Ok, I’m not quite as bad as George Costanza, but let’s just say that I’ve been known to tote a fat wallet…minus the cash, that is.

I’ve noticed it on long car rides before–I’ll have to take my wallet out of my rear pocket because I will start to develop some sciatic nerve pain. But lately I’ve felt that little twinge of pain just sitting at my desk for too long, or on the commute to and from work.

The solution? I could start carrying my wallet in my front pocket all of the time. Or, I could start sporting a “man purse.” Or perhaps, just maybe, I could clear out all of the ridiculous clutter that seems to gather in my wallet for no reason, and with no purpose.

“Seems to gather….” Who am I fooling? It’s not like anyone else is stuffing useless bits of paper and plastic into my wallet!

So today, I purged everything I could, except for the essentials.

I had a big stack of receipts in there–some weeks and weeks old. I never really check my receipts against my bills, so I don’t know why I hold onto these little slips of paper other than out of some sense of obligation (because that’s what a “responsible person” would do). I also decided it was probably time I stopped carrying around (two!) video store rental cards–for a store that is 300 miles away… and out of business. Gone also were the stray business cards, the loyalty cards, etc. etc.

In just the past few weeks, I’ve become aware of a rather obvious pattern in my life–I’m carrying around with me (literally and figuratively) stuff that I just don’t need. Sometimes the pain it causes me is acute, but for the most part, it’s just a low-level discomfort that I’ve managed to accept as “normal.”

It’s definitely time to lighten my load!