Casual Friday: Obsessing About Wallets
Let’s talk about wallets, because it’s Friday I have a touch of OCD and am constantly looking for ways to reduce my wallet to the bare essentials. Sound crazy? Yeah, let’s refer back to that OCD thing. Anyway, I’ve spent the last few years trying wallets of all varieties, and I think I’ve settled on one. Think is the operative word here, and you probably know that, but play along with me.
In the Beginning
My first wallet – and the one I used for a long time – was the standard, fat, George Costanza-esque back-pocket wallet. As I became a more active member of the financial world (translated: Credit cards let me buy things without using real cash? ARE YOU SERIOUS?), this began to grow fat with receipts, loyalty/credit cards and whatever point-of-sale coupons and/or chochkes were handed to me. Eventually, the wallet became a thing unto itself, something so uncomfortable to sit on that I would take it out of my back pocket and put it on my desk. People would stare at me. I would just shrug awkwardly. I’d be like, “It has it’s own zip code, ha ha!” and people would say, “Yeah. You’re not supposed to live out of your wallet. Just so you know.”
There had to be a better way.
Brookstone to the Rescue
I wised up and found myself a front-pocket wallet made by Brookstone. At this point I was a self-conscious college grad, and fat wallets didn’t look cool. Everyone knew that. So I had to start carrying my wallet in my front pocket, which was the beginning of my journey to slim down the stuff I carry on a daily basis.
It was a fine wallet with room for several cards plus a money clip on the back. I used this wallet for about 12 years before I literally broke it: the metal of the money clip wore through its leather outer shell, the stitches were fraying, and the leather lost all its texture and took on a thin, high-sheen, someone-please-put-me-out-of-my-misery look to it. If it were a car, it would be the 375,000 mile Chevy you literally drive until the metaphorical wheels fall off.
Which they did.
What Next?
I wanted to replace my first Brookstone wallet with the new version, but the new version wasn’t the same. It was smaller, much more cheaply made, and it smelled funny. Yes, smelled funny. So that was a no-go.
Two years ago while in Las Vegas for a trade show, I found a Coach wallet that was the closest thing to the Brookstone that I had ever been able to find. It was gray, slim, and only a bit bigger than my Brookstone. I bought it. I used it for about 14 months before I started to think about something else. Recepits didn’t fit in it, the card space was limited and the money clip didn’t pin bills tight enough. And, my OCD was actively looking at other solutions, and I knew there had to be something better out there.
Enter the Money Clip
I told my father-in-law my wallet woes. Besides suggesting Xanax, he simply said, “Don’t use a wallet. Use a money clip.” Now, this was in the beginnings of my minimalist trend, so his suggestion sounded great. What’s more minimal than a money clip? NOTHING, that’s what. So he gave me an old money clip he used to have, which he said was very nice and not very cheap.
It wasn’t cheap because it weighed as much as a half-gallon of milk. All metal with tabs that extended off the clip’s sides so you could open it easier with greater leverage, this thing weighed more than everything in my wallet combined. I loved the idea of the money clip, but I didn’t like carrying around something that had more metal in it than a 1980 Buick.
Know what doesn’t weigh as much as a Buick?
Broccoli Rubber Bands
MIPRO co-founder and CEO Jim Prokes introduced me to his wallet system. And by system, I mean broccoli rubber bands. No, that’s not a cute product name – it’s what it is. He saves the rubber bands he gets on broccoli clusters and uses it as an ersatz money clip. He swears by it. And in keeping with my trend of minimal money clips, this worked perfectly. So I tried it.
Within a few days, I broke two of them, because I wrapped them lengthwise around my money and cards. Jim suggested doing it width-wise, but I find the grip too weak that way. Plus, because I have the manual dexterity of a Christmas ham, I almost shot two cashiers in the face while removing the tensed rubber band, so yeah.
No.
And We Arrive at the Moneywrap
In one of my late-night RSS reading sessions (I kick it old school, I know), I came across the Moneywrap, which is exactly what it appears to be: a leather wrap you fold around your money and cards. It has an elastic band that goes around it’s length. It’s basically the broccoli strap idea over a piece of leather that holds all your things together.
This wins. The only thing I don’t like is the tri-folded bills (I prefer them folded in half, a la a money clip) because it makes dealing with cash a bit of a hassle, but that’s the only downside I can find. I do almost everything on credit card anyway, becuase I’m OCD about getting credit card points.
But that’s another blog post.
Have a great weekend, everyone. And really, think about your wallet.
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