What's in your wallet? You should know
Posted
Apr 15 2008, 08:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
I had lunch with my beautiful wife the other day at a local Baja Fresh. It's something we don't do often because her office is 45 minutes away, but we were able to because she had an appointment in the morning.
After we parted ways she discovered that she had left her purse behind. Fortunately, a customer turned in the purse or one of the workers picked it up. Baja Fresh had it securely behind the counter. Whew! Disaster averted.
The first thing my wife said to me, after she explained that it was missing, was that this never happens to her -- she didn't bring up the fact that she had misplaced her license for about a week -- to which I thought to myself, "Of course not, this isn't supposed to happen ever."
That made me think about the importance of capturing a snapshot of your wallet or purse, on a monthly basis, in the event that you lose it.
I don't think you should photocopy everything. That's a waste of paper and an increased security risk.
Here's what I propose:
Photocopy your license and insurance card. If you have any other important documents in your purse or wallet, chances are you don't need to carry them around. Birth certificate, Social Security card and passport are probably not necessary daily items. If you must have them, carry photocopies instead of originals.
The logic behind photocopying your license is that should you lose it, you'll at least have a copy. While it won't be "official," people are often sympathetic and will cut you some slack as long as you can prove you had a driver's license.
Record the last four digits and customer-service phone numbers for your credit cards. In the event you do lose your purse, the last thing you want to do is have to look up the phone numbers.
Keep track of which cards are actually in your purse or wallet. This is crucial because you don't want to cancel a backup card you have in a desk drawer unless you absolutely have to.
Some resources suggest photocopying the front and back of every credit card. I think that's unnecessary. Why collect that information when all you really need is the last four digits and a phone number?
Take a snapshot of your wallet today, because you never know when you'll accidentally leave it behind in a Baja Fresh.
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
"5 personal-finance lessons from NASCAR"
"10 tips for buying a home if you're clueless"
"Are you a snowflaker?"
