Increasingly, cell phones have taken on new functions. These communication devices have become entertainment centers, portable cameras and video recorders, and alternative data storage gadgets. These have become so pervasive that not possessing one labels you as either too poor to buy one, or a techno-phobic who will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, or a subspecies of ancient humanlike forms. Even your prepubescent niece has a high-tech cell phone, for goodness sake!

And to further strengthen its importance, the once-lowly cell phones now act as alternative wallets. You can send and receive money and purchase items in stores through your cell phone nowadays, though the practice is stronger in Asian countries like the Philippines and Japan.

For the card-obsessed American culture, there is an alternative to stuffing your wallets with numerous credit cards. This blogger found a way to reduce and de-clutter his wallets simply by using the recording capabilities of his iPhone.

You can apply this method simply by taking a clear picture of your credit cards’ front and back sides, storing them in a separate album in your cell phone and taking them out for a test run. You have to perform test runs since you are never sure if an establishment will honor the credit card image; it might just require the card itself and then where would you be? There is also the matter of synching the images, questions of which should be directed to the blogger.

This suggestion appears to agree with a poll that found most people would rather bring their cell phones than their wallets when push comes to shove; or when you are stranded on a desert island, perhaps. It makes sense especially as you can communicate where you are with rescue units, with the assumption that the thing is still working after getting wet with ocean water and operated in a signal-free environment.

Then again, if the tech geeks over at Nokia and the bank wizards have come up with money transfers and credit purchases without the hassles of falling in line and filling in forms, then we might just be part of the cashless and wallet-less revolution in the very near future.

But for the meantime, stick to your guns, er, wallets if only for the things you can carry in them - pictures, business cards, lucky pennies, receipts and what-have-yous that not even the most advanced cell phones can match. Besides, warm, buttery leather feels good to the touch than cold, hard steel, right?

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