# What's in YOUR wallet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653 "2005-09-08T14:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/21 "2005-09-08T16:30:49Z")
£20 in notes Change 2 debit cards Electron card photo of fiance University ID card ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/22 "2005-09-08T16:38:59Z")
I try not to keep too much in my wallet. Driver’s license ATM/Debit Card Two credit cards Emergency ‘flat’ car key, like **Small Clanger** Three health insurance cards (mine and the kids) Dental insurance card EMT card County Volunteer Firefighter card Firehouse membership card Tip card (shows 15% and 20% tips on amounts from $10 to $100. Yes, I’m that stupid) Three grocery store cards so the evil “THEY” can track me Blockbuster card ID Card from work so I can get discounts at teacher supply stores ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/23 "2005-09-08T16:42:14Z")
No cash in wallet. Cash always in right, front pocket, and usually only enough to get me to the next ATM. Thin wallet. Drivers License Business credit card Personal credit/debit card Health insurance card CPR cert card Conference call card One business card w/ travel membership numbers written on back And it is still too thick. I wonder how necessary carrying my health insurance card is. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/24 "2005-09-08T16:42:27Z")
Too much stuff: Driver License Health Insurance Card REI Credit Card AAA Card REI Member Card Auto Insurance wallet card Probably expired Sam’s Club card Red Cross Blood donor card Picture of my brother and his now ex-wife on their wedding day Credit/Debit Card Bev-Mo Card Library Card 5 of my business cards A few ATM receipts Organ donor card Piece of paper with my Fed-Ex account number on it My (now expired) Vermont fishing license Vons Club Card Receipt from a parking service No cash ☹ I only carry my wallet in the side pocket of my cargo shorts/pants. If I’m not wearing cargos, I just put my license and a credit card in my pocket and go. I can’t stand to sit on a wallet. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/25 "2005-09-08T16:53:07Z")
I am constantly ridiculed for the size of my wallet. My friends call it the “George Costanza” wallet and I suppose I’d laugh at that, except I missed the episode of Seinfeld that this apparently refers to. I’m not typically a packrat, except when it comes to my wallet. Why? Because every time I clean out my wallet, without fail, I almost immediately run into a situation in which I need something that I _just_ threw out. It’s uncanny. For years I carried around the business card of a guy who ran a music store in Queens that was particularly good at finding vintage instruments. One day a friend of mine asked me if I knew any vintage guitar specialists and sure enough, I had cleaned out my wallet the previous day and didn’t have it any more. (After 10 years of having carried this dude’s number around.) I also used to carry around a slip of paper that had all my family’s Social Security numbers written on it (no names, just numbers). Never needed it until the day after I threw it out. So I basically never throw anything away when it comes to my wallet. Current contents: 1. One year’s worth of expired monthly LIRR passes 2. About two dozen business cards 3. The key to my ATV 4. Numerous tiny slips of paper with important numbers written on them 5. Two Amex cards (business, personal), two ATM cards (business, personal), one MasterCard, one Discover card, Two expired ATM cards from a bank I no longer have an account with, Yamaha credit card 6. Blood donor card, about a dozen discount cards and loyalty cards I almost never use (Petco, Ace Hardware, Hess Coffee Club, Mohegan Sun Player’s Club, Starbuck’s Prepaid, etc.) 7. Two Green Keys (one expired) - Green Keys prove residency in Suffolk County, New York and give you discounts on parking, camping, beach permits, etc. 8. My student ID from Washington & Lee University. I graduated in 1994. 9. Insurance cards 10. Driver’s licenses. (Current and expired.) I like to stack these on top of one another like a flip book and show how I’ve aged since I started driving. 11. Some stupid thing that proves I’m a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Why I don’t throw this away is beyond me. 12. About 76 Metrocards which may or may not have balances on them. 13. Expired gym ID, expired garage ID, expired ID from old job 14. About two dozen PBA “Get Out Of Jail Free” cards, ranging in dates from 1989 to 2005, given as gifts from various police officers, politicians, and friends. 