Stop carrying around so much stuff! Here are my small purse essentials, plus seven tips to help lighten your load and take a weight off your shoulders—literally!
Okay, ladies. WHY do we carry around so much? I’m a self-professed light-packing guru and I still drag so much around with me on a daily basis. Here’s my bag. I wish the photo had something for scale—it’s an enormous bag.
Ryan refers to my purse as The Abyss and if I ask him to get something out of it, he gets a look on his face like maybe he’ll lose a few fingers to the gremlins that live in there. Recently I’ve gotten tired of lugging so much around. My shoulder is sore, receipts seem to multiply faster than rabbits, I can never find my keys, and even though it’s the size of a small suitcase, I still manage to, say, leave it at Alberto’s Mexican Food after stuffing my face with a plate of tacos and Mexican rice (That did not happen the other night. Nope.).
Here’s what was in it (totally unedited—it’s about to get real around here.)
What’s In My Purse?
- My regular glasses
- My sunglasses+ case (note my sunglasses weren’t even in the case — bad Cori)
- My phone
- Scissors
- My driver license renewal paperwork (it’s been in there for months)
- Our marriage license (for changing the name on my car’s title)
- A recipe for tzatziki
- A coupon for JoAnn
- Stamps
- Five pens
- Chapstick
- Spare change
- Gift cards
- Kindle
- My wallet with a billion cards (the case with the sunglasses on it)
- Hair tie and bobby pins
- A bag of trail mix
- My health insurance card which somehow escaped the wallet
- A book
- Kleenex
- Old receipts
- Business cards
- Keys to my Mini Cooper, house, studio, and various other places
- Key to the Volvo, with my Snape keychain
Good. Ness. Gra. Cious.
So I’ve decided to drastically cut back to just my small purse essentials. I’ve seen a lot of posts on how to organize the stuff in my purse, but not how to carry less overall. So this is my attempt to cut back and live more simply with my shoulder bag.
I’m not sure how this will work when we have kids someday, but for now my shoulder needs a rest. There’s no reason to carry around so much stuff!
Seven Tips for a Lighter Purse
1. Get rid of the cards
First of all, I could probably live free for a month off the number of gift cards I had floating around in my purse.
That’s not to mention debit and credit cards, loyalty cards, health insurance cards, cards, cards, cards. I went through and figured out what was absolutely essential and only carry those cards now. In most instances, stores can use my phone number to look up my loyalty account — no need to carry around those cards. I know my 16-digit library card number and my medical record number by heart. Gift cards went in a red case in a dish by the front door so Ryan and I could sort through them to find something for date night, instead of having them languish in the back of my wallet.
2. Carry a smaller wallet
My wallet with the camera on the front had six hundred slots for cards, thirteen dividers, a check book, and four places for pens. Now I carry around a hardcase wallet. It holds what I need — and I can’t stuff much else in there and have it still shut. Keeps me from overloading my wallet with, well, anything. I ended up with my driver license, two credit cards (one personal, one business), my ATM card, my IKEA family card (since we’re over there all the time during this remodel), and my Starbucks card (hiding my driver license, so y’all can’t stalk me.) These are some great hardcase wallets.
3. Carry nothing “just in case”
Are you always carrying around an umbrella just in case? A bag of trail mix? Four kinds of pens? A bottle of Advil? A flashlight? One time a friend unearthed a can of Progresso soup from the depths of her purse! One of the tenets of living a more simple life is trusting in having less. You can survive with less. If you haven’t used it in the last three months, it’s gone. Or go cold turkey — only carry the bare essentials for a week. You’ll find a burden lifted from your shoulders. And should it rain? Dance in it instead!
In my purse I ended up with:
- My smaller wallet
- Business cards
- Chapstick
- Phone
- Pen
- Keys I use on a regular basis
- Sunglasses (in their case)
- Regular glasses
That. Is. It. These are my small purse essentials.
4. Tame the receipts
I am not a receipt collector. I don’t use them in my budgeting. The only receipts I keep are for things I may want to return. Other receipts in my purse are basically trash. Why am I carrying around a bag of trash? Instead, whenever I get a receipt, I immediately trash it. I have no time for sorting through receipts!
5. Carry a smaller purse
I used to have the motto that I’d never carry around a purse that wasn’t big enough for a book. But guess what? Even though I often have a book in my purse, I rarely read it these days. I can read on my phone, and my kindle is pretty small if I do want to throw something light in my bag to read. Get a purse that only accommodates the essentials. Carrying around an enormous purse is only asking for unnecessary items. There are a ton of cute small purses.
6. Try the “two bag” philosophy
I finally figured out that I need two bags. I need a small purse with the essentials, but I still have a lot of stuff I need to lug back and forth between my house, running errands, and my studio. So I have a second bag for these things — sometimes I use a big quilted bag I made a while back, and sometimes I use a backpack. Nothing actually lives in this bag, but it’s perfect for toting items back and forth in the short term. Need to bring something to a friend? It goes in the errand bag. Have a file of coupons? Errand bag. Want to bring my laptop to work? Errand bag. Want some knitting while waiting for a doctor’s appointment? Errand bag. It’s so much better than trying to lug all that around in my day-to-day handbag.
A diaper bag totally counts as a separate bag — you shouldn’t have anything in your purse that truly belongs in the diaper bag.
7. Clean out your purse regularly
No matter what you do, there’s a good chance things are going to get messy in your purse. Instead of making it a once-a-year cleaning, dump out your purse once a week or so and get it back down to the small purse essentials!
Have any tips for carrying around less? Moms — what do you do to save your shoulders?
