Nine things you shouldn’t keep in your wallet

Wallet, phone, keys. That's the check I go through every day before leaving the house, and it's one replicated all across the nation.

It goes without saying that a wallet or purse is vital for many of us. But some of us keep things in there which are not so smart. Here are the nine things you should never keep in your wallet.

1) Your PIN

My wallet has a fair bit of plastic in there. There are a couple of debit cards for different current accounts, as well as a credit card. And they all have different PINs that I need to keep on top of.

As a result, it can be very tempting to keep those PINs written down in your wallet, just in case your mind goes blank when you get to the front of the queue at the ATM. According to a study by MyVoucherCodes earlier this year, around 13% of us do this.

Of course the problem with this is that should a thief manage to get away with your wallet, not only do they have your cards, but also the codes to get their hands on all of your cash!

2) Passwords

Along similar lines, it can be tempting to keep your passwords for your online banking accounts, or even just your emails, in your wallet.

Again, this is asking for trouble as it's basically giving the thief access to your cash, hurdle free! It can be just as bad with email passwords, because the thief may be able to use them to find out all sorts of information about you, and potentially even steal your identity.

3) Your address
Even at my most forgetful best, I've never been quite so bad that I needed to carry around a scrap of paper with my address on it to remind me of where I live.

However, carrying things with your address on, such as certain loyalty cards, can be a risky move, particularly if your keys are in there as well! Not only will the thief know where you live (and that you aren't there) they'll also have an easy way in!

4) Receipts

This is one I'm particularly bad with. Receipts may have all of your card details on them, so even if you've left your cards at home, a thief may still be able to make use of them.

And receipts for high value goods — a computer for example — are important to file away at home rather than carry them around with you, as it can be a nightmare to get a refund or replacement if something goes wrong and you no longer have the receipt!

5) All your cards

You should only ever have as many cards as you are likely to need about your person at any one time. Besides, some cards are not actually designed to be carried around with you at all times.

For example, I used to have a balance transfer credit card. I knew I was never going to do any spending on it — I had a separate credit card for purchases after all. So why would I need to carry that card around with me?

Not only is carrying more than a couple of cards unnecessary, but it will also cause an awful lot of hassle trying to cancel them all if they disappear!

6) Too much cash

When I had my wallet stolen years ago, the thieves went on a spending spree with my cards. Thankfully, the money they spent was returned to me by my bank at the time.

That won't happen if the money they are spending is in cash rather than on your plastic. So only carry as much as you are likely to need.

7) Glasses

On a night out, chances are I'll ditch the specs and wear contact lenses instead. However, experience has taught me that it's a good idea to keep my glasses on me, just in case of an emergency.

I don't have a wallet big enough to fit my glasses in, but plenty of purses are more than big enough for a glasses case. But if you are going to keep some specs on the off chance you need them, make sure it's a spare or older pair — the last thing you need, if your bag is stolen, is to have to shell out to replace your best and most expensive pair! (This advice goes for those of you with designer sunglasses, too!)

8) Chequebook

The humble cheque may have been granted a temporary reprieve from the scrapyard, but the reason it's dying is that it's incredibly rare that anyone ever needs to write one, beyond paying for the milkman or window cleaner.

With that in mind, why would you bother carrying it around with you all the time? It will likely have a stack of your personal details on there, from your address to your account number, so it's a goldmine for an enterprising thief.

Leave it at home!

9) Passport

If you're young and spritely-looking, then you may need to show ID on occasion. But given that many of us will already have our driver's licence in our wallet or purse already, there's no need to lug your passport around too, unless you're headed to the airport.

It's not exactly a cheap thing to replace either (as I've learnt from experience when the DVLA lost mine), with an adult passport costing £77.50 for standard service and £112.50 for the one-week Fast Track service.