{31 Days To organize the "hidden" areas of your home} Day 16~ Organizing Your Purse

It may seem obvious as to how to organize your purse but it took me many years of struggling with this before I found something that works for me. I was always at a loss as to how much to keep in my purse. You never know- I might need that...and that...and that...etc. And you guessed it...my purse weighed a T-O-N! So I decided to do something about that. I emptied everything out and asked myself "do I absolutely need this in here?" Like anything else, the answer on most things was a resounding NO. The must-haves for me include my favorite lipstick (not 3) a small bottle of Ibuprofen, a small hand sanitizer, tissues, 1 pen, a small notepad, my wallet, a small mirror, a key-ring with cards from stores or libraries, keys, mints, and my smart-phone. (I do not carry my checkbook with me any longer. We have a check-card that I carry instead. It takes up much less space.) Currently, I am using a Vera Bradley purse that has pockets inside on both sides of the purse. I put things in these pockets that I might need to get at quickly- like my phone and keys. I also made two small quilted cosmetic type bags, one is pink and the other is yellow. In the pink one I put things that are of a personal nature like mints, lipstick etc and in the yellow one I put things like the notepad, card ring etc. This way I can find things quickly and spend less time digging through the bottomless pit that everything used to fall into. This also makes changing purses a very quick process-just grab it all and put it in the new bag. 

Let's have some fun- leave me a comment with what you think are "must-haves" in your purses and I will enter your name in a drawing for this handmade cosmetic bag. I will put all the names in a basket between now and Sunday night October 20th. On Monday the 21st I will have Abi pick a name out of the basket and will announce the winner on my blog. So share the word about the give-a-way with your family and friends.