Comments & Reviews
Jess @ Chaos & Love says
I use the two bag system most of the time but stuff crosses over a lot. I need to be better about cleaning out regularly.
Cori George says
Me too. I think I could contain the chaos better if I was better about going through my bag regularly!
Hannah says
Because I carry around a diaper bag most of the time, and use that as my purse (I hate carrying more bags than I need), unless there’s a reason to bring a purse, often time I leave the house (when I’m by myself) with: my phone, keys, driver’s license, and a credit card. All fit into pockets. The end.
Cori George says
Sometimes I can go without the purse, too! I love those days.
Stephanie says
I recently started using the keying app on my iPhone for all my loyalty cards etc. I even put my library card on there and that has lightened my load considerably. I always have my phone with me and it even has a scanner where you snap a pic of the card and it stores it etc. And now I don’t have to out a bunch of stuff on my actual key ring either. Last thing I need is a huge bulky key chain, you know! Plus I found a wallet that fits my iPhone in it so a lot of times I just grab that from the diaper bag and I am good to go. It has a removable strap if I want to carry it cross body. I am a super minimalist since I carry so much for my kids so no makeup, etc for me! Only a wallet and phone. Great post!
Cori George says
These are such good ideas! I like the idea of having a wallet with an iPhone slot, so I could grab it if I was feeling really minimalist one day!
Christy says
I pulled infant socks out of mine this morning while looking for my classroom keys and I thought to myself, “Self, it’s time to clean out this purse.” Good timing, Cori.
Cori George says
Ha! At least infant socks are small and light? It wasn’t like there was a giant pair of wool hiking socks. Silver lining? ;-)
Jen says
My tip is to carry around smaller versions of items whenever possible. I do have a problem with receipts accumulating, but I manage to fit a LOT into a surprisingly small bag (for me, anyway) — I have a Miche classic. I do have a Sharpie in my purse, but it’s a mini; I have the smallest mirror I could find; I have a teeny tiny little sample bottle of hand lotion; I do have a bunch of loyalty cards, but they’re all the keychain versions (which live on a separate keychain from my keys, and stay tucked away in their pocket unless I need them). There are some things I could probably keep in my car instead, but it’s really the receipts and coupons that are what make my purse a mess… So yeah, the weekly cleaning would help a lot with that! :)
Cori George says
Such a good idea! I could be carrying around a tiny sharpie! I love it!
Lynn Dees says
Those tiny Sharpies are “cute” and space-saving… but very hard to open for me, b/c they are so tiny… not much to grip trying to get the other HALF off… each half is a part of the pen… one half is the “top” that has to be removed. Maybe it’s just my problem, but just thought I’d throw that out, FYI. I’m always afraid that the whole thing is going to flying off in pieces when I finally get it open, and you know Sharpie….. it is PERMANENT.
Jess says
A great app to use on your phone for all the Loyalty cards is Key Ring. Scan your cards in and then you can pull them up on your phone in the store! I now only keep the full size cards of the places I shop most frequently and those are kept in a binder at home in the office!
pat says
I found an app on my phone for all my loyalty cards. Now all I have to do is scroll down and find the one I need.. done and done the app is call “KEY RING” check it out.
Karen Peterson says
I recently made the switch to a smaller bag and it made a HUGE difference!
I still have a problem with spare change, though. It always ends up in the bottom of my bag and adds extra weight. I forget to clean it out regularly, so it piles up. Reminding myself to clean out my purse weekly will help with that problem.
Cori George says
Yeah, I try not to carry around too much cash in general (was robbed at gunpoint a few years ago and lost a bunch of cash), but I agree — it’s the change that’s really the problem. We have a jar in our closet — I try and remember to dump out the change there!
April @ illistyle says
Errand bag – freakin’ genius! Why do I throw cross stitch into my purse? Why do I put the reusable grocery bag in there after I have unloaded? They can go into an errand bag (or car bag in my case) and go back and forth to the car with no need to get lost int he purse. So Smart!
Cori George says
And so much less to carry around all the time!
Susan Baxter says
I love this post – I am traveling these days with virtually the identical sets of items (plus business cards). I have to confess – I am still a little nervous after banishing my “toiletry bag” from my new bag, meaning I’m traveling without hair and tooth brushes! I also laugh out loud that your pen of choice is a Sharpie!
Cori George says
I find my penmanship is the best with a Sharpie, plus it writes on EVERYTHING. Give me a Sharpie over a ballpoint, any day!
Jen says
Love your wallet! I have the same one, only green. :D (Excellent philosophy, too.)
Cori George says
Great minds, my friend!
Elizabeth McKinney says
Where did you get your original wallet? I would love to get a couple of them for my photographer friends
Cori George says
Hi Elizabeth — I have NO idea. It was a long time ago. My best guess would be Target, but I’m sure they don’t have them anymore. So sorry!
Meg says
Great tips here! I actually did a major purse overhaul a month or so ago — it was truly ridiculous what I’d been carrying around in there. Like you, I was getting shoulder pain . . . and since I spend about nine hours a day working at my desk (where I have every “just in case” item imaginable), there was really no excuse for lugging around so much random stuff! None. Zero.
Carrying a smaller purse has really made a difference, too. Through the winter, the bag I was carting around was really more of a tote — but my current purse, one that had always lived in my closet but was deemed “too small,” is perfect. I have only the essentials and nothing more, and I actually find things so much easier! It’s like a weight has been lifted — literally. It’s nice streamlining. Very nice, indeed! :)
Cori George says
Isn’t it so much better? Running errands is so much easier, and I rarely find myself carrying more than I need to even in my utility bag — why put extra stuff in there?