Do you have a hard time keeping your wallet neat? Do you find that you accumulate bits of paper, extra cards, and loose change faster than you can get rid of them? If so, you’re not alone. Many people often find that they’ve let their wallets get cluttered and messy almost without realizing it.
In the process of just carrying your wallet around every day and handling it frequently, it’s easy to shove random items into it and forget about them. However, holding a lot of clutter for long periods of time will make your wallet bulge and eventually damage the material—something you definitely don’t want if you keep a fancy designer wallet. Even more importantly, the mess inside your wallet will make it harder to access the things you need. You’ll have to spend more time rooting around inside it for the simplest things, which will take a toll on your peace of mind in the long run.
The best way to organize your wallet is to set up a system that allows you to keep clutter out of your wallet before it even finds its way in. This system needs to be simple and easy enough to follow that you don’t even have to think about it too hard. Before too long, keeping your wallet neat will be automatic.
Here are 5 easy steps you can take to organize your wallet:
Carry Essential Cards Only
Whenever most people get a new card, whether it’s a business card, a credit card, a discount card, or something else, they immediately stuff it into their wallet. The thing is, they probably don’t need most of the cards they carry with them on a daily basis, let alone every single one.
Unnecessary cards will just add extra bulk to your wallet and make finding the cards you actually need more confusing. The best way to sort out the cards in your wallet is to first remove them all and lay them out clearly on a table. Then identify the most important cards that you absolutely need to carry with you every day, such as the following:
- Your primary or most-used credit card
- Your ATM or debit card
- Your driver’s license or any other type of valid identification
- Your health insurance card, if applicable
- Any card needed to enter your workplace
Organize these essential cards in your wallet’s pockets by placing the ones you use most often in the most readily accessible places. Then gather together all the other cards you won’t necessarily need daily, which may include:
- Any secondary credit cards you have
- Discount/rewards/gift cards
- Library cards
- Membership cards
- Other people’s business cards
- Cards for vision and dental insurance
You should store these cards together in one pouch and keep that pouch in a safe place so you always know where to find them. They should only go into your wallet on days that you’re sure you’re going to need them.
Keep Your Cash in the Bill Holder
Folding cash and shoving it into your wallet’s change compartment and other pockets may feel like the easiest thing to do when you’re in a hurry, but doing this will mess up your wallet very quickly. The horizontal bill pocket exists for a reason, so try to make a habit of slipping your bills into it neatly. This will also make them easier to access and hand out whenever you have to pay for something.
Use Digital Substitutes When Possible
There’s an app for everything in our increasingly digital world, and your everyday financial activities are no exception. Financial apps like digital wallets and apps that can help consolidate digital copies of your credit, debit, insurance, and rewards cards will all make it easier for you to keep your physical wallet neat and tidy. Apps that create and share digital business cards are an especially game-changing space-saver, as you’ll no longer need to carry unwieldy printed business cards in favor of digital and instantly shareable alternatives.
Clear Out Paper Scraps
Notes, receipts, and other loose scraps of paper are probably the biggest culprits when it comes to wallet clutter. While you probably won’t be able to avoid sticking receipts into your wallet from day to day, especially if you spend a lot of time on the go, it’s best to empty out your wallet and get rid of those you don’t need at least once a week. Throw out things like notes, jotted down addresses and phone numbers, coupons, and other scraps of paper you won’t need again.
One practical approach to sorting receipts for most people is to immediately dispose of receipts for inexpensive, everyday items that will probably already have been used up by the time you clean out your wallet. These can be things like chewing gum, coffee, pocket tissues, and more. You can even tell cashiers at stores that you don’t need receipts for such items to give yourself less to declutter later.
Receipts to keep if you’re especially particular about budgeting, meanwhile, might include those for clothes purchases, household items, and more substantial restaurant meals. While it makes sense to hold on to these to keep track of your expenses, you don’t need to carry them in your wallet. Keep them instead in a separate envelope that you can keep safely at home and reference easily.
A neat, well-organized wallet doesn’t just look nice—it’s also easier and more convenient to use from day to day. Once you have a working system in place, keeping your wallet tidy will become second nature sooner rather than later.
