This afternoon, after running a couple of errands, Brian and I decided to unwind with a quick visit to Starbucks. The trip started off on the right ecofrugal foot: I paid for my drink with my store card, which was loaded up with credits from online surveys, and handed over my reusable cup, which the barista pronounced "cool." But things went downhill when I tried to zip up my wallet. The zipper separated, leaving the zipper pull sliding along one edge.
Now, on most articles of clothing, this problem would be pretty easy to fix. I'd just slide the zipper pull down all the way to the bottom, feed the tooth from the separated strand back in, and pull it up to lock the two strands back together. But this zipper was wrapped all the way around the bottom of the wallet and hidden by the outer cover. The only way to get at it would be to cut the whole thing open, which would kind of defeat the purpose.
Fortunately, back when I bought this wallet a couple of years ago (for $3 at Goodwill), I saved my old one in case of just such an emergency. It was still in perfectly usable condition; the only thing obviously wrong with it was that the material on the edge of the flap had worn away and was unsightly. I could have just lived with it, but I figured, why not just do a quick fix with a little black electrical tape?
This fix took all of five minutes, including going downstairs to fetch the roll of tape. First, I cut a length of tape the length of the flap and folded it over. Then I cut two shorter pieces to wrap partway up the edges. At a casual glance, you'd never even notice the repair. Of course,
I know it's there, but for me it's a badge of honor—proof that I'm living up to my ecofrugal principles.
I'll still keep my eye out for a replacement wallet, since this one is a bit bulky and doesn't have an outside coin pouch. (Also, as this experience shows, it's a good idea to have a backup.) But thanks to this simple repair, I needn't be in any hurry to replace it. Instead of running to Etsy and shelling out $30 for a new one, I can bide my time until something suitable pops up on another thrift shop trip.
