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
The Mommy says
That errand bag? Genius! I have a tote that I keep a lot of unnecessary stuff in in my Space Shuttle (minivan) – that included most things that were in my diaper bag that I couldn’t justify carrying around once the youngest was (FINALLY) out of diapers. However, I have to keep receipts (how can you possibly know the charges are valid if you don’t know what you charged? Plus, my husband would start to twitch uncontrollably if I mentioned NOT keeping them, so…)
Cori George says
The errand bag has SAVED me (and my shoulder/neck!). I should probably pay more attention to my receipts, but I never got in the habit and I’m not sure how to start now!
Gina P says
I am a mom with 3 little kids. I never carry a diaper bag. It just became too much carting around kids, my purse, and then everything else we own in the diaper bag. Now I use the car as my diaper bag. There are diapers and wipes in the pockets behind the seets, change of clothes for everyone in the door compartments, and a small 1st aid kit, pens, Chapstick, plastic bags, etc. in the center console. I usually bring a bag with snacks and water bottles to keep in the car as well. In my purse I only keep my essentials plus 1 tiny toy car for each of the kids if we get stuck waiting somewhere and usually one diaper and a small pack of wipes. In the off chance we need more than what’s in my purse, we will be close enough to the car to take care of it. I also have a tiny purse that can only hold my phone, drivers license, and debit card so that I don’t even need my purse if I’m just running into the store or running errands by myself. It’s so freeing to not have to take a purse every where I go.
Cori George says
Oooh! It’s good to know that I don’t have to be weighted down with a huge diaper bag once these kiddos get here! I am planning on having a minimalist list like yours. Thanks!
Kyla says
You know starbucks has an app you can enter that starbucks gift card onto and be able to scan your phone to pay. They give loyalty and bonus drinks frequently as well. Win-win
Michelle @ Hey Love Designs says
These are great tips! Lately I’ve been super lazy and just carrying what I need in my wallet. It’s still kind of large though and I’m always paranoid that things are going to fall out!
I agree that any cards that you can get by with just a phone number can stay home.
Lori Van Dyke says
I like your small purse. Where is it from?
Alex says
Great post! I love your first purse! Where did you find it?
Dara says
I’ve been using the Second Bag idea for awhile now (I call it The Bookbag) and it helps so much!
Deb Housworth says
I started using the two bag system a couple of years ago. I have a small “wallet” purse with a long strap that I can wear across my torso instead of just on my shoulder. It can carry credit cards, cash, receipts (I keep mine), phone, keys, a pen, sharpie, and a lipstick. This is what I grab when I run in the store for something. If I think I’ll need something from the larger bag, I grab it and stick it in the smaller bag for the quick trip inside. This goes in a much larger bag that usually stays in my car when I’m out doing errands. It serves as a pseudo briefcase as well. It contains my sunglasses, spare reader glasses, business cards, comb, tape measure, nail file, highlighter pen, mini package of disinfecting wipes, small lotion bottle, a scrunchy, and a small toiletry bag (freebie from makeup purchase) containing contact lens needs, toothbrush, and floss sticks. My large bag has capacity for my laptop when I travel. I can usually fit my toiletry bag inside and a small memory foam pillow for my back when traveling by plane. I have several of these large bags with a matching smaller bag for seasonal color change like a black/black, navy/tan, white/tan. I often use a backpack and the small bag when traveling on vacation overseas. I use a very secure backpack that makes it difficult for the unsavory to access. One of my big black bags has a comfort web strap that can be lengthened to go across my torso as well working like a messenger bag. My teenage son has carried it for me when my back was hurting and it doesn’t look feminine at all. He looked quite european. Too cute!
Alyssa says
I have a calender reminder to clean my purse once a week. I keep a bag in the car with some things to have handy if needed, but don’t need to carry into stores or church with me.
Cori George says
Such a good idea, Alyssa!
courtney killpack says
This is something I need to do with my purse! What great tips you have. Thank you so much for linking up to the Be.You.Tiful Link Party. I’m featuring your post for this week’s link party! Yah!
Cori George says
Yay Courtney, thank you! (I don’t know if you remember, but we sat next to each other at the opening ceremony for SNAP!) :)