If you’re still carrying around one of those George Costanza-esque bulging wallets with dozens of scraps of paper, photographs, receipts, tear-off strips for free guitar lessons and the like, you really ought to simplify things and declutter your wallet! While you’re at it, you might want to consider switching to a minimalist wallet; there are a few on the market, but the most remarkable one I’ve come across is the focus of this post, the Storus Smart Money Clip Lite.
Before we take a look at the Storus, a few words about decluttering your wallet:
There are 2 types of items which should be in your wallet:
- Items which you actually use, week in and week out
- Items which you don’t use that often, but which you absolutely must have available, should you need them
Examples of the first type: credit cards, debit cards, and your driver’s license …and oh yeah, cash
Examples of the second category: health insurance ID card, dental insurance card, Rx card… and I’m not sure there’s anything else. If you utilize a medical “flex spending” account, you probably should carry that card as well
Perhaps some of you will disagree and your mileage may vary, but for myself, the list is very short. The entire contents of my wallet at present are:
- 2 personal credit cards and 1 debit card
- my company AmEx card
- driver’s license
- 2 (very thin, by the way) insurance cards: medical, dental
- flex spending card
Note that I didn’t mention cash. If I have some larger bills on hand, I’ll put them in my wallet, but normally I just carry cash in my front pocket. If I’m traveling and have an unusually large amount of cash on hand, I’ll carry most of it in a money belt.
What to carry your now-streamlined list of items in? The simplest, neatest wallet I’ve seen yet is the Storus Money Clip Lite. Made out of a flexible yet tough plastic, it’s a money clip on one side and a credit card holder on the other. If you’re a traveler, your driver’s license is easy to display to TSA agents, and even if an agent wants the license removed, you can simply slide it out with your thumb. And unlike conventional metal money clips, it won’t trip a metal detector, so it can stay safely tucked away in your pocket, nor will it damage your slacks. Here’s a pic:
The Smart Money Clip Lite sells for about $13; you can visit the manufacturer’s site here. If you have discovered solutions to breaking free of the Constanza Syndrome or have other thoughts on this post, please comment!
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September 19th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I love Big Skinny wallets. http://www.bigskinny.net/
September 19th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
That looks pretty neat. I’m going to have to check it out. Price is right, too.
For the past two years I have been using ultra-thin wallets made of siliconized nylon - the material is about as thick as a sheet to typing paper, not to be confused with the thick “hippy/surfer” wallets made of thick Cordura nylon. You can find them here:
http://www.simblissity.net
You’ll have to scroll down to ignore the camping stuff….
BTW, I DO hate money clips with metal spring clips in them. Now that the security sensors are so sensitive, the metal clip versions are pretty useless….
September 19th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Chris, thanks for the link to the bigskinny website. They say their wallets have anti-slip compound on them - is this on the outside of the wallet, so it is less likely to slip out of my pocket?
If so, that is a big plus. I can remember putting silicone bathtub caulk on some wallets, for travel, to reduce the risk of them slipping out of my pocket, but that was a pretty ugly solution.
This is what the website says, I am not sure if they are talking about the wallet inside, outside, or both:
“Our Big Skinny wallets are specially coated with a rubbery backing that allows you to stylishly sport around without losing your goods to gravity even though we designed them with extra-wide pockets!”
September 19th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Michael,
I get the sense from their copy that the anti-slip is on the inside of the pockets to prevent credit cards from slipping out. I’ve ordered one just to check it out - Chris, thanks for the link!
Kevin
September 20th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I never noticed the anti-slip compound - inside or out. I’ve never had a problem with stuff slipping out. I just bought the Super Skinny after using their classic model daily for 3 or 4 years. It was just beginning to show some wear at the edges of the fold.
The Super Skinny is longer and wider - 3 7/8 by 5 1/8 - but so far it has easily fit in every pocket I’ve tried. And it really is thinner than their classic model! A very comfortable wallet.
These are really nice products. I have no interest whatsoever in the company.
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
In July 2008, I purchased a Storus “Smart Money Clip Lite” from the company via the Internet, after reading about the product in an in-flight magazine.
Within a few months, an internal friction device on the money clip broke while I was loading the wallet, thus rendering it unable to properly retain its contents unless “fully loaded” with multiple credit cards. I was annoyed at this development, but continued to use the money clip out of sheer laziness, even though it worked poorly. (Without the friction device, the contents of the money clip easily spill out–and at least once, the money clip dropped a credit card without me immediately realizing it; somebody behind me in line at a register pointed it out to me.)
Today, I received an email from Storus advertising its products, and it occured to me to try and contact the company for a replacement. To my disappointment, I was told that the Storus Money Clip Lite has a 30-day warranty, and that because more than 30 days had passed, the company would not replace the broken money clip. When I expressed disappointment at such limited customer service, I was told that “the money clip is made of plastic, and you shouldn’t expect it to last forever.”
I said that I understood the company’s position, but that the company should also understand that I intended to post a number of reviews about my experiences with the money clip and Storus Products, on various internet websites. I hope this correspondence is forwarded to company management, and that they learn that customer-unfriendly policies such as those of Storus Corporation will cost significantly more over the long run, than “making things right.”
cc: various websites
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Anon -
I’ve posted your comment in its entirety; good luck with your attempts to get their attention.
K