What is in your purse??

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DaisyJane

I probably should be working.
Someone I know on facebook :sneaky::whistle::);) recently posted about the effort of changing purses. I have so little in my purse that changing a purse takes me no more than two minutes. Which led me to the question, what on earth do these people have in their purses that it requires some effort to switch purses.

In my purse I usually have my wallet, a cloth bag or two, and zippered cloth pencil case in which I keep hand lotion, lip balm, my eye glasses cleaner, and hand sanitizer. In my wallet I keep the traditional assortment of debit/credit card, receipts, cash, other cards (ie: costco) and photos of my kids. If I am heading to an appointment I usually toss in my reading glasses and a book to keep myself occupied. My phone is usually nearby, but when I am going out I will toss it in my purse. I also sometimes carry a water bottle in the side pouch of my "lug" purse.

I own small handful of purses. One I tend to carry in the winter and one or two that I enjoy in the spring/summer because they are more colourful. I own a MEC zippered purse that I use when travelling. I like the fact that it has several zippered compartments for things like a passport or other travel documents.

If I need something else such as a laptop, work materials, books, research materials and so on, those I pack separately in a backpack or tote. I don't consider those items "purse items", they are "work items". So different category for me.
 
Reminds of the olden days when I had kids in tow everywhere I went. One day hubby moved my purse and said it was HEAVY - what the heck have you got in there? So we dumped it out.

*I* had my wallet (cards etc), keys for car, PO Box, house.

The kids had a large assortment of rocks, a piece of comfort blankie, pages of school work, crayons, an old spark plug, a doll's dress I had never seen befoe, three toy cars, pieces from a game, etc.................
 
I have decided I would rather have a purse just large enough that it isn't bottomless. I bought a smart one from Mark's WW that fits the bill perfectly. It's not large, but has deep pockets so things don't fall out. I carry my wallet, phone, notebook (yes I still use those), always at least 2 pens, my local lip balm, lipstick, a small container of all purpose greasy beeswax ointment, bandaids, hand sanitizer, shredded kleenex, flossers, hand cream, keys, sunglasses, Bach Rescue Remedy, earbuds, can't remember everything...all of which fit nicely in a 12x12" bag.
It also has an "across the body" strap, which I like because it stays put.
 
What's in my purse depends on how big it is. The bigger it is, the more likely it is to accumulate six weeks of church bulletins and a mountain of receipts before being turfed out.
 
Wallet, hand sanitizer, kleenex, meds (epi pens, usually lactaid, some type of pain killer, antihistamine, 2 inhalers, firazyr & supplies - alcohol swabs, another thing of hand sanitizer which reminds me I think I took it out and should replace it, sterile gauze, bandaids, icepack if it's hot and I'll be outside, used to be more supplies and hence a separate bag when it was the blood product), cellphone, a few reusable bags, purse hanger, lip balm, a very small notepad, pens, hand cream, keys, a compact even though I got out of the habit of wearing makeup most of the time years ago)
Usually some junk - a bunch of recipes & expired coupons, addresses scribbled on scrap pieces of paper, pens that don't work. I do regularly trash stuff but the smaller pieces tend to fall to the bottom and get cleared out on a few times a year.
Often enough - GPS (theft is an issue leaving it in the car), cell phone charger, sunglasses, water bottle, book for expected long waits.

So lots of stuff but the majority of it is reasonable to have in there.

For regularly swapping stuff over it's either my gym bag or a cross body bag when I need the very basics (been out for walks where I feel uncomfortable with not taking some things if just using pockets). In those cases the firazyr case with that and the supplies come along, wallet, cellphone, keys, kleenex is already in those. Inhalers if I think about it. I probably should take the epipens.

I find a big part of the problem of switching to another purse is reorganizing everything so it all fits nicely.
 
Reminds of the olden days when I had kids in tow everywhere I went. One day hubby moved my purse and said it was HEAVY - what the heck have you got in there? So we dumped it out.

