diff --git a/.git_functions.sh b/.git_functions.sh
index 5eaafbb49..4bd7b5fc2 100644
--- a/.git_functions.sh
+++ b/.git_functions.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,34 @@
+# output current branch to STDOUT
+function wgbranch {
+  cat ./.git/HEAD | perl -p -e 's/^ref:\srefs\/heads\/(.+)$/\1/g'
+}
+
+
+# output the stash ticket number to STDOUT
+function wgtix {
+  wgbranch | perl -p -e 's/(?:feature|bugfix|refactor)\/(\w+-\d+).+$/\1/'
+}
+
+
+# wrapper fn for "git checkout" that exports previous branch to env
+function wgcheckout {
+  if [ -z $1 ]; then
+    branchname="develop"
+  else
+    branchname="$1"
+  fi
+
+  echo " -- wgcheckout -- "
+  echo "Storing branch \"$(wgbranch)\" in WGPREV ..."
+  export WGPREV="$(wgbranch)"
+  echo "Checking out \"$branchname\" ..."
+  echo
+  echo " -- git checkout -- "
+  git checkout "$branchname"
+  echo
+}
+
+
 # combine fetch and rebase (git frebase)
 function wgfreebase {
     if [ -z $1 ]; then
@@ -9,6 +40,7 @@ function wgfreebase {
     git fetch origin "$branchname" && git rebase origin/"$branchname"
 }
 
+
 # push to current branch
 function wgpush {
     if [ -z $1 ]; then
@@ -19,3 +51,4 @@ function wgpush {
 
     git push origin $branchname
 }
+