I’ve always used a wallet and a purse and of course both tend to become quite a mess bulging with receipts and what-not.
One of my most embarrassing moments was at the bank after trying to use my bank card at the machine and getting a notice on the screen to see a teller. I found out my card had been cloned and the guy asked me when my last purchase was. Of course I had absolutely no idea so opened up my wallet in front of the guy to look through the receipts, I must say the fellow kept quite a straight face as my wallet practically exploded with paper the way clowns come out of a Volkswagon. He patiently waited as I went through everything ( I even exclaimed ‘oh I was looking for this’ a few times!) But I was quite embarrassed to appear so disorganized and decided I had to find another system.
For the past couple of years I’ve tried a new tack which works well enough – and that’s all we really need isn’t it – to be well enough organized to get by?
Strategey #1 – Ziplock for Receipts keeps wallet from becoming overstuffed
I keep a sandwich size ziplock baggie in my purse and stuff the receipts in there. I label the bag with the month & year. Then when the month is over I put it into a cardboard shoe box labeled for the year. I also cut a slot in to the top of the box so I can throw random receipts in there as well. Sometimes I’ll get a receipt too big to fit in the baggie so I just put it in my purse until I remember to throw it into the box.The slot keeps me from having to open the top – we all know how boring that can be 
This is a safety feature so that I don’t just throw the paper on top of the box instead of in to it!
Strategey #2 – Less really is Less
I limit what I keep in my wallet to only the debit,credit and misc cards I truly need and use a wallet that has three sections of card slots. I assign each card a particular spot and try not to double up. This way I always know what’s missing. I also put my debit and credit cards into one section, another section is for discount, membership or gift cards and the third section is for insurance and health card. I generally refuse store discount and membership cards unless I shop there very very regularly. The savings points are way to much of a pain to keep track of and I usually forget I even have it anyway and it only clutters up my wallet.
A few other strategies
I also have a large travel wallet that I keep in my purse. It’s meant for passports and foreign currency and is somewhat larger that a wallet but has tabbed sections that look sort of like one of those multi-section file folders. I keep this for prescriptions or other papers that I will need again soon like for example a receipt that I might need to return an item or a cheque I need to deposit.
When traveling, instead of bringing along my usual wallet, I take out only what I really need – debit, credit card, driver’s license, health card, maybe CAA card if travelling in North America. I put them into my passport cover ( one of those with a fancy leather ones) which has card slots on the inside. This way all my vital stuff is one place and easier to keep track of . While I have used a small wallet for cash in the past, my last trip I put all the cash into a snack size zip lock baggie. It’s easy to tuck everything into a slim purse pocket this way.
REPORT ABUSE