15. Three pre-paid phone cards I’ve never used. Probably expired. 16. Social Security Card 17. Convictions stub from a temporary license I had in the early 1990s 18. Car registration 19. A large number of particles of paper that I will refer to as “wallet dingleberries.” Most likely, these are fragments of pieces of paper that I’ve refused to throw out that are now decomposing. 20. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![OrangeJumpsuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OrangeJumpsuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrangeJumpsuit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/26 "2005-09-08T16:59:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Bevmo card Haha, lush. My list: \*Bevmo card \*Medical insurance card \*Student ID even though I graduated. I still use it to get discounts at the movies. 😃 \*Library card \*Business cards from a company I no longer work for \*Folded up bar tab \*Macy’s gift certificate \*Safeway card \*Albertson’s card \*Non driver’s license gov’t ID Please note the conspicuous absence of a driver’s license or credit/debit card. I lost both of them. :smack: I’ll have the debit card replaced soon enough (thank Jebus no one has found it and made a bunch of fradulent purchases), but I’m holding off on the driver’s license. They want me to PAY for a replacement. Screw that, I already have my DL number memorized, and have a different gov’t issued ID that looks almost exactly like a license anyway. I haven’t needed it in about year, and I’ve gotten on airplanes, been pulled over by the police, been all out _asked_ for my DL at a go karting place and showed the chick my other ID instead. She didn’t even know the difference. Of course the cops knew the difference, but I simply gave them my DL number and showed them my identification. Nope, don’t need my driver’s license. I’ll get a new one for free when it expires. Sorry for the essay, folks. ---
**Author:** ![OrangeJumpsuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OrangeJumpsuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrangeJumpsuit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/27 "2005-09-08T17:00:17Z")
And cash. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/28 "2005-09-08T17:03:24Z")
What’s a Bevmo card? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/29 "2005-09-08T17:07:43Z")
Boatloads o’ crap: “discount cards” for two grocery store chains Eye-care discount cards (two) Borders frequent-shopper card for kids’ books Expired JC Penney portrait club card (just tossed, thanks!) Barnes and Noble discount card, probably expired Build-a-bear frequent-shopper card A few credit cards Two ATM cards (joint and personal) Health insurance cards (several expired) Pharmacy card Blockbuster card Pair of silver earrings Silver “charm” from my grandmother’s bracelet 7-8 ATM/store receipts Driver’s license and AAA card library card Prescription for a mammogram (thanks for the reminder!!) Miscellaneous business cards (none of my own, of course!) An assortment of didnt-win-the-big-one-but-might-be-worth-a-few-bucks-if-I-ever-get-around-to-checking-em lotto tickets. No money. Nope, not a dime. I tend to shove bills in the zipper compartment of my purse, or in my pants pocket. Coins go in my pocket then in a basket on my dresser at the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![OrangeJumpsuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OrangeJumpsuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrangeJumpsuit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/30 "2005-09-08T17:15:57Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > What’s a Bevmo card? Bevmo, aka Paradiso for drunkards. The world’s most comprehensive liquor store. No, not just 40 ounces and Marlboro lights like the dingy little store on the corner of Broadway and Elm, these folks have a beautiful selection of all things wine, scotch, dark rum, and even drinking accessories. Flasks, martini glasses, the whole nine. It’s a CA thing though. [http://www.bevmo.com/productlist.asp?area=home&bhcp=1](http://www.bevmo.com/productlist.asp?area=home&bhcp=1) ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/31 "2005-09-08T17:21:51Z")
