Can the colour of your wallet affect your spending habits?
This is something quite interesting to think about, prompted by something said to me quite recently, in good fun of course. But still, as they say, there’s no smoke without fire and there could be a grain of truth (or not) in some beliefs.
A month or so ago, I shared on Instagram Stories, that I was finally swapping out my wallet of 5 years for a new one. I’d gotten the red Miu Miu Matelassé Leather wallet a while ago, and felt that it was time to put it to use.
What amused me was how many people dropped me a message to say that I should be careful because a red wallet is supposed to cause you to spend more money! Hmm… did I want to be spending more money?! 😀
I was quite intrigued by this notion, so I looked it up online, to see where this idea was coming from.
Apparently, this stems from a feng shui belief, that red, being associated with the fire element, can result in you burning away your wealth luck! Eeps! I didn’t want that!
The other belief associated with feng shui is that red, being a strong and powerful colour, can enhance your traits. So, if you are already prone to spending money quite easily, then it might enhance that trait, causing you to spend more money.
On the flipside, I also came across advise from people saying that a red wallet attracts luck, and therefore brings in more money! A red wallet was therefore advisable to have! LOL! 😀
So you know what? I consciously observed my spending habits during this time that I’ve been using my new wallet 😀 All in the name of a fun experiment!
What did I observe while using a red wallet? Was I spending more money? Was I saving more money? Did I attract more money? LOL!
To be honest, there was not much change in my spending habits, nor in my wealth inflow LOL! 😀
I am generally quite careful with my money and my spending. Sometimes, I spend a little more. Sometimes, I spend a little less. This depends a lot on external temptations, my needs (and wants) and how much money I really have ready to spend at any given time.
If I don’t go to the malls very much (and I generally don’t, unless I have a reason to) then my spending noticeably drops. Even if I don’t buy anything, parking fees, food and/or drink costs do add up once you’re out of the house!
If I don’t visit a Uniqlo store, then it drops significantly! haha! 😀 Yes, I am quite an unabashed Uniqlo bargain hunter 😛
My last wallet that I’d been using daily for over 5 years, was the Louis Vuitton Insolite in the signature LV Damier Ebene canvas. I bought it as my birthday gift from me to me back then, and I had a very easy way of picking out a wallet. I simply walked into the store and said “Show me the wallet that can hold the most number of cards!” 😀
I used to carry all sorts of cards around with me back then – loyalty cards, credit cards etc. And they all needed a slot of their own. The Insolite boasts a whopping 16 card slots, yet folds up into a slim, compact thickness. I’ve stopped carrying around so much junk since so felt it was time to downsize a little.
The Insolite is quite a monster of a wallet in size and how much it can hold. There is little point my telling you about it, as it has been discontinued, except to say that I love it to bits. After 5 years, it barely shows any wear even at the corners, and I loved how it wasn’t very bulky except in how big it was.
As it is brown, I looked up what feng shui said about a brown wallet, and apparently, brown wallets are supposed to be good for you to hold on to cash. The rationale is because it is the colour of earth, which is stable, and therefore translates into stability in your wealth luck too.
Looking back however, I went through austerity and spendthrift days back while using my brown wallet, so I’m not sure that’s the most accurate interpretation! LOL!
I’ve been using the Miu Miu Matelassé Leather wallet for over a month now, and I think most of those who shared their experience with me using this wallet are right. It is terribly bulky due not only to its almost tri-fold construction, but also to the puffy Matelassé leather design. Matelassé is made by folding the leather into the folds that you see, that give it its unique design.
The lambskin leather is naturally less hardy than canvas and I don’t baby my wallets so that might eventually be a challenge one day. My wallets need to be a workhorse. A small point that niggles at me is also how when I pull at the zip for my coins, it causes the section to pull to one side. Small things. I might have been spoilt by the LV wallet before this.
No matter the detractors, from my experience, LV’s attention to detail and construction of their bags and small leather goods are exceptional. But I digress 😛
The Miu Miu Matelasse wallet is also quite a big wallet, in that it can fit up to 12 cards, with a zippered compartment, and 2 compartments for notes. It even comes with a mirror that I detached, because I had no use for it. But once you fill it up with your cards and notes and the occasional receipts, the wallet significantly increases in bulk.
I don’t quite like that 🙁 I’d been used to a slim wallet that held the same things, for so long that having to deal with a bulky wallet quite put me off.
At the same time, not utilizing the space it has would be a waste. What’s the use of all that space in the wallet if you’re not going to use it?! What I did like however, was the double bill slots. I could keep my money in one slot and receipts in the other. Previously, they were all jumbled up, so I never ever knew how much money I carried with me.
