We’re going to preface this post with a quick “there are literally thousands of things you shouldn’t put in your wallet,” but we’ve picked the top 7 (or maybe 6) of the usual suspects people tend to fall victim to. These will help keep your wallet slim, eliminate clutter, and help organize your life a little better. Additionally, we are firm believers that owning a slim wallet will help to keep you living a minimalistic lifestyle naturally.

1. Social Security card

This is probably the first thing that came to mind when thinking about things that should never exist in your wallet. Despite it being a thin piece of paper, your social security card carries more weight than your wallet, car and house combined. Lose or get this thing stolen and you’re going to spend quite a bit of time dealing with things like identity theft, the authorities, the IRS, monitoring the activity on the number, and risking things like your credit score.

Have you ever lost your ID? Credit card? You can replace those things and you don’t suffer a great loss. Yeah it’s a hassle and takes time, but your SS card could be a process lasting for years. We are humans who have impeccable memories, just memorize the number and leave the card at home. It’s not worth the stresses.

 

2. Receipts from more than a week ago

You purchased a new shirt and kept the receipt thinking, “Oh! I’ll take it home and wear it a little with the tags on, and if I end up not liking it I’ll return it. So maybe I’ll just keep the receipt in my wallet.” Great, cool, fine. But then you decide you like the shirt, and eventually the receipt ends up neglected, lonely and withering away deep inside your wallet. You forgot about it. Weeks go by. You start wondering why your wallet is growing, and you realize there’s this piece of receipt paper, or pieces of paper, with no writing on it. You take it out and ask yourself, “Hmm, I wonder what this receipt was for. It’s so old that the ink dissipated and now it just takes up space.” Awesome. The receipt is now rendered useless and you’ve spent all this time lugging around unnecessary materials.

Pro Tip: Create a stash box at home and toss your receipts in it the second you get home.

 

3. No more than 10 separate bills

Cash is on its way out – slowly, but surely. Regardless, we still need to carry it and have a place to keep it sacred. To the folks who work in restaurants or bars, we feel your pain. You end your shift and you’re stacked with singles. However, the beauty of a slim wallet is that it forces you to keep your bill count to a minimum. We’ve gone ahead and made the executive decision that if you carry more than 10 bills in your wallet, you’re going to start feeling that extra bulk and your wallet will start to expand — and we’re not about that life. Stash your cash at home or exchange small bills for bigger ones. If you keep your paper count down, you’ll be thankful later.

 

4. No more than 4 $100 bills

A ha! The caveat. Yes, you have less than 10 bills, but unless you’re in Vegas high rolling, what’s the reason to carry more than $400 in cash on you? We could’ve said $200 or $300, but in reality losing any amount of money or getting it stolen doesn’t make anyone sleep better. $400 is a lot of cash to be hauling and a lot of Benjamin paper to be seen once you open up your bi-fold. Go forth and be weary. In case of emergency, we never said it wasn’t a good idea to stash those extras in your boot.

 

5. Other people’s business cards

Let’s be real. You snag someone’s business card, toss it in your wallet, and tell yourself you’ll contact that person soon. More often than not, this doesn’t happen. That card ends up sitting in there for weeks just like your old receipts. Then one day you come home, open your wallet and go through your things only to say, “Oh wow! I never contacted that person.” Then you trash the card or end up adding it to your other rolodex of cards. Why not make life easy and just stash it right when you get home? Like our 10 bill rule, we believe a slim wallet will help remind you to keep that extra clutter out of there.

 

6. Condoms

An obvious? We hope so! This should be a “goes without saying” rule that we learned back in middle school. Not only technically sketchy, but the slim, broken in nappa leather exterior will shamelessly show that obvious ring in your wallet. Don’t be that person.

 

7. Sweet & Low packets

Unless you’re George Constanza, you are absolutely 100% (we make the rules/you might get arrested/might get yelled at by someone like Jerry) not allowed to carry Sweet & Low packets in your wallet. Not today, not ever. Well…maybe for Halloween. You get the point.

 

Final Thoughts

Don’t be like Georgey here. Keep you and your wallet safe, minimalistic, slim, and clutter-free. It’s easy. But especially keep the 7 things we suggested above OUT of your wallet. You’ll thank us later.