A few thoughts:
– I spent two years (1972-74) in Central America doing missionary work. That’s when I learned to keep my wallet as thin as possible (not a big problem back then) and to keep it in my front pocket (to minimize the pickpocket risk). I’ve kept my wallet in my front right pocket ever since. I also go through it from time to time to prune out items I’m not using.
– Some years ago, I had a colleague tell me that he could always tell how complicated a person’s life is by the number of keys on his/her keychain. I go through my keychain from time to time also to get rid of keys I’m not using. (Right now, I have exactly two keys and a small folding screwdriver/pliers combo.) Keys go in my front left pocket.
– I recently picked up a small Buxton leather index card (3×5) holder that I use to, well, hold index cards that I use for my various to-do lists, notes, and so on. It fits nicely in a shirt pocket, and I make sure that most of my shirts — from t-shirts to dress shirts — have front pockets.
– I have a black shoulder/messenger bag that I quite honestly call my purse (hey, men were carrying purses for centuries — nay, millennia — before women did). I have a second wallet in my purse that I use to carry all the stuff I don’t want to carry in my main wallet. I also use my purse for my cell phone, check book, pocket protector (honest!), and various other items (change, stamps, index cards, pens, iPod(s), earbuds, sunglasses, reading glasses, a book to read if I get stuck somewhere, etc.). I use a few little zippered mesh bags to keep stuff organized. I go through my purse about once a week — I literally empty everything out — and then decide what goes back in, what gets thrown away, and what goes elsewhere.
And I almost always leave the ‘purse’ in the car unless I know that I’m going to be stuck for some length of time (getting the car washed or serviced, visiting the doctor/dentist, etc.). If I’m out shopping (and I do most of the grocery shopping), all I have is my wallet, my keys and my index card holder (and a pen — usually a Staedtler pen).
Works for me. ..bruce..
