Blogger Albert Alberts loves a slim wallet, and after reading over some of our wallet-slimming tips, he realised he had a powerful wallet-slimming tool in his pocket all the time: his iPhone. His idea? Rather than reducing his membership cards to just one club card, he scanned his membership cards to his computer, then synced them to his iPhone as an album called WalletCards. According to the post, his phone-friendly cards even scan successfully. You're still going to be at the mercy of whether or not the workers are willing to accept your scanned cards, but if they are, you can carry around all the membership cards you want without adding any bulk to your wallet.

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If that big ol' bump on your butt is giving you back problems, it's time to reorganize your wallet. Real Simple magazine offers a few strategies for doing just that, like this tip for making your train pass or company ID readily accessible in a purse or bag:

Slip them in a clear plastic sleeve tied with a ribbon, a shoelace, or a cord. You'll be able to fish them out of your purse quickly. To buy: Badge sleeves, about $5 for 10 at office-supply stores.

As a non-purse carrier myself, I've become a bit obsessive about reducing the wallet pocket bump. Here's what I've done.

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A reader at the Unclutterer blog suggests that since stores only really need the number off the cards they issue, she's put all her account numbers in her cell phone contacts list to lighten her wallet:

Basically, I have every membership number saved in my phone, organized to be alphabetised together such as 'aMemb-Barnes&Noble, aMemb-Southwest, aMemb-Avis, etc' so they are easy to find. It has uncluttered my wallet/purse and made is substantially easier to find the number when I need it.

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Sick of dealing with wallets that get a bit, well, funky when they're wet? Looking for something a bit sturdier but still stylish? Instructables has an easy-to-follow guide to turning a sturdy plastic shopping bag into a wallet, using only a few needles stitches and a piece of double-sided tape. For those who get nylon wallet envy but don't want to swing the cash for one, it's a pretty unique solution, and a guaranteed conversation-starter.

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Readers at the Freakonomics blog recently interviewed security expert Bruce Schneier, touching on issues like phishing, encryption, and online storage, to name a few. On the topic of passwords, Schneier said there are too many for anyone to remember, so he relies on a fairly low-tech solution:

I write my passwords down. There's this rampant myth that you shouldn't write your passwords down. My advice is exactly the opposite. We already know how to secure small bits of paper. Write your passwords down on a small bit of paper, and put it with all of your other valuable small bits of paper: in your wallet.

Schneier's not the first to defy the conventional IT wisdom, but his particular method makes good sense. Of course, he also chooses strong passwords and uses his own Password Safe program to create and store them, in addition to his back pocket. Photo by Saad.