Jeremy of GenXFinance suggested that a few of The Money Writers get together and share what’s in their wallet. I thought it was a terrific idea. It’s been three years since Mint interviewed me, and then they deleted the Flickr account with the picture of what was in my wallet.
So here’s my wallet spread out on my floor (taken with my trusty Palm Pre):
(Click the image to make it larger in a new window for easy reference.)
While a picture is worth 1,000 words, I thought I’d explain why I have everything in here:
- USAA Cards – I love USAA and their banking is top notch. It’s one of the great benefits of having a wife in the military. Included in here is a joint savings account with my wife, a business savings account, a personal savings account, and a fourth account that I honestly don’t know what it goes to.
- Marriott Rewards – Since we own a timeshare with Marriott it makes sense to maximize our reward points when we are staying at the Marriott. This is a joint card that both me and my wife have.
- Chase Rewards – This is my main credit card. Almost all my expenses go on this. It’s a grandfathered reward program that gives me 5% back on gas, groceries, and drug stores… and 1% everywhere else. Yes I know how lucky I am.
- AA Rewards – Similar to the Marriott Rewards… a joint reward card for a company that we tend to use a bit.
- Chase Business Rewards – This is my second most used credit card. It gives me 3% at restaurants, office stores (like Staples), and home improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowe’s). (Yes, I really know how lucky I am).
- Bank of America bank card – Simple ATM card for the bank account that I’ve had since I turned 16.
- Mensa Membership (Expired) – I joined Mensa back probably about 10 years ago. I was looking for something to prove that I was smart, since I didn’t have a lot of job experience. I got a lot of comments on it and I think it opened a couple of doors for me.
- Heath and Dental Insurance Cards – Both provided via my wife’s military career.
- Membership and Club Cards – Costco, BevMo (a local spirits store that has everything), and Safeway (local grocery chain) are here. Wish they had key chain versions, but they don’t seem to.
- Military and Driver’s License – Since the plan has always been to move back to Massachusetts at some point, I just kept my Massachusetts identification. That’s one of those military perks.
- Cash – One of the rare times that I have almost perfect change for any amount up to $100. Typically I carry between $35 and $100.
- Thin Wallet – It is hard to tell in the picture, but this is an All-Ett. I particularly like it since it spreads the cards over more space rather than having them stacked. The Rip-Stop Nylon that they use is very durable and very thin. I can’t recommend these wallets enough. I’ve more about it in the past at: Thin Wallet: Avoid Back Pain.
As for the other Money Writers? Check out their stories:
- Million Dollar Journey asks the readers “What’s in your Wallet?”
- My Dollar Plan tells us what is in her wallet
- Jeremy from Generation X Finance show us what is in his wallet.
- Sun’s Financial Diary tells us what is in his wallet.
- Brip Blap shows you what’s in his wallet as well.