I carry a wallet, and keep it in my right back pocket, too. Old habit. I used to be a “skater” as a teenager, and used to wear a chain attached to it. What a geek! Anyway, inside: My birth certificate My SIN from Canada My driver’s permit with dorky picture on it A QFC card A Safeway Card A Subway Card A ticket stub from Majestic Bay on Market Street. It says “TAR WARS”. I’m sure there was supposed to be an “S” at the front of that, but the MST3K side of me finds it more amusing this way. My old Medicare card from NB (has a picture of the flowerpot rocks on it) A little note I tucked in there with my husband’s and FIL’s contact information in case of an emergency - since I’m in limbo immigration-wise, all my ID makes me look like I’m a tourist. If anything happened to me, I’d want someone to contact my husband, at least, before shipping me home to NB. I’m sure my parents would be thrilled to see me, but my husband would wonder where I went. 😉 A debit card Hmm. No cash. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/32 "2005-09-08T17:27:21Z")
> [@August West](#): > > I have a slim card case with an attached money clip, keeps me from getting the “Giant Wallet Syndrome” I had as a youth, since only so much fits in there. Ditto. $26 Driver’s license (organ donor. Liver not specified, but it’s available) ATM Check Card Sams Club card ATM card (not check card) business card for optometrist Vision benefits card BC/BS card Picture of my 5 year old son, when he was about 4 mos. old Philly Zoo membership card 3! different work ID’s (because just one isn’t “secure” enough, I guess :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/33 "2005-09-08T18:23:18Z")
For some reason I love these threads. Right. Concessionary Travel Card Building Society Account cards Public library card Cinema Exhibitors’ Association Card Spar home video membership Blockbuster membership (never used) 2 University Library photocopier cards, part-used, possibly out of date 2 cheaper university photocopier cards from the divinity faculty common room copier Glasgow University Matriculation Card Father-in-law’s business card Buy-9-get-one-free hot beverage card from Morton’s, an execrable coffee house near the uni (4 stamps) debit/cash card Recorded delivery receipt old shopping list written on a post-it which has made other things all sticky ---
**Author:** ![sishoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@sishoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sishoch)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/34 "2005-09-08T18:32:34Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > \*\*sishoch \*\* - Throw out that Subway card! They discontinued the Sub Club program last month, so it’s worthless. Your car insurance ID ought to be in the glove box. Do you really need to carry the public TV card? Are you living in fear of being stopped at a PBS checkpoint at night? Thanks for the tip, our local Subway closed a couple months ago. My proof of insurance is in the car, thanks, but the insurance card has all their toll free numbers and my account number on it, and that’s handy every once in a while. Made buying a new car a bit easier, when I didn’t have my old car with me. And the PBS card is actually a 2 for 1 dining card for some select(?) restaurants. They send it to me every year but, as a single person, I rarely get a chance to use it. And the restaurants tend to be places to take a date only if one doesn’t want another date (not to mention looking like a cheapskate, which I am, so why lie? ) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/35 "2005-09-08T18:53:29Z")
I have gone out with nothing in hand but my license and debit card. What else do I need? Around here there’s Keybanks on every corner. If I have to go to the doctor or anything, I have to find my purse - which is hanging on the hook in the spare bedroom - and dig out my insurance card. Also in there is my social security card, and numerous other things which I don’t find it necessary for day-to-day. ---
**Author:** ![laurelann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5daacb/32.png) [@laurelann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurelann)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/36 "2005-09-08T19:47:13Z")
My wallet is enourmous and bright pink. I have this problem that I can never find it, so I wanted something more conspicuous. What is in laurelann’s wallet: driver’s licence birth certificate (from visiting Canada this year with drum corps) university i.d. blockbuster card (not that i need it, my acct. # is memorized) at&t calling card, though i don’t think it has any minutes left credit card under my grandmother’s acct. my credit/debit card from my bank my credit card aaa card that expired in may health insurance card halmark gold crown card gfloyd’s old photocopy card high school id from 01-02 built-in calculator pictures: 2 of me and my boyfriend, my sister, 4 of me and my two best friends movie stubs from valentine’s day hint to my pin my old mailbox combination list of co-workers’ phone numbers checkbook and register 3 atm reciepts 2 wak-mart reciepts a brooks pharmacy reciept (from tour) an expired coupon for a free soda at burger king $1.53 in change ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/37 "2005-09-09T02:58:23Z")
