Most people have heard the term “costanza wallet”, referring to an episode of Seingfield where George Constanza’s massively overstuffed wallet explodes in the middle of a New York street. Youtube won’t let me embed a video of it here because of bullsh*t copyright stuff, but you should check it out sometime by clicking here (after you read the rest of this post, of course).
As you can see, having an overstuffed wallet isn’t a good idea. The more information you keep in your wallet and on your person, the more that can be pick-pocketed or just plain lost. I realized the other day that my own wallet has too much stuff:
- Driver’s license
- Community college ID
- AMEX gift card with a $6.00 balance
- Reward/Loyalty card for my typical gas station
- Debit card for my local bank account
- Debit card for my ING Direct checking account
- Medical insurance card
- Library card
- High school ID
- University ID
- Blood donor card
- Eight dollars
From that, I’ve been able to reduce a lot of bulk. I no longer need to carry around my community college ID or high school ID. My local checking account is only used to make cash deposits, so that debit card is gone. My loyalty card and library card both have the additional mini-card that goes on your keys, so I can start using that instead. And my college I.D. doesn’t need to be in my wallet until September.
If I really wanted to, I could take out both my blood donor card and insurance card. Neither are used on anymore than a every-2-month basis. But they’re thinner than most cards and it’ll simplify things the event of an emergency.
Now my wallet is a bit thinner and I won’t be at risk for developing a slant when I sit!
This morning, why not go your through your own wallet (and purse for you ladies) and clean things up a bit!
