What's in your wallet?

[Gryffindorian]

To say that payment methods have evolved over the years is an understatement. Gone are the days of shoppers carrying around checkbooks. I was known to give evil looks at people, particularly the elderly, who wrote personal checks to pay for items in the store. Nowadays, I imagine a great majority of consumers pay by credit or debit card, if not through an app on their mobile phones.

When I was young(er), I saw carrying a men's wallet as a rite of passage, though I don't recall the exact age I had one. The practical use was to store currency, but as I grew older, I also began to accumulate more and more cards - personal IDs, a bus pass, my library card, debit and credit cards, gym membership card, a dozen "rewards cards." Remember when people used to have a membership card to rent movies at the video store? Lame! Who the hell does that anymore?

I've used dozens of wallets in my lifetime, in varying sizes and colors. As my needs have changed over the years, so have the ways we as a society do transactions. Lost my Safeway card? That's okay. I'll just punch in my cell number at checkout. Forgot my Kohl's card at home? I'll just show the cashier my driver license and verify some information. Misplaced my Starbucks rewards card? There's an app for that!

I've been looking on Amazon for minimalist compact wallets that would be light enough and fit securely in my pocket, but haven't decided on a specific brand or features. I mostly carry my driver license, ATM card, a couple of credit cards, health insurance card, proof of auto insurance, Costco membership card, Target Redcard, a Clipper card, a few dollar bills (no more coins for me), and movie vouchers. And my Covid vaccine card.

Do you have a lot of stuff in your wallet, and what is your preferred payment method? What say you?

 

[Avro Arrow]

Not as much as I wish there was!

I have paid primarily through debit for years. I hardly ever have actual cash with me; if I am going someplace that will require cash, it requires some planning, because I will have to figure in a trip to a bank or ATM first. (Or if it’s something small like parking, then it’s a search around the house for coins... it’s difficult accumulating coins when you don’t get physical “change” back from your purchases.)

My smart phone is provided by my employer, and we’re not supposed to use them for non-work-related things, so that precludes any app-based payment options.

 

[scotpens]

My wallet contains my driver's license, debit card, a couple of supermarket discount cards, proof of car insurance, Auto Club membership card, health insurance cards, and a medical device ID card for my pacemaker. I seldom carry more than $20 in cash.

I keep telling myself that someday soon, I'll get into using my mobile banking app and paying for stuff with my phone.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

Cash. Because a lot of Germans still pay in cash, and I like it that way because it helps me to keep track of my finances. And besides, there are a lot of places here where you can only pay in cash (bakeries, for example), especially in small villages where I live, so, it makes sense to carry at least some cash.

Aside from that, my wallet features a lot of pictures of Jean-Luc… but then of course it does.

 

[Oddish]

Driver's license, personal debit/credit card, company credit card, a gift card or two, health insurance card, my health certification (required for commercial drivers), BHS membership card, and my carry permit. No money.

Just got issued an RFID credit card by my bank, so might need a foil sheath to block its signal from the wrong people.

 

[MacLeod]

Cards, I rarely use cash to pay for anything though I do carry a little bit of cash in my wallet just in case but we are only talking about £20.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Typically when I'm home, I have these in my wallet:
Cash (for my favorite local bar, where I eat four times a week)
Driver's license
Credit card

For my vacation in Chicago next week, I will have:
Driver's license
Credit card
Hotel room key
Ventra card (for the subway)

 

[Malicia]

In my Sport Billy wallet I have a photo of my family, driving licence, some loose change, two bank cards, trombone and a stepladder.

 

[thribs]

My Odeon and Cineworld limitless cards, a debit card, a driving license, random receipts I haven’t thrown out and money.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I ordered a couple of styles of this brand on Amazon. Nothing fancy, but functional enough to hold paper currency.

 

[John Clark]

Typically:-

Cash
Credit/Debit Card
Two Loyalty Cards
Car Rescue Card
NI card (Should leave that somewhere else I guess, but it's always been there)

Various receipts that I haven't shreded yet.

There isn't room for my driving licence (It's an old style one rather than the newer photo one so far)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Credit card I use, credit card I have never used I only opened to reduce my usage percentage, debit card I haven't used since the pandemic started, Charlie Card, health cards, AAA card, driver's license.

I had a wallet I used for like a decade and was falling part at the seams and waited until it was pretty much unusable to replace.

 

[Delta Vega]

UK bank card
Spanish bank card
Medical cards
ID Card
Hand written note, "One day I hope to be a published songwriter" (Billy Connolly used to keep things like this in his wallet to hope his goals came to fruition)
Not nearly as many euros as I need.

 

[publiusr]

lint



a few flakes of Mammon’s dandruff

 

[The Wormhole]

Thread reminded me of an old joke. Guy opens his wallet and shows the pictures of his kids in there and says "this is where I used to keep my money."

 

[Gryffindorian]

Who? Al Bundy?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Who? Al Bundy?

Dalton Humphrey.

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[auntiehill]

Two credit cards, a driver's license, medical cards, car insurance card, my husband's business card, a $20 dollar bill, and my cell phone. It's a phone cover with a wallet on one side, like a wristlet.

 

[Mrs. Silvercrest]

My wallet is very full of many cards like my library card, AAA, and different pay type cards. My husband and I still like to pay cash if we can. We both carry coins as well.

 

[There Be Whales Here]

Currently in the front part where cards go:
Driver's License
Debit card
Maxed out credit card
State issued D & G license
State issued Concealed Weapons license
Medical Insurance card
Library card
A business card some guy who does home repair gave me several years ago (probably should throw that out)
Voter's registration that I've never needed or been asked to show in over 30 years of voting.
Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED certification card
And another business card from someone's craft store on Ebay that I don't remember getting (probably should throw that out as well).

In the part where the currency/money goes:
Moths