*I* had my wallet (cards etc), keys for car, PO Box, house.

The kids had a large assortment of rocks, a piece of comfort blankie, pages of school work, crayons, an old spark plug, a doll's dress I had never seen befoe, three toy cars, pieces from a game, etc.................

AN OLD SPARK PLUG???????
 
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I now carry small bag. Because big bag ends up carrying too much

Wallet, reading glasses, sun glasses, car keys. Nail file and generic lip stick. Which my daughter thinks is absolutely terrible
 
As often as I can get away with it, I leave the house with my phone (which has a case, with room for cards, so I put my car stuff - license, reg, insurance in it) and my car keys/house key. However, big message for those who are trying to superminimalize - DO NOT put credit cards in phone cases with a magnetic closure. It can and does de-magnetize the card, rendering it unusable.
 
I now carry small bag. Because big bag ends up carrying too much

Wallet, reading glasses, sun glasses, car keys. Nail file and generic lip stick. Which my daughter thinks is absolutely terrible
I was doing that for a little bit, especially with also carrying the insulated lunch bag.

My current purse is one of those once with a small zippered section down the middle, splitting it in half. I went shopping specifically for something like that where half would fit the firazyr case (plus my epis, inhalers, etc. slidein there easily too, as they are much smaller) and not be much bigger. I wish I went a bit bigger! I find that a water bottle really just tucks in at the top with the straps and that kind of thing. Next one I guess :)
 
Water bottles combined with purses are a recipe for a wet disaster, imho. If I'm bringing a water bottle, it's on carabiner on the OUTSIDE of my purse/bag/whatever.
 
Water bottles combined with purses are a recipe for a wet disaster, imho. If I'm bringing a water bottle, it's on carabiner on the OUTSIDE of my purse/bag/whatever.
Usually for me, it's not in there long. Also, these are the one use type, reusable types tend to be bigger. So a simple screw cap isn't likely to leak from point A (usually my car, after being in the cup holder) to point B (clinic often).
 
(it was me re the purse).
To my defense, i have never had a small toiletry bag which is likely part of the problem.

so, what is in my purse...
my wallet -- with US cash, US credit card, CDN credit card (business), CDN credit (personal), another card (coz soemtimes the one card isn't accepted for business in canada ), cash cards (business & personal), canadian cash, gift certificates, id, Caa card, health card, insurance card, ID's for 3 companies, ..receipts for trip, change, etc. I am thinking of splitting it up, trying to figure out logic for that which would work)

Passport
car keys
business card holder
an id badge holder (clip on)
an id badge holder (around neck)
a phone charger
a cheque book (for me)

pen & pencil set
couple of misc pens that i dont' mind giving away (useful to have at airport, and hotels)
highligher
a small note book

thumb drive *2 (1 is for important stuff, the other gets wiped)

hairbrush
Medications
eyeglass cleaning packages
kleenex package
wipe & go shout
lip balm
hand sanitizier
floss
tylenol
Toiletries: liners

stuff for when visiting dad
hearing aid cleaning kit
hearing aid batteries (spare)
dad's closet key
cheque book for dad
dad's POA


thing to take out of my purse
scotch tape -- had at hotel in mke, forgot to pack, threw into purse, forgot to take out
necklace -- ditto, should be in luggage, but took off when driving and threw in purse
documentation to read on go-train
3rd thumbdrive
2nd lip balm

Things I accumulate, then put in a special spot when i get home
receipts

garbage:
fork/knife for my lunch, ended up eating at hotel which had fork knife
 
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Things in my backpack
3 different corporate laptops
1 personal tablet
4 differently coloured light nylon bags with the equipment for each laptop -- ie, power cord, authenticator token (if required), lock (if req'd), cable (hdmi to pin )
1 light nylon bag with headset & conference phone speaker

a big of paperwork to review (i try to keep to minimum),
official paperwork required to be able to product at border.
 
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