5 Tips to Spring Clean Your Wallet

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Spring clean your wallet? Your purse is your life line, but it also can get full fast. That makes every space in your purse precious and the more you can organize and slim down, the better. Your wallet is one of the easiest places to slim, and it will make your life easier if it gets lost or stolen. Not only that, you will have an easier time looking for the correct card to pay at the register, and not worry about things falling out of your wallet when you pull out cash. Here are five strategies to spring clean your wallet and having it look slim and sexy again.

Getting Started

Before you begin to clean and organize, ask yourself a few questions to help you decide what type of wallet you really need and how slim you can go.

  • What do you really need your wallet to do for you?

In all reality, your wallet should simply be a place to hold your money and identification. Wallets are not designed to be an organizational system or a file cabinet. When you consider only putting things in it that are financially related or your identification, you will see how slim of a wallet to own.

  • How much of what is in your current wallet is necessary?
  • Do you really need all of the extra business cards or scraps of paper?
  • Are you storing photos in your wallet?
  • Do you own a smart phone?

When you really start to think about these things, you will have a much better idea of how easy it is to spring clean your wallet.

  1. Reduce the wallet size
  2. Clear the clutter
  3. Use it for money only
  4. Reduce amount of cash on hand
  5. Reduce the number of cards

Let's dive deeper into each of these.

1 - Reduce the Wallet Size
It has been shown that if you have the space to put something, you will fill it. The first step in having a skinnier wallet is to not purchase one with much room. You will have no choice but to pare down because there is simply no where to put all of the cards and receipts. When you are looking for a slim wallet, you can select one that is designed to hold less, or simply use a binder clip to hold the necessities.

2 - Clear the Clutter
Step one in spring cleaning is to clear all of the clutter and the same is true with your wallet. Pull out all of the items in there and you might be surprised to see how much is in there that could just be tossed. Many people save receipts from restaurants and ATMs and do not even realize it. Toss any piece of paper that is in your wallet, but log it first to keep track of finances. Your smartphone and computer are a great place to log information from memos, appointment cards, and receipts. This will help free up a lot of space, as well as prevent littering when you are pulling out your cards or money.

3 - Use for Money Only
It is vital to remember that your wallet is designed to be used for money. Whether that money is in the form of a debit/credit card, cash, or loyalty cards, it is all money related. Your wallet is not a place for you to hold your photos to share with others. Printed photos are almost obsolete, except for school photos. Consider getting digital copies of those photos so you can show off your children or pets from your phone’s gallery or social media. In addition, use your phone’s calendar to help track reminders. You do not need the business card that has the date and time listed on it. The best thing about logging it into your phone’s calendar program is you can set up reminders a day or two in advance to help remind you of the event. Your wallet can’t do that!

4 - Reduce Cash on Hand
Unless you absolutely have to, reduce the amount of cash you carry on hand. Not only does cash add bulk to your wallet, you also increase the chance of losing money if you are held up. People can see thick wallets and they also notice if you have a lot of cash when you are pulling out cards to pay. Debit/credit cards also offer the ability to track your purchases through your bank and you can have protection if cards are taken or go missing.

5 - Reduce the Cards
With that said, however, you need to reduce the number of cards that are in your wallet. 

  • Credit/Debit Cards – Consider consolidating your credit cards so you only have one and then cut up the rest and pay off the debt as quickly as possible. If you need multiple bank accounts, consider only having one that you have a debit card to and the rest being savings accounts. It will help you save money as well.
  • Loyalty Cards - One option is to use the key ring version of the card on your keychain, but there are also phone apps that will allow you to log the loyalty number and store so that you can just have the cashier scan your phone instead of pulling out a card.

These five tips are some strong strategies to spring clean your wallet way down and allow you to free up even more space in your purse. Treat your wallet with respect, as it holds your financial needs and often your identification. When you keep it both clean, your purchase will give you a much longer life and you will feel more organized overall.