What's In Your Wallet and/or Purse - YIKES!
Are you ready to get started? How well do you care for your money? Think about the money that is in your home right now. Is it wadded up it the corner of a pocket waiting for a trip through the washer and dryer? Are the coins at the bottom of your purse leading to shoulder pain and back aches? Are quarters rolling around the floor of your car? Is there anything at all in your wallet or is it spread all over the home? Before we go any further, quick go get your wallet (ladies bring your purse). I’ll wait for you here.
 Waiting, waiting, waiting…
Got it? Great. OK, let’s start!
- Empty it out. Take everything out. The receipts, the coins, the checkbooks, the lipstick, the tissues, the extra set of car keys, the credit cards, the family photos, the bowling ball, the business cards from your previous job, the sticky papers with long-forgotten phone numbers, and the little baggie with crushed animal crackers for your little one.
- Toss the trash, sort out the cash, stack the credit cards into one pile, and the remaining cards (library, discount, membership, etc) into another pile.
- While your wallet and purse are empty, you may as well give them a quick cleaning. Shake out the crumbs, wipe off the outside, and if the leather could use some moisturizing cream that came with the purse, do it now. Then set it aside to dry.
- It’s time for the piles. Start with the coins. Do you have a piggy bank, old jar, or something else you can use for the extra coins? You will be amazed by how quickly coins can add up over the year (especially in Canada with those Loonies and Twoonies). You may even want to consider making this your December Holiday Cash Stash. SHOP at home FIRST. Use an empty pickle or mayonnaise jar if you don’t have a piggy bank. Any time you come across loose change in your home, add it to the Cash Stash – Rediscover Your Money.
- Now for the bills, unfold them and sort them out from highest to lowest. Place all the heads on the same side. Treat your money with respect – Rediscover Your Money! Now put as much back into your wallet as you are going to need for the rest of the week. Do you have extra left over? When I put money into my wallet there is only one place for it to go – OUT! So, I usually take the extra and leave it at home in a safe place. When I don’t have the cash handy for a quick trip through the fast food drive thru, I won’t go through the fast food drive thru. I usually tuck a ten or twenty into a side pocket for emergencies (stick a little note on the bill to remind yourself that this money is just for emergencies – and a latte is NOT an emergency LOL).
- Set aside those credit cards for a minute. Let’s go through the other cards first. Get rid of the ones you don’t want anymore. If any have expired, ask yourself whether it is worth renewing them again. Did you get your value from last year’s membership? Can you procrastinate on the renewal? We keep an envelop of some of these cards in our desk drawer and use them only when we plan on using them. It keeps the wallet neater and avoids some of those impulse purchases.
- Now for the credit cards… How many did you find? How many do you use on a regular basis? How many are the result of one of those “sign-up-today-and-save-10%” specials? Been there, done that! This is going to take a little work. Set aside the credit cards you want to keep in your wallet. We only keep two major cards in our wallets. We only use one on a regular basis. As for the rest of the cards, you have some decisions to make. Do you really need to carry a card for your local hardware or lingerie store in your wallet? How about for the crafting store or the furniture store? Does that department store credit card taunt you every time you open your wallet? Over the years, we have shut down all the accounts for individual stores. That “deal” that convinced us to sign up for these cards in the first place usually ended up costing more than it was worth. These types of cards are no longer welcome in our finances!
- So what are you going to do with the credit cards you no longer want? For now, just put them into a safe place (out of your wallet). As the months go by and you pay off these bills, you will get to choose whether or not you want to close the account.
- Whew! Time to repack the wallet and the purse. Only put in the things you want and use. Treat your money and credit cards with respect – Rediscover Your Money!
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A Hint from Cindy’s Porch!
Get in the habit of carrying a small solar powered calculator in your purse. This is so handy for calculating unit costs in the grocery store. SHOP at home FIRST: find a spare calculator that you have already paid for.
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- Congratulations! You are off to a great start!
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