7 Essentials to Keep in Your Wallet at All Times ...

Whether it is your credit card, debit card, or cold hard cash, this is one of the most important essentials to keep in your wallet. If you ever get stuck, you can use it to get home. When you have your heart set on an amazing pair of shoes, you don’t have to go without them. When storing cold hard cash, be sensible. Losing money is painful!

When winter central heating kicks in, your lips crack. As the sun makes an appearance, they dry. Lip balm is useful for all manner of sins. In fact, you can even use it as a temporary highlight for your cheeks when you need to transform from a daytime to a nighttime look. I highly recommend mini Vaseline, I don’t go anywhere without mine.

You never know when you need to show your ID. I am 26 and I still get carded, which is not so impressive at my age in the U.S. where the legal limit for alcohol is 21, but here it is 18, so I use that as a bragging right! That aside, what if you see a great savings deal and need to sign up with a bank? Your ID is your passport to many opportunities. On that note, don’t carry your passport everywhere unless you need to. Losing it is an expensive business!

You may not think that business cards apply to you, but is that really the case? I used to walk around without them, but as a freelance writer I now know that the opportunity to promote yourself can arise almost anywhere. Similarly, if you have kids and meet their friends’ parents, you can hand over contact details instantly. You only need a few, and they are great time savers!

I know we live in a digital age, but pens are still necessary. Even a small one is better than nothing at all. This may seem paranoid, but I am especially keen on having your own pen for filling out forms at the hospital. After all, do you want to touch something a litany of other patients with diseases have touched?

In my opinion, the flatter smartphones are, the better. It makes it easier for me to keep them in a wallet, or more commonly, my bra. You can do just about anything on a smartphone these days. I have even read about some people finishing off books on them, and one of my friends partially wrote her dissertation on her Blackberry.

I know it is sweet to keep photos of others in our wallets, but smartphones are good for that! Passport photos, of yourself, are much more appropriate. This isn’t some weird vanity exercise, don’t worry! If you are applying for a job, going to a college interview, or another similar occasion, you may find that you need to attach one to your application form. Then there is replacing your license or your actual passport…it just makes life simpler.

Keeping certain essentials in your wallet streamlines life. You are never caught short, and you can transform yourself into a super organized person that everyone envies! Generally, I’d like to promote ditching wallet receipts too. That makes me a bit of a hypocrite though, because mine is brimming with them! If you like to keep certain essentials in your wallet, what are they and why are they so important to you?