of AAA Plus, and every year it has paid for itself in service)
* Health and dental insurance cards (Aetna)
* Citibank Dividend Platinum Select credit card
* Wachovia debit card
* Two back-up credit cards (I can’t imagine I’d ever need them)
* Wegmans shopping card for grocery discounts
* Borders reward card — I bought a lot of gifts this past holiday season there
* Three (do I need this many?) Metrocards for the New York subway system
* Two frequent customer cards at Blimpie — I don’t eat there anymore
* Assorted receipts (gas, groceries, check deposits)
* $49 in cash
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There’s some evidence that a too-thick wallet contributes to lower back problems due to lopsided posture, so I like to keep mine as thin as possible. Every once in a while I go through my wallet and figure out what I can take out.
For example, I have a good half-dozen reward/discount club cards. Most of the stores just need the barcode, so what I like to do is photocopy the barcode side of the cards, put two together back-to-back, and “laminate” them with a strip of clear packing tape. Takes up a lot less room in the wallet that way.
Better yet is when they just let you use your phone number if you “forgot your card.” I tend to “forget” such cards constantly. Safeway actually lets you punch your phone number into the POS terminal while they’re ringing you up.