Manufactured Spending Gear
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The other day I wrote about some of the specialized language that we use in this hobby. For example we shorten manufactured spending to the easier MS and call the Walmart Money Center Express kiosk KATE.
So today I was standing in front of KATE doing my thang when I began thinking about some of the gear that I use when MSing. There really isn’t a whole lot to it, but perhaps my crazy methods and stuff may be of use to others. Of course I am also selfishly writing this to hear about what gear you use.
Slim Wallet
A good wallet is key to every MSer. I have owned a cheap slim wallet for awhile, but it is falling apart from the abuse it takes. Quite a few of my friends have SlimFold wallets and I plan to get one soon. (Jasmine if your reading this, Father’s Day is coming soon!)
SlimFold sells quite a few designs through their website and also on Amazon as well. Their wallets seem to be of very high quality and the reviews are amazing. My new wallet can’t come soon enough!
Update: I just received an ad from Top Cashback and it looks like they are offering 6% in certain Amazon categories including wallets.
Gear for Standing in Line, Liquidating & KATE
Liquidating is a whole separate beast. Sometimes liquidating involves long lines and other times it means sitting in front of KATE for what seems like hours. This means that I have to wear comfortable clothing. Among my must haves clothing wise are cargo pants.
The main reason I generally wear cargo pants is for the extra pockets. I have a system where I keep new cards in my left pocket and spent cards on the right. Since I have plenty of pockets and space, I am able to keep my keys and cell phone separate so I don’t risk dropping or misplacing a card.
My other must have companion when liquidating is something to listen to. I often download podcasts onto my phone and use a bluetooth wireless headset to listen to them. For a long time I used normal wired headphones, but the cord would always get in the way, especially if I wanted to pull out my phone to check something out. I use this exact model from LG, but you can use just about any bluetooth headphones on the market.
Conclusion
I know that everyone has their favorite methods and quirks when doing anything, so I thought I would open it up to you. What “gear” do you use when MSing? What little tricks make it easier for you. Please share in the comments!
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No wallet holds enough cards if you’re playing the game well. My stack of credit cards is about 3″ tall. Then add in a mountain of vgc and debits. I carry the most-used cards in my wallet (about 20), then have a secondary card holder in my car that carries another dozen or so, and leave a 2″ stack at home that gets put into rotation occasionally.
I also carry my vgc in a leather folding case for my Samsung Note.
I weighed my wallet any my phone – 1.2 lbs…
My tri-fold wallet has a nice feature – the license is kept in a portion that can be separated from the rest of the wallet so when I am not doing MS, I can travel very light with a half dozen cards in a small form factor.
I tried a few of the slim wallets and they were all junk – started falling apart in a few months. Now I’m back to my high quality leather wallets.
I have the updated version of your LG Bluetooth headphones – they come with retractable wires so don’t get tangled. That said, I’d never carry them around with me – I want to be fully aware of my surroundings since I carry so many cash-equivalents around. Think you have to be incredibly foolish to wear headphones in many of the places popular with MSing.
The great thing about life is that everyone can have different ways of doing things. I certainly don’t see the need to carry around 30+ cards with me since things are easily switched out, but I value your opinion.
As for the headset, I always leave one ear open, but have never had an issue keeping track of what is going on around me. Thanks for the comment.
I use a Bagallini Purse with lots of pockets, separate wallet for Buxx cards, red cards, and Serve. Plastic Zip lock bags for storing receipts and used gift cards.
Rubber bands for wrapping up gift cards for mailing.
Bubble pack.
Stickers for keeping track of which card is which, such as “Auth User” or whatever.
Poly bags.
A wallet for keeping all of your Amex cards, something that can hold say 24 cards or something.
ha, ha. Funny, you need your female readers give you their version. I haven’t developed a system yet.
A curious question, why do you keep your spent cards? Oh I guess you just keep them while you’re loading them.
I use a Big Skinny wallet. Super slim, cheap, comes in a variety of styles and materials, and holds a ton of cards.
I’ve seen this exact wallet name dropped a few times. What style do you use? Looking on Amazon there’s a few different types of Big Skinny.
I use “The Curve Bifold” from Big Skinny… great wallet and holds a TON of cards!
I use the Mini Skinny card holder. I almost never carry around cash, so no need for a folding wallet, and this keeps things nice and neat and even displays my driver’s license through a window in the back.
I wish there was a way to figure out which WMs have Kate – leaving aside the whole issue of whether it is working or not. Doesn’t seem to be a single one in all of New Mexico, at least that I’ve found.
I want to know about working Kates. I propose a website with a webcam network monitoring each one. At least then I’d know ahead of time that my Kate isn’t working 95% of the time. I’m they wouldn’t mind installing webcam’s for us. Just an extension of the always-great customer service. Or I guess then could put those efforts into maintaining the Kates. Nah, that would make too much sense.
Super Walmarts have them.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1464486-any-way-locate-walmarts-bluebird-kiosks.html
I like the idea for the wallet, but that’s a pretty hefty price for something so small. They need some competition. Sounds like you like yours – did it last reasonably long? Which model – micro or original? Seems like the bigger one might be necessary for a good number of cards.
Mine is some cheap one I got from eBay. The materials were cheap and it didn’t last long. I have heard wonderful things about SlimFold and the material is supposed to hold up well. If that is the case then it is probably worth the money. I do agree that they are a bit on the expensive side which is why I tried to go the cheap route first, which obviously didn’t work.
Fanny packs. ’nuff said