What's In Your Wallet?

You might recall, I carry a large tote.  It's large enough for any kind of pad, legal or illegal.  I can also put my lunch in there and even bring my laptop home in it without carrying a separate laptop bag.

I purchased it used  about a year and a half ago, and it didn't last long.  I bought a new one that's not vinyl like the first one but serves the same purpose.

It's just as large.  It has a small zipped pocket in the front (outside) where I can put Things I Don't Want To Put In My Pockets, and a small zipped inside pocket for little miscellaneous items: lip balm or gloss, a few extra dollars, tissues, breath mints, cough drops.

I don't like carrying things in my pocket.  I have occasionally carried a traditional wallet, but things would escape and never return.  I'd pull out a credit card and it would sit in my pocket, happily ever after.  So the tote acts like auxiliary pockets.

What do I carry, between the tote and my pockets, that I really need to carry?

Keys.  I never used to carry keys, but for the apartment I have three.  I'm still looking for a nice, girly key ring.

Cards.  My credit cards, insurance cards, driver's license and such are in a little bulging Coach card

holder like in the picture to the right.

Cash.  I keep some cash, just in case.

Car fob.  Priuses (Prii?), like more new cars don't have a key.  You keep the fob in your pocket (or purse) and just grab the door to lock/unlock and push a button to start/stop.

Cel phone.

Cough drops.  Because I don't like to interrupt people by coughing.

A pen.  It might be "idea day."

That's a lot for pockets, but mostly the junk goes in coat pockets in cooler weather, and is shared with my tote at work.

So I might go to get coffee carrying only my phone and cash.  Or to the grocery store with my cards, fob, and phone.  Or to a meeting with cough drops (I HATE disrupting meetings!).

Sometimes, I wear women's slacks (my jeans are all from the other side of the aisle) and their pockets are smaller.  Even my wallet will often peek over the top of a pocket, and when I sit I'm worried that things will fall out.

What I want is some way to carry all of my essentials (and not-so-essentials) in one place, so I have everything and don't have to worry that I'm on line at the grocery store and my credit cards are in the tote in the car.

A purse would be ideal, but not suitable for all occasions.  I think you ladies know where I'm going with this.

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