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Minimalist Wallet Carriers: What do you carry?

I went to a "minimalist" front-pocket wallet a couple years ago and my leather Hilfiger money-clip / wallet has seen its better days. Last week I ordered a Jimi wallet online and received it today. It's pretty cool and about the same size as my leather wallet. However, unlike a leather waller, the Jimi won't stretch to accomodate "just one more card..."

As I set about "moving in" to my new wallet this morning, I became a bit vexxed and started to wonder how other folks deal with stuff you don't want to carry everywhere but may want at unforeseen times.

Here's what I've got...

- Visa/Check card
- Drivers license
- "Regular" credit card
- Rocky Mountain National Park annual pass
- Auto insurance card
- Health insurance card
- Safeway card
- REI card
- Qdoba card
- athletic pass (as a high school administrator, this gets me into any varsity athletic event)

As an example, 90% of the time, I am fine carrying my DL, my check/ATM card, and a credit card. But what about my health insurance card? Or my auto insurance card? Those are certainly not things I want to be without on the 1% chance I might need them unexpectedly... Then there's the "reward" cards like the one from Safeway or Qdoba or REI. Most of the time I plan for those places, but not every time...

Of course there's the obvious solution of leaving them in the car, but what kind of risk does that pose should my vehicle be broken in to?

I understand that the point of being "minimalist" is not to carry that stuff. I'm just trying to see what works for others...

Thanks in advance!

anielsen's picture

Most reward card places will...

Most reward card places will let you key in a phone number for the reward. When I moved, I just started using the new phone number at Safeway and it worked fine, plus it saved me from hassling with more forms!

REI will let you use your phone number too.

I have a Shenandoah NP park pass that I keep in my glovebox. This plan works for now, but I'm working up to biking Skyline drive, so I may have to reconsider the wisdom of this plan.

In many states you are required to carry your driver's insurance with when ever you are driving, so there's no real way to get rid of that. (my insurance company just sends me a pdf and I print out the card on light weight paper so it doesn't take up much space. It gets replaced every 6 mos, so it doesn't have much a chance to wear out.)

For my wallet I use an All-Ett card case. It's incredibly tiny, holds just enough for me; it contains:
Driver's license
Auto Ins card
SmartTrip card for DC metro
Med Ins Card
Credit card
ATM card
1 business card (because it contains phone numbers)

 
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