First Day With My Unusual Lite Wallet: Did It Pass The Test?

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My simple light wallet with some notes folded in the middle. But was it good enough?

Today I walked into a store to make a purchase. This was a big test - because for the first time in my life I had come without my man wallet. 

You know, that heavy leather foldable thing stuffed with cards and bills, that is too big for your pockets.

Let me tell you what happened next.

This is not a story about a wallet. It is deeper than that.

It is how we respond to new events and how we reprogram ourselves. And as always, winning the lottery is at the back of it.

Let me explain...

For years I'd been looking for a thin wallet to carry my cards, ID and some cash. I bought my last wallet a year ago because it was thinner than any other.

It was OK, but not a great deal slimmer than any of the previous ones I had owned.

Then last night I sat down and googled what kind of wallet the rich carry.

At almost the first search, Google told me. These wealthy magnates often don't carry a wallet at all.

  • Sometimes staff make their purchases for them.
  • Other times they have an account which their accountant pays at the end of the month.

But I discovered something interesting. Many of the wealthy just carry a couple of credit cards - held together by a rubber band!

This completely turned my thinking around.

OK, I asked myself - why do I need a wallet - to carry cash? Or to carry the 9 cards I stored in my wallet if I only used a couple regularly? Were the rest for show... to tell others I was a person of substance? Maybe.

Well, of course most people don't care less about what you use.

It applies to expensive watches too. Most people will never look at your watch and make a judgement of you. Too many fake copies I guess - everyone can wear a Rolex.

So I changed my ideas. I didn't really need cash, and I don't use store cards.

My answer was to select just one card that I needed, and use it for everything. And I needed my driver's licence too of course.

And so I rubber banded that card to my driver's licence card. Pretty simple.

Not only had I reduced my carry-around weight to almost zero, but I had improved my payment method. Because you always get a 'receipt' with a credit card - it's on your billing statement.

So I decided I would refuse all paper receipts from now on.

Then I decided that I wouldn't continue scanning all my paper documents, since I had actually NEVER referred to any of the 6,000-plus scanned PDFs of receipts and other documents I had managed to store over the last few years.

Receipts, bank statements, credit card receipts (those tiny bits of paper the size of a matchbox)... I never needed to view them again.

The exception - if I buy a product with a guarantee, I will ask for the receipt.

Big step for me, a self confessed control freak!

So how does this relate to winning the lottery?

The first lesson is that with a new viewpoint, you can change how you play. As an example, a while back I read that some players spent upwards of $3,000 a game on special occasions.

Wow - that put my regular couple of dozen dollars in the cheap seats.

So I increased my ticket buying amount x10, and immediately my winning rate improved.

Turned out to be a great idea.

I had also read that some players refuse to think about the money they played on games they didn't win.

Both these are good examples of how to play the lottery to win:

  1. Play more than your comfort level.
  2. There's no such thing as a loss - your tickets are an entry fee to the game.
  3. After the game has drawn, forget the tickets you bought and concentrate on the next game ahead.

After I put my simple wallet together, I took it out into the big city. I had a purchase to make. How would it go?

At first it was a little strange walking down the street without the familiar weight of my wallet in my hand. (I don't put it in my pocket because the shape and weight distorts whatever clothes I'm wearing).

Tucked in my shirt pocket, the two cards weighed almost nothing. I felt quite naked.

In the shop I slid the credit card away from the rubber band and put it into the machine. Then slipped it back with the ID card. The assistant smiled.

Easy. Simple. And a big change for me.

I refused the receipt, and walked out of the store feeling a little underwhelmed... as if I hadn't really bought anything real. There was no substance to the transaction. I had been used to bringing out the heavy wallet, choosing the right card from the selection inside, putting it back, closing the wallet.

But that feeling will change.

I'm liking my new lite life already.

Maybe one day I'll get a small card holder to fit both cards and protect the magnetic strips. But I'm normally a careful person, so extra wear won't be a problem.

Change one part of your life... and see how the ideas flow on to your lottery play!