Works For Me Wednesday-Handbag Headaches
I don’t know about you but I carry around way too much stuff. I feel like a bag lady sometimes. Not only do I have a large purse that I carry way too much stuff in, I usually also carry some sort of small back pack to hold wipes, pull ups, drink cups, snacks, emergency undies, small toys etc etc. Oh, have I mentioned that I LOVE purses? I have probably 15 bags large and small stored securely in totes in my attic. I also tend to like…ahem…expensive purses. Coach, Kate Spade etc. They also tend to not be kid friendly. *Sigh*
I originally bought the back pack style purse (shown below) in order to try to use it as an all in one kid bag and purse. So far it’s not working well. It’s not big enough! The other problem I have is that my bags never stay on my shoulders. So I also thought buying the back pack style bag would help that. And it did somewhat. The only problem was that when I carry it on my back it’s not easily accessible for putting things in and taking them out. After using this bag for several months I found out that I need to get in and out of my purse a lot! And if I didn’t have it snapped completely shut everything would fall out in the process of swinging it over my shoulder. Another irritation. This bag was also not easy to clean. I can’t tell you how many times juice and coffee and have spilled on it in the car.
And don’t even get me started on Sundays! We have a church bag too! The church bag contains our Bibles, Sunday school materials, notebooks and coloring stuff for the girls to keep themselves quiet during the song service before they’re dismissed for Children’s Church. So, that makes THREE bags I usually carry around on Sundays. Talk about a drag!! I’ve been thinking that there has got to be a way to streamline and simplify this process! Imagine if I was trying to carry around a full fledged diaper bag!! So, yesterday while at Target, I bought yet 2 new bags/purses bag (I know, I know..) with a plan this time! Work with me here..
In the two pictures below you will see the mess of stuff I’m usually carrying around in my purse. With my new purse system I’m hoping to clear out some of that.
Notice there’s little pieces of trash that pile up? Ya, I apparently don’t clean my purse out often enough. I’m also one of those women that carry stuff around “in case I need it”. That’s why I have contact lens solution and eye drops. I’m always afraid I”m going to be out in public and have a contact lens emergency. It hasn’t happened yet but it could happen!! Also, how many lipsticks/glosses does one girl need? Nine if you’re me!!
So, my goal is to carry around one bag, and one bag only, that I call a “mom bag”. I’m going to consolidate my stuff and my girls stuff into one mom bag. It’s needs to be practical,easy to carry and easy to clean.(Inside and out) It also needs to be pretty, stylish and roomy.
Enter this lovely, red-ish-orange bag I bought at Target yesterday. (pardon the slouch!) I have never been so in love with something 100% polyester(inside and out!) as I am with this purse. This picture doesn’t do it justice. It also has a longer strap that clips on so I can carry this bag over one shoulder and across my front thereby keeping it from sliding off my shoulders.
Everything will go into this purse for day to day errands. But then on the rare day when I’m going somewhere by myself and I need something much smaller but still practical I can use this cutie on the right:
The inside of this purse is also a wallet so I can throw in essentials for a day at the mall or whatever. I’m keeping it hanging on the same hook as my larger bag for easy access.
What I’ve done and/or will be doing is throwing away all of my lipsticks that I’ve had for ages and kept my nice Mary Kay ones that are newer. I’m also getting hand lotion and hand sanitizer that is travel sized to keep in my purse rather than the big ones I have now. Not sure what to do about my coupon organizer yet….it certainly takes up a lot of space! Everything from the dirty, old, Strawberry short cake bag also fits nicely in with my stuff too.
This works for me!!
This post is linked up to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.
