Monday 24 December 2018

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth Ten Pounds of Ass Pain!

Do It NOW. Later is Too Late

Everyone must have experienced one of those "If I had only …" and suffered great regret when you didn't. Here are some examples:

If I had only :
  • sold (or bought) that stock
  • asked that girl (or guy) to go out or marry you
  • not had that extra drink
  • bought that house years ago
  • saved those playing cards or comic books
Here is my recent and really agonizing experience. I lost my wallet and most of my ID. What a pain. There is a lot you have to do to minimize risk and loss. You probably know the obvious ones - they all involve calling various parties to report the loss and get replacement cards and ID.

My big regret was that I did not strip my wallet some time ago of all unnecessary items. I once did this. It needed purging again. You really only have to carry ONE credit card and possibly one debit card for financial purposes. Do NOT carry more.

Years ago I did put the following into practice and it helped me when I finally lost my wallet:
  • Carry my cash in my pocket, not my wallet. This time I slipped up and lost $50 which was in the wallet
  • Keep a valid debit card in my pocket with the cash so that I can still obtain cash from a bank machine after the wallet is lost. This I did have.
  • Keep any other credit cards safely at home
  • Do not carry my social insurance card, birth certificate, or health card in my wallet. I had lapsed into carrying my health card and all of my credit cards.
  • Display personal contact information in the wallet. In this case it has not yet helped.
The good news is that there appears to be no fraudulent use or attempts to use my cards. That probably means somebody took the money and trashed the wallet or that it is still not found.

Here is the really, really bad part - the part that can benefit YOU if you act now, not later. This has happened before - 3 times and I always found it. Once it was in my house and twice honest people turned it in. 

So I advise:
  • Put the above practices in place
  • Keep a list and photocopy of everything that you DO carry with you.
  • List the contact numbers of all companies and authorities you will have to call to report the loss. DON'T KEEP THIS IN YOUR WALLET!
  • The big Kahuna: Buy a good tracking device and use it. This is what I failed to do. They can help you find it and even alert you when it gets too far away from you. The better ones will not only track your wallet, keys, purse etc. but in reverse, since most of them run one component on your phone, you can use that wallet or purse gadget to find your lost phone!
  • Finally as a guy - but women could also do this - I no longer carry a wallet. I bought 2 very inexpensive leather card holders just larger that a credit card. They are like a mini wallet or billfold. In one I keep my driver info - licence, insurance, and ownership. It goes deep into one pocket. In the other will go one credit card and one debit card. It will be inserted into a separate packet. These are quite flat and not bulky. I will continue keep my cash separate.
In closing let me say DO IT!    DO IT!    DO IT!    NOW!   NOW!   NOW!


The Brewster


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