It has been about a year since I got onto a kick of trying to assemble together gear that would let me travel more efficiently. One of the items that I ran across when reading up on travel tips and recommended gear was the Jimi Wallet.
The Jimi Wallet is a hard plastic front pocket wallet made from 100% recycled/recyclable plastic. Their motto is “The Wallet for people that hate wallets”. Its simplicity is its hallmark. There really isn’t much to this wallet. It has almost no moving parts (only a couple of plastic hinges and a removable money clip insert).
Another “feature” of the wallet is that it doesn’t hold very much. It only claims to holds 5 credit card sized items and 3 double folded bills. That may sound like a lot till you think about all of the various cards you may have. Driver’s License, Health Insurance Card, Dental Insurance Card, Car Insurance Card, ATM Card, Credit Card, Backup Credit Card, etc. They add up quickly. Luckily this wallet is more than willing to take the abuse of holding a little extra stuff thanks to the tough plastic hinges and the solid closing mechanism.
I initially started carrying it just to see if it would be something I could use when I travel and don’t need access to as many wallet related items. I laid out all of the cards and inserts that I was carrying in my wallet and tried to narrow it down to the essentials. It was a very cathartic process getting rid of many of the old unused cards that I had accumulated over time (a 5 year expired Delta frequent flyer card, really??, must have gotten lost in the cavern of my wallet).
Once I narrowed it down to the essentials, I loaded up the wallet, threw a slick sticker on it for style and started carrying it, And what I found was that I really liked carrying it. I never went back to my old wallet. The Jimi suits my needs perfectly. Check out this Jimi Wallet Flash Demo while I extol the virtues of this wonderfully simple gadget:
Front Pocket Wallet – Since it is so small (2 5/8″ x 4 1/4″ x 9/16″), carrying it in your front pocket is easy. No back pain from sitting on a thick wallet in your back pocket. No worries about pick pockets in crowded places.
Hard Plastic – Since it is made of plastic, it can take some wonderful abuse. Drop it, hit it, spill liquids on it, sit things on it, you can’t phase it.
Stylish – It comes in a variety of colors and looks great in all of them. I chose the Stealth color and adorned mine with a sticker to add some pizazz. It frequently prompts questions about what it is when I take it out to pay for something.
Doesn’t Hold Much – This wonderful feature forced me to really trim down the contents of my wallet which was long overdue. As my better half would say, “Let go of the clutter”.
Here are the current contents of my Jimi (it tends to bulge a bit when I have some extra cash on hand, but it works out fine):
Money Clip Side:
- 0-3 Bills depending on my level of broke
- Visa Credit Card
- Driver’s License
- ATM Card
- Paper car insurance card
Credit Card Side:
- Check Card
- Health Insurance Card
- Paper Dental Insurance Card
- $2 Bill for Luck
- Laminated paper contact list for work
- Mastercard Credit Card
- Key chain sized gym membership card
I could trim it down further by getting rid of either the check card or ATM card and one of the credit cards, but I still like the extra security of having a backup. Even with all that, my Jimi keeps going strong.
Here is a picture of my Jimi with my PlayHard Peace sticker attached.
I’m not the only one out there smitten by this wallet either. If you look on Flickr you will see quite a few folks posting pictures of their Jimi’s – Jimi Wallet Flickr Search
Go checkout the Jimi if you are interested in a great travel or front pocket wallet.