Corporate AmEx card My AmEx card Visa ATM card X 2 Securty card for work Prepaid subway card (for work) Prepaid subway card (for private) Prepaid train card (for work) Prepaid train card (for private) Prepaid phone card (rarely used Alien registration card Japanese drivers license Point card for electronics shop Point card for golf shop ATM receipt 30,000 yen (about $280) Just cheated and cleaned out four other receipts, thanks for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/38 "2005-09-09T03:21:09Z")
$108 in paper money. A receipt for a $100 gift certificate that’s in my file at a comic shop I don’t go to any more. An ATM receipt, now discarded REI dividend check for $33.64 A Best Buy $10 coupon. Driver License A piece of cardboard with key-shaped cutouts, with keys for my car and The Club taped in. This has saved me from being locked out of my car on numerous occasions. Medical insurance card, important to have if I get hit by a blimp. MCI phone card that I’ll never use. AAA card with a post-it on it with an ex-coworker’s email address. A post-it with the confirmation number for a will-call purchase of Garbage tickets, now discarded. A parking garage ticket, now discarded. (It got late enough that the garage let me out free and I didn’t need the ticket) Safeway club card Monterey Bay Aquarium charter member card. California Academy of Sciences Visionary membership card. Debit card from primary bank. Best Buy Reward Zone card. Debit card from secondary bank, in protective tyvek sleeve. Fully adult giant squid. Not really, just seeing if you’re paying attention. Primary platinum card Primary platinum card with my secondary name (the hard-to-pronounce one that I love hearing Safeway checkers stumble over) Secondary platinum card. Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch card. Plastic Fresnel magnifying glass in plastic case from previous employer. The problem with my current wallet is that even when it’s not particularly full, it’s still very thick. The good thing is that when it’s in my back pocket it doesn’t sit under my ischial tuberosity so it doesn’t reallly affect my sitting. It’s sort of off to the side of my ass rather than under it. I feel I have to keep things in my wallet because if I don’t put them in there, I won’t have them when I need them. Just remembering to take things with me when I’m going to need them doesn’t seem to work for me at all. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/39 "2005-09-09T04:32:37Z")
- CA Driver’s License - Yolo County library card - UC Davis ID - Safeway discount card - Proof of insurance (one in the wallet, one in the glovebox) - Washing machine card (“Keeping America Clean … One Laundry Room at a Time”) - Visa card through my old bank - Wells Fargo ATM/Debit Card - Harvard Pilgrim Health Care card, not too useful - CVS card, even less useful - Blood donor card - Five dollar gift card to Lands’ End - Delta Sky Miles Card - SWA Rapid Rewards Card - AAA card - Regal Crown Club card (so I can get free popcorn on Tuesdays) - Red “Admit One” ticket, from what I don’t know - Three movie ticket stubs (Rocky Horror, Fantastic Four, and Hitchhiker’s) - The number and email of a somewhat sketchy guy I met at a club in Boston a year ago, but saved for the hell of it - A check in case I run out of cash and they won’t take either of my cards - My boyfriend’s contact info - 3 bank slips - Barnes & Noble slip - A farm stand slip - My work phone number - A two dollar bill I carry for no good reason, but won’t spend - 48 dollars in cash All in my sparkly blue with a star on it oh so white trash wallet that still faintly smells of Newbury Comics. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653/40 "2005-09-09T04:49:35Z")
My wallet is the smallest that I’ve ever had. It is slightly larger than a credit card. I carry the basic Medical and auto insurance/ liscense. ( they go in one area) In the money area - strangely lacking in money - is the greatest possession I have ( beside nice tits, my kids and my health) my library cards for myself and the kids. (Oh, and my costco membership. I luvs warehouse bulk food that my kids eat through in nanoseconds.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-wallet/320653.md?page=3)