One thing that we all can agree on in Texas is that thieves are the absolute worst. They want to steal our hard earned money or our hard earned possessions because they feel it's right for them to do so. Thou shalt not steal. It's wrong. But despite the wrongness of stealing, people continue, and will continue, to do it. We have to make it harder for thieves to pick us out of crowd to victimize. So that means there are certain things we should never carry around in our wallet or purse.

What's in your wallet?

What do you normally carry around in your wallet? I have the usual items like my driver's license, debit card, a credit card and a little bit of cash. My wallet is pretty status quo with nothing else added. (Quick side note - for those of us old enough, do you miss having pictures in your wallet? There was just something cool about showing off those pictures to someone.) We have to carry around our driver's license because it's the law. We need to have our debit card because we need our money. A credit card is an option and is just there for those emergency cases. The rest, experts say, should just be left at home.

Thieves don't necessarily have to physically take our wallet or purse anymore. Yes, it makes the payoff of the crime a little easier but with some of the modern technologies in our debit and credit cards, thieves could just walk by and do a simple scan to steal our bank information. Luckily, there are wallets and purses that have protection against those kind of devices.

Cash is King

If you like to carry cash, don't carry a whole lot of it. Simply opening your wallet or purse could be attractive for a prying eye to see. Cash is untraceable. It's hard to prove how much cash you had on you. Cash can be immediately spent after being stolen.

Identity theft is one of the most common crimes in today's society. In 2024 alone, almost half a million reports of identity theft were reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (fool.com). Sadly, Texas ranks second in the country in identity theft in 2024 so far. California came in at number one.

Top 5 States in 2024 for Identity Theft

  1. California
  2. Texas
  3. Florida
  4. New York
  5. Georgia

All in all, only keep in your wallet or purse what you absolutely need (aarp.org, discover.com). To help avoid becoming a victim, see the 12 items you should not keep in your wallet or purse below:

Feds Warn All of Texas Not to Put These 12 Things in Your Wallet

There's lots of personal information that is carried around in our wallets on a daily basis that can easily be stolen. Learn what not to carry in your wallet or purse.

Gallery Credit: unsplash.com, Getty Images

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