What’s in Your Purse? Organise the Chaos in Your Handbag

There is a cliché that says all women’s purses are chaotic. If you look at your purse right now, what will you find? Have you ever thought you’ve lost something just to find it later in your handbag?

But are all those items weighing you down in your purse necessary? Women carry a lot of things with them, and most of them as a form of preparation – “just in case”, as if every time we leave our home, we were going on a trip into the wilderness, so we need to be prepared for any event. And ironically, without all that stuff that creates such a chaos in our purse, we feel chaotic and unprepared.

You can find anything in a women’s purse. They are like a magical bag that contains things you can’t imagine. Hygienic items, memorabilia, books, phones, pills, snacks, money, paper, even rubbish, like wrapped up chewing gum. Same goes for the ladies wallets, cosmetics bags, coin bags. They all carry many more things than needed, creating even more mess.

Now all that extra load doesn’t only waste your time when looking for something, but it also hurts physically. Your back and neck might hurt, your arms may fall asleep and walking can become harder.

So, how can the chaos in your favourite accessories be bridled?

Empty and Examine

The first step towards an organised purse is to empty it of all its contents. Lay out everything in front of you, and group together similar items. To organise even more, empty out your wallet and your cosmetic bag and group everything.

Open up all the pockets and shake them out to get rid of dust, crumbs and lint. If you think that it’s necessary, you should also clean your handbag, your wallet and your cosmetic bag.

The next step is to examine everything that’s taking up space and decide whether you really need to carry it around or not.

First eliminate items that repeat. For example, you don’t need two packs of wipes, or several pens. Eliminate big items, such as notebooks. If your phone isn’t enough for taking notes, carry a small notebook instead.

Throw out receipts you don’t need. If you have your passport there, put it somewhere safe instead, since you really don’t want to lose your passport.

If you carry a cosmetic bag, make sure it’s not too big and too heavy. You don’t need to have all your makeup with you. If you use makeup regularly, keep your essentials with you, for touching up. Anything you don’t need on a regular basis doesn’t have to be in your purse. If what you need are just two or three makeup items, consider putting them in the built-in pockets of your purse.

Decide What to Carry

You probably have a check list before going out of your house. It can be something like: phone, wallet, keys, meds. Whatever the items on that simple check list, they’re most likely everything you truly need to carry with you.

Of course, there is probably no one that only carries the most necessary items, but you should avoid overloading your purse with things you don’t even use. There is no one definitive list of items that works for everyone, since different people have different daily needs, but the idea is to keep things simple and minimalistic.

• Cell phone (and a charger, if necessary)
• Hygienic items (such as hand sanitiser, hand wipes, tissue, feminine products etc.)
• Medical items (such as any medication you need to take, aspirin, hand cream, adhesive bandage etc.)
• A small collection of cosmetics
• Sunglasses in a case
• Small healthy snack
• Keys
• Wallet

Unlike your purse, the wallet is not something everyone will see always on you, but still, ladies wallets are some of women’s favourite accessories. And just like with purses, many of us keep too many things in them, like unnecessary receipts or a lot of coins, making them all bloated and shapeless.

Apart from cash, a credit or debit card, a form of identification and public transport card, there is nothing that really needs to stay in your wallet.

Of course, many of us have a small piece of paper or a card that reminds us of something, a photo, or any small item that means something to us. And, by all means, put something small in the tiny card pockets: memorabilia, a strip of adhesive bandage, a pill you need to take. The key is to not overdo it and to keep it at a minimum.

Organise

After you have selected the items that are going back into your purse, first make sure they are all clean.

Try to keep all the contents of your purse separate, and don’t let loose items in your purse. If you’re carrying more makeup items, put them in a pouch. If you are carrying pills, place them in a pill container. Try to either have a small bag or a built-in pocket assigned for anything you carry with you.

If your notebook doesn’t have a pen holder, find a way to always have it at hand, instead of chasing it around at the bottom of your bag.

Keeping things in separate bags, will also prevent messes from powders, stains from makeup or ink etc.

Stay Organised

It takes time to clean and organise your purse, but it’s really easy to make it messy again. If you want to have your handbag organised for a longer time, you can follow some simple guidelines.

Put things back in their place. If you’ve reached for your lipstick, don’t just let it fall anywhere in your purse. Open the cosmetic bag, or the pocket where you found it, and put it back.

Take out rubbish. Over the day, your purse may collect many unwanted items. You may have created a pile of receipts or wrappers, or you may’ve thrown in a leaflet you took out of politeness, or a tissue you used. Try taking them out of your purse as often as possible.

But the easiest way to make sure you have your purse organised all the time is to make it a habit to clean out your handbag once a week.

So, once a week take out excess change, throw away all rubbish, check if all your things are in the right small bags, et voila, your purse is ready. When you touch up an already organised and cleaned handbag, it will only take you a couple of minutes and, ultimately, save you a lot of time.