Once, I thought I had a bulging wallet of notes and traipsed out for a meal, only to realize that what I really had was a wallet filled with scraps of paper and RM1. Just 1 measly note that could barely buy me anything! Lucky for me I could use a credit card to pay for my meal or I’d have been turfed back to the kitchen to earn my keep! 😛
So does a red wallet mean I spend more money? Or have I received more money since using my red wallet?
The jury is out. I don’t think I’m spending much more than normal, although I did make a few big ticket purchases recently. But they were things I already planned to get, and I got nice big discounts on them.
I am also being quite careful with spending where I can (It’s an on-going austerity drive I’m on) so I can say I’m conscious about the money I have and spend, and I don’t spend what I don’t have.
For interest, I’ve rounded up some interpretations of colours of wallets and how they can affect your spending habits :
- a BLACK wallet is generally accepted to be the best colour because it attracts wealth – but I don’t know if it means that you will receive more money and not spend as much, or that you will receive and spend in equal measure 😛
- a RED wallet will either mean you spend your money quickly or that it attracts money to you – the jury seems to be divided on this
- a GREEN wallet is supposed to be another good colour, growing your income and wealth – again, whether this means your spending is in tandem with the income growth isn’t explained
- a BLUE wallet washes away your luck so you end up spending more money – oops!
- a BROWN wallet offers a good foundation to grow your wealth and helps you save more – but isn’t money in a wallet supposed to be spent at some point? hmm…
At the end of the day, I’d say to take these beliefs with a grain of salt 😀 What is more important I feel, is to be happy with the wallet you own, and to be conscious and careful about your spending habits. I doubt the latter could be controlled merely by the colour of your wallet! 😀
So, what colour is your wallet? 😀
I gravitate towards bold colours for my bags and small leather goods. So a black wallet just isn’t me at all. I’ve owned red wallets a few times over the years, and it has not coincided with any periods of great wealth or frivolous spending. So, I’m not too worried right now! 😉
Paris B
Here I was thinking, nah can’t be true, I switched to a blue green wallet months ago after using a red wallet and ended up spending more. And then I read the part where blue means you spend more.
NO WONDER LAHHHHH. ??
LOL!! So it’s real la then? 😀 Time to switch back to the red (maybe it’ll bring you more business! 😉 )
Both wallets are looking great!
Just wondering do you mind to share the prices for both wallets?
I am too timid to walk into the boutiques to check them out 😀
*Anyway, if it might triggers more issue bout price sharing, you may just ignore this message lah. LOL
Thank you 🙂 And don’t worry, I don’t care what people think – it’s not like I asked them to give me money to buy them LOL! 😛
The LV Insolite was RM2000 when I bought it. It is now discontinued but may still be available if you ask. I’ve learnt that sometimes an item may be officially discontinued, but if the store has stock at the back, they’ll sell it to you anyway. That’s how I got the Helene wallet off them that is no longer sold 🙂 This was about 5 years ago, so prices may have gone up since. The Miu Miu Matelasse Leather wallet I got online for 50% off so I paid just about RM1000 🙂
Mine is Orange in colour from Ferragamo. It is quite slim even though it has 12 card slots and 2 compartments for cash and a zipper in the middle for coins.
Have never really thought the effect of colours to our spending but somehow I have never really liked black wallets. Perhaps because I can carry tonnes of things and a bright coloured wallet makes it easier to look for in the bag.
You know what’s interesting? I don’t think I’ve ever owned an orange wallet! In fact, I don’t own many orange items. Perhaps it’s time to rectify that LOL! 😀 I had a Ferragamo wallet once. It was lovely and slim but had no zip compartments so was a little impractical for coins. But it was black LOL!
Like you, I prefer coloured SLG – our bags are cavernous enough!
I wear a lot of blacks and navy blue and I carry bright coloured handbags…. interesting how we justify our choice Kan?
Haha no la I like to think of it as being practical and besides, it’s fashion baby! No need to explain or justify! LOL!
I think I want to get a gold wallet. Just googled and they say gold wallet can give a luxurious life. Ha Ha. Mine is whitish beige and another in my drawer is brown….both belongs to “protect money” category.
The brown is in the drawer for the same reason as yours…it’s too large because I’d then wanted a long wallet to hold all my different credit cards. Now, I rather stick to a few. Has this got to do with age….eh…I mean wisdom? =P And agree that LV is very lasting…been around for too long.
Hmm…since we are talking about wallet, maybe I’ll do a switch and upsize my wallet…just for a change.
