Decluttering Your Wallet for Safety
Our wallet gets its own share of daily use; a lot comes in and goes out of it. Often it gets full to the brim with cards, folded brochures, and even foreign currency coins after a recent trip.
As a result, it becomes heavier to carry in your pocket or purse. And digging for a bill and other things that are needed seems harder.
Fortunately, we wrote a guide on decluttering your wallet for safety. With this, your wallet will not only be more clutter-free but also safer whenever you go out and buy something.
What to Remove from Your Wallet
Although it seems to make you more versatile, it’s not necessary to bring everything in your wallet for safety reasons. For this, you could declutter your wallet of the following items:
- Debit cards – While you need this to withdraw cash, you can do away with this when you don’t need to do so.
Leaving your debit card in your wallet all the time heightens your risk of getting victimised by scammers.
- Checks and deposit slips – It’s wise not to bring them in your wallet for the same reason above. They can be converted to cash or the cash can be deposited into another account.
- Social security card – You should not bring your SS card because it has a number on it that thieves can use. With this, they can get certain benefits and tax return amounts illegally.
- Gift vouchers – Gift vouchers can be stolen too. Thieves can purchase a gift item of the same or lesser value at a participating store.
- PIN or password notes – It’s best to leave this in a safe place or inside a safe so no one—even your family—can access them.
- Store or ATM receipts – You should tear them after you get them since they contain up to five digits of your credit card number and its expiration date. A scammer can use this information to commit theft.
- Health insurance cards – These also contain your personal information which a person can use to obtain your medical benefits.
Mind you, however, that doesn’t mean you have to leave them at home always. You can carry one or more of them in your wallet as long as you’ll use them.
But after that time, it would be best to store them safely in your drawer or safety box at home. We guarantee that you’ll find using your wallet a lot more efficient the next time.
What to Bring in Your Wallet
With that in mind, below are the things you should carry with you most of the time when going out.
- Cash
- Driver’s licence or another valid ID
- Student ID
- One or two credit cards you need
- A photo of your loved ones (optional)
- A medical or emergency card (optional)