Good Tips on What to Do If You Lose Your Wallet

The Simple Dollar just posted three tips on what to do if you lose your wallet as follows:

Tip #1: You can take preventative action right now to make the loss of a wallet easier. Just clean out your wallet down to the bare minimum, then photocopy or scan both sides of everything in your wallet. This will help you to easily remember everything that was misplaced and easily deal with the consequences of card cancellation and replacement.

Tip #2: Carry minimal identification in your wallet as a preventative measure. Try to avoid having your Social Security number in there if at all possible, as that will make identity theft much easier if you were to lose it. You’ll probably have a driver’s license in there, but make sure that it doesn’t include your SSN and has only minimal identifying information on it.

Tip #3: Keep your wallet clean. The “Costanza wallet,” overstuffed with receipts and notes and junk, is a personal security concern. Get rid of all of the junk you don’t use regularly - your wallet is not your briefcase.

I follow these rules except for the photocopying (which I need to do.) Here's what's in my "wallet" (which is really a money clip with a slot to hold four credit-card-size cards):

• Cash -- usually have between $60 and $100 on me since it's assumed in my family that I'm the bank
• Costco membership card
• Driver's license
• Blue Cash from American Express card
• Chase Freedom Cash Visa Card

That's it. So if I ever lost it, there would be a minimum amount of damage.

My wife's purse is another matter completely. I think there are things from the '70s in there (I'm afraid to look), so who knows what we'd lose. I need to ask her to clean it out for safety's sake.

Comments

[Michael Blackburn]

I went through my wallet and added all the phone numbers for my various cards into my Outlook contacts (which syncs with my phone). I added them all to a category called LostWallet. If I lose my wallet, I just filter the contact on my phone by that category, and start dialing. If I lose my phone as well, I can just get online and do the same thing.

[rdub98]

Michael,

That is an excellent way to use technology to help out in a situation like that. I need to do that. Thanks for the tip.

[Philip]

Do you not carry your Auto Insurance with you? Also, to get cash I need my atm card, is yours the chase freedom checking or do you have another card for that. Otherwise I am at the same level as you are.

[rwh]

I'm typing this with one hand while I remove all the detritis from my wallet:)

I liked the photo copy idea and the Outlook idea.

[Kevin]

I try to keep as little as possible, although recently I've been inundated with frequent customer cards that seem to be taking up a lot of space. It's probably time to do a clean up and get back down to the bare minimum. I also use a front-pocket style wallet with a money clip, although I rarely carry much cash.

[TheJapChap]

Like you, I am the "bank", and I guess you could say that my wife is more like the "archive", judging by the contents of her purse. :-)