The funny thing about switching up my wallet is that for a few days, I never know where to find any of my cards as they’re not in their usual slots LOL But I think resizing the wallet is more to do with practicality. My lifestyle now doesn’t depend on me carrying large bags with everything in it and I’ve discarded many loyalty cards (not so loyal anymore) so I might eventually move to an even smaller wallet! Maybe in Gold LOL!
I’m still on the hunt for the perfect wallet. For years I had a patent deep purple Dior one I bashed about. It still looks great. I haven’t used it in years. And then I moved to a bright bamboo green but it was too delicate. I used it as a clutch. Or WOC. And then I got a rose purple one which was great for travel because it was wide and flat to hold passports. And now I have a small wallet to hold the essentials. It’s in navy and rose gold. I now realise I don’t have to carry all my loyalty cards because they’re stored in an app on my phone. I barely carry cash or coins. And one period of time I was using only card cases and have amassed a collection of those.
The quest goes on….
I don’t think there’s ever one perfect wallet. It is perfect for us, at that moment in time. I sometimes switch out to a cardholder to hold just my IC, driving license, a card and some cash, if I’m going somewhere quick and need my hands free or am carrying a small bag. I do tend to stuff my wallets with receipts and sometimes small wallets get fiddly that way. Some loyalty cards here are tied to our phone number, so I’ve skipped carrying many loyalty cards around. I guess I’m not that loyal in the end 😛
When it comes to my wallets, I’ve gone from brown to orange to pink to polka-dots to my current one; black-and gold trimmed with LOTS of card slots (very important) I really dont think the colour of our wallets effect how much or little we spent. It usually depends on how much money I got in the wallet at that time, haha!
BTW your Miu Miu wallet looks amazing!
Hahaha Yes indeed! If we have no money in the wallet, there’s no money to spend either! And we do have to learn to be careful about credit card spending too! Thank you, I’m afraid I’m not in love with the wallet, but will definitely use it hopefully to its death (or till I get bored LOL!)
LOL! Some of my friends have recently become obsessed with feng shui and annoy me by constantly trying to rearrange things and colours in my apartment. I was “forced” to succumb to some of their advice and have observed no results whatsoever. Some things even got worse.
In my experience, black wallet means that you will receive and spend in equal measure 🙂 In any case, your red wallet is absolutely beautiful and you should definitely use it!
Haha I abide by the most basic rule of feng shui, which is balance in the environment – FOR ME. There’s no use putting things in certain corners or spaces if it jars to the eye, or using colours you disclike or if you keep tripping over things. That’s bad feng shui! 😀 I do try to keep my spaces clean and clear whenever I can. When it gets cluttered, I find I feel harrassed and easily irritated. But once I’ve cleared everything up, I feel better and things go smoother for me too 🙂 Thank you, the red wallet has been seeing a lot of action and I love the colour, if not so much the design 😀
I’m one of those weirdos that doesn’t like the typical wallet shapes (continental, French). Having specific tastes means that I only have a few brands to choose from. For the most part, I end up going with black, though nowadays I don’t mind other colours too much, except pink.
I don’t carry all my cards in my wallet, I have a second card holder for all the second-tier loyalty cards that I don’t use very often – nearly 20 something of them.
Interesting. There aren’t many shapes/designs of wallets around – so which are the ones you favour? I carry my important documents and credit cards but not loyalty cards. I’m not half as loyal today as I was years ago, so I don’t own many loyalty cards anymore. That said, I have noticed that with many stores, you can use your phone number or IC as your loyalty card number, which I find very useful! Wish more would adopt this, or use a mobile loyalty card so we don’t have to carry all that plastic around.
Small trifold wallets. Only a few brands these days make wallets the way I like to use it (Furla, TUMI, and Anya Hindmarch back in the day) – but I only buy them when they go on sale.
Ah yes trifold wallets seem to be rarer than they used to be. But I think why they seem to have fallen out of favour might perhaps be due to how women keep asking for more and more space to put things, hence the larger wallets, or more zip-around style ones. That said, I have also noticed a trend for people to use card holders as their wallet. I’ve tried it, and it’s surprisingly liberating! But not for running errands nor as a daily wallet
Louis Vuitton makes workhorse wallets. They are so durable, wears like iron and looks good even after being beaten up. I’m been a one-wallet person too until I switched to LV. I felt that life is too short to kill the wallet before I can enjoy new ones and LV wallets are hard to kill. I love their lightest range, canvas be it Monogram or Damier. Epi and Empreinte leathers are slightly heavier than canvas but looks classier.
