Fuck Wallets
The last time I left my apartment with a wallet in my pocket was on March 11, 2020 (guess why). I don’t wear it anymore because wallets are bullshit and you should stop using them too. (If you’d rather carry your wallet around, this tip probably applies broadly – unless you have kids, in which case you definitely need to keep an adequate supply of snacks and patches somewhere.) First I started carrying my wallet with me. … in college, even though it usually only had my driver’s license (I didn’t have a car on campus) and eventually my only credit card; Like all the coolest kids, I wore my student ID and room keys on a string around my neck. However, in the decades that followed, I gradually began to accumulate more and more junk that could get stuck there – extra credit cards, store credit cards, gift cards, cafe punch cards, photos of my cat, photos of my children, and small trees. the cost of receipts (so many receipts) – until it increased to the positive size of George Costanzan.
Striving for minimalism is only half the battle
I had so many things that I got pains in my back and buttocks when I was sitting, so I took it out before sitting down, which, according to experts, is the best way to lose my wallet (which I did often). When minimalist wallets became trendy, I tried a new model every few years, usually keeping it only until I managed to fill it beyond its capacity and either break it or find the next Kickstarter promising to change my right back pocket for the better. .But nothing more. The pandemic took a lot from me, but it gave me the freedom not to carry a brick in my pocket wherever I go. Sitting without shops or punch cards in cafes to fill out helped me realize that I didn’t actually go to J.Crew often enough to justify wearing a J.Crew card all the time. I don’t have to carry five regular credit cards with me if I always use the same one. When was the last time I saw physical copies of my children’s baby photos? Never. Cash? I rarely use it and usually forget to go to the ATM anyway.
A phone wallet is all you need
I realized that all I really need to carry with me is an ID, a single credit card, a debit card, and a travel card. Everything else is nice to have at best and not worth the hassle. And it will all fit in a wallet, which will also help me protect my phone from drops (although I wouldn’t recommend the one pictured above; if it gets dirt or sand in it, it scratches like hell. IPhone’s cute color finish. And like the rest of us, suffering from debilitating internet addiction, I won’t go anywhere without my phone, and the chances of losing or forgetting it are very small (and if I do, it’s easy to track down even if it just got into the system) sofa cushions) …
Your phone is your wallet
The harder truth – which I’m still trying to accept – is that I probably don’t even need a wallet anymore. This is 2021. My phone is essentially my wallet. Since 2012, Apple has been working to make the iPhone the hub for all your credit cards with Apple Wallet, an app that has only grown in complexity over the years. Android devices have similar functionality . These days, every credit card I hold can be digitally recreated in a virtual space, just like anything else I can put in my wallet, from plane boarding passes to validating car insurance and my COVID vaccination card . MTA recently started accepting payments from smartphones in Tap-and-Go mode . With the release of iOS 15, I won’t even need to carry my driver’s license with me at all times – provided that your state participates in the program, you can photograph the real thing and save it digitally . Everything else is in my former permanent pocket companion who now lives in the drawer of my bedside table? It’s probably on my phone too, or maybe: library card, health insurance card, gym membership, etc. And, of course, I never had a wallet that held 60,000 photos of my children. Although, to be honest, I never really look at them either.