Why I Stopped Carrying a Wallet

Somewhere around 14 years ago, I stopped carrying a wallet. Since that time, I have not had the slightest urge to go back.

I guess I had always thought of a wallet in the back pocket as being something that went along with being a member of the male species. Never mind that sitting on the thing was uncomfortable or that the bulky wallet was unattractive. Furthermore, the wallet in the back pocket is a target for the pick-pocket. The wallet working its way out of a back pocket is also a possibility. Talk to any cab driver, and you will hear stories about wallets left on back seats.

One day I stopped, cold-turkey. But what about all of the items I had been carrying in that wallet? What was I to do with all of them? Permit me to share how I have navigated life wallet-free for almost a decade-and-a-half.

The key centers around a pocket-sized memo pad. It fits in a shirt pocket or inside suit jacket pocket. I have been a huge believer in always having pen and paper to trap ideas, to-dos, and other commitments. The memo pad includes several pockets. Those pockets hold my driver's license, several major credit cards, medical card, and a few business cards.

Hardly a day goes by that I do not charge some purchase on a credit card and now have credit card receipts to handle. One pocket of that memo pad allows collection of those credit card receipts, business cards from other people, or other miscellaneous bits of paper. At the end of the day, that little memo pad gets thrown into the Inbox. The bits of paper collected during the day and notes jotted on the memo pad are handled. The memo pad is ready for the next day.

By the way, those who are in the habit of carrying that small pocket notebook are in good company. You can read about the notebooks of 20 famous men.

In my right front pocket, I carry a set of keys. These days, the set consists of only two keys: one to my car and one to my house. School principals are famous for carrying huge rings of keys. As a former principal, I was the exception. In my life and yours, probably 5% of the keys in our possession account for 95% of the use. Keep the 5% on the key ring in your pocket. Put the other 95% on a larger ring which lives in the center desk drawer.

I used to carry a flash drive along with my key ring. That flash drive allowed me to copy a digital file when I was out of the office. Now, with a Dropbox account, I can upload a file from any computer to Dropbox, and it is waiting for me when I get back to my own computer.

We all need to carry cash. Mine is in a money clip in the left front pants pocket, along with a handful of change.

Calendars, address books, and photos are often the culprits when pockets are bulging. A smartphone in the jacket pocket houses my calendar, to-do list, address book, a wealth of reference material, and tons of photos.

If you are tired of sitting on that wallet, are constantly checking to be sure it's still there, and wish there was a better way, look no further. Get a money clip and a nice memo pad. Say good-bye to the wallet once and for all.

Do You Have This in Your Pocket?

Much has changed over the years, but one thing that has been a constant for me since college has been a notepad in my pocket. Even today, when getting information into my signature tool gets easier and easier, there are times when the quickest and easiest thing is to pull out the memo pad and a pen.

I think we all need a memo pad. After all, we need something to house our credit cards, driver's license, and insurance cards anyway. Why not have one tool which holds those items plus a small memo pad? Because of that little memo pad, I don't carry a wallet in my back pocket, and don't find myself sitting on one day after day.

I am not alone in being a fan of the memo pad. I have posted before on this subject, referencing a blog post I had found on "The Pocket Notebook of 20 Famous Men." In this post, I pointed readers to another article on "The Manly Tradition of the Pocket Notebook."

I first talked about the pocket memo pad in a post called "The Best $10 You Will Ever Spend." You will notice in that post, I provide a link to where readers could get the same memo pad I described. You will also notice that link is now dead. That point becomes important as you read on.

After years of daily use, my memo pad has been showing its share of wear, and the time has come to buy a new one. I had no idea how hard it would be to find a replacement. The office supply stores didn't have them. I even found a site called Memopads.com. One would think if anybody would have what I was looking for, they would. And they did...if I wanted to buy at least 25.

The good news is that today I found exactly what I was looking for. I found one that would hold my credit cards and diver's license, a few business cards, insurance cards, and that all-important memo pad. It's the same size I talked about it my original post. The price was even lower...$9. The place was Things Remembered.

If you don't have a memo pad in your pocket, you need one. I would recommend heading over to the nearby mall and grabbing one. But don't wait too long. The price was so low, $9 for a soft leather cover, because it's being discontinued. If you hurry, you may get one of the few remaining.

The memo pad may seem a small thing. However, if you are serious about not letting things fall through the cracks, serious about having total control, and serious about having peace of mind in a complex world, that little memo pad can be a big thing. Whatever comes your way, jot it there and you earn the right to forget about it. Pretty good value for $9.

What's in Your Pocket?

For around 30 years, I have carried in my pocket a memo pad of some sort. I talked about it extensively in a post called "The Best $10 You Will Ever Spend." I ran across this post, "The Manly Tradition of the Pocket Notebook," which provides illustrations for how people in different walks of life use this simple tool. Over 140 people added their own comments on this excellent post.

The Pocket Memo Pad Again

Later this week, we will examine the benefits of carrying a small, pocket memo pad. As a prelude, let's take a look at The Pocket Notebooks of 20 Famous Men.

Could a memo pad in your pocket be just the thing to keep things from slipping through the cracks?

Anyone presently use this tool and have a story to tell?

The Best $10 You Will Ever Spend

My life is on my BlackBerry...or at least as much as I can reasonably store there. There are those times when I have to jot something quickly or draw a quick sketch. In addition, I do need some way to carry credit cards, business cards, and so forth.

In my shirt pocket, you will find a little memo pad that ran me around $10 at an office superstore. It's manufactured by Buxton. Simply putting "Buxton Memo Pad" into a Google search will return plenty of hits.

In the pocket on the left side, I keep about half-a-dozen business cards, a couple of major credit cards, and my driver's license. Credit cards receipts, business cards from other people, or other miscellaneous little pieces of paper also go right up front on that left side until I can get home and handle them. The right side features a memo pad. A pocket underneath the memo pad houses my insurance cards just in case.

The whole thing measures 4 3/4" high X 3" wide X 3/4" thick. The best thing is that I carry no wallet! Money goes in a magnetic money clip in my left front pocket. Pictures are digital and stored on the BlackBerry. The memo pad handles the rest.

One little tip. The memo pad includes a couple of pen loops and a pen. I found the pen loops to get in the way big time, so a pair of scissors took care of that problem.

While the BlackBerry is certainly my signature tool, that $10 memo pad provides the perfect companion.