I’ve a total of 6 LV wallets (yikes, there’s where all my money goes) Monogram, Damier – Brown, Epi – Indigo and Fuchsia, Empreinte – Cherry and Black and do not see how the colour have an impact in my earning and spending pattern but am quite sure it went to LV!
My better half swears by LV wallets too although he dislikes the brand in general.
Generally, they costs a bit more (cheaper than Chanel and Hermes) never go on sale but super durable versus other brands.
You are right about LV wallets. Actually, their canvas is very durable and looks good even after many years. I’m actually very impressed with their quality. Expensive yes, but the quality is there. Ah I’d love to see your wallet collection! It must be stunning 😀 Which do you have? I opted not to get their leather ones, because they tend to be a bit more bulky – Epi leather is beautiful though. It’s my favourite of LV leathers – light, scratch resistant and beautiful colours! I’m not quite sold on their wallet designs available right now so I’m thankfully, not too tempted. But then, never say never! 😉
I agree with both of you. LV wallets are hands down THE BEST (although I don’t care much for the brand overall).
My favourite is the epi leather too. I have a small square blue one and I did spend a lot of money during that 10 year period(2003-13). I changed it up with a Ralph Lauren dupe in almond brown epi (rectangular) and a Michael Kors monogram wallet.
I spent slightly less during that 5-year period.
Today, I’m hunting for my new wallet. Seeking small, classic, sweet and sleek if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears !
I like the Miu Miu matelassé for it’s beauty and craftsmanship. It is an exquisite piece of artwork. Perhaps this leather is not so good for a wallet because it bulges (watch your weight with this bad girl) (wink wink) and would tend to collect dirt and debris in the crevices. Could you possible convert it into a mini make-up bag?
I cut up all my frequent buyer customer cards and go feather light nowadays :°)) If I need a card to get a special deal, I just make one on the spot and discard it afterwards.
Presently, my purses are all lightweight smaller cross bodies so my wallet needs have changed immensely. Bummer retailers haven’t kept up with the mood of going lighter in wallets….
I’ve noticed for the wallet trend these days to be more of a wallet-on-chain style of wallet. Small enough to be a wallet, but large enough to pass off as a clutch. It doesn’t help of course, that our mobile phones keep getting bigger, and we need somewhere to put it! Have you considered trying a card holder? When I want to go truly minimalist, or if I carry a little bag, I put my ID cards, a credit card or two, and some notes into a cardholder, and tuck that in my bag. It serves its purpose for short excursions when you may not intend to buy a lot of things, or if you have a cashless lifestyle.
And yes, I’m already feeling the weight but more importantly, the bulk of the miu miu! Goodness me. It takes up so much space, and if I don’t clear it of its receipts within a day or two, it bulges so much, I can barely keep it shut 🙁 I guess I’m not in love with it at all 🙁 And no I can’t convert it into anything. It’s quite strictly a wallet – just a very fat one LOL!
Oh boy, that “burgeoning” wallet is going to get on nerves especially if you’re the kind of person who loves sleek and design. I’m sure there is a special lesson in this purchase. 2019 will be the year to figure it out :°)) You may end up loving it by it’s “impossibleness” to fit standards.
I did initially try the practical card holder idea, and yes, it makes a lot of sense. However, I couldn’t sum up the courage to carry my bank’s logo in lieu of a designer label and something pretty …
I’m thinking perhaps I’ll go hands free the upcoming year and stuff some cash in my front pocket instead.
Have a great Christmas season ! I’m glad I discovered your blog. Loving it.
Haha you are right, I might spend 2019 wondering why the heck I was so impulsive buying such a fat little wallet LOL! 😀 Oh there are many pretty card holders these days! I like the LV Pocket Organizer. It is sold under the men’s line, but it is quite practical as it’s a foldover card case. It carries my ID card, driving license, a credit card, a few notes and slips into my smallest bags 🙂
Hehe~ This is so interesting! (as is the case for all your posts) I’m not exactly a believer in Feng Shui, but out of curiosity, what happens if you use your phone / bank app to pay? Then your phone case cover will determine how much you spend? Or what if you use several card holders rather than just a wallet? Does it mean it is a combination of effects from all the colours? Honestly, I rarely ever go for a black wallet. I would rather have a black bag than a black wallet, I like my wallet to be colourful, fun & full of patterns. 😀 It just looks more interesting in a plain colour bag!
Hahaha you brought up a good point about using apps to pay. I guess it doesn’t matter then? Or maybe don’t buy that rose-gold iPhone LOL! 😀 Or maybe feng shui just hasn’t caught up with the online/mobile age LOL!