Decluttering Your Handbag

Our handbags tend to become quite full of unnecessary things over time and if you aren't taking the time to regularly clean out, declutter, and purge your handbag, it's going to become harder and harder to find what you need quickly. Here's how to properly declutter your handbag.
Take everything out.
Yes...everything!   Dump it out.  Make sure every little zipper pocket or pouch is empties out onto a surface you can work on.  Once it's empty, give it a good shake over a trash can to get all the dust, dirt, and crumbs out of there too.  

 

Sort everything into categories. 

Trash is obviously trash and should be removed first and thrown away.  Any wrappers, tissues, etc. should go right in the garbage.  Then you want to sort everything out in to categories.  It can be categories by use or item type or even the type of storage needed. I categorize items that go in the zipper pouch together.  Makeup items can go in one pile, first aid in another, important things like wallet, work ID, etc. can go in another pile.  

 

Remove what you don't need. 

Ask yourself why you carry the items in front of you in your handbag.  If you aren't sure why, those items should be given a new home elsewhere.  If you haven't used an item in years, it probably won't be used in the future.  There are of course items for emergencies, like I always carry a teeny tiny pair of foldable sewing scissors in my handbag because you just never know.  While I haven't used them in a while, they have come in handy in emergency situations so I always will carry them in my bag.  If you have multiple items see if you can reduce the number.  I realized I had 7 tampons shoved into my handbag.  The likelihood of me needing those 7 in one day when I'm away from home are pretty slim so I kept only 2.  Do this one by one with every item from your handbag until you are left with only the things you want to carry in it.

 

Use bags and pouches to keep like items together. 

I keep a little makeup pouch in my handbag for first aid items like bandaids and also for things like lipstick, a nail file, etc.  Keeping these in a pouch make it easier to find them and my handbag looks so much more organized.  If you carry an emergency snack or two at all times (nothing wrong with that), consider keeping those items in a plastic baggie so you don't make a mess in your handbag but also so it's easy to grab.  

Put everything back in a sensible manner. 

Things you want kept secure can be put in the zipper pouch.  I always keep a chapstick at the ready in the interior pocket so I can reach right in and get it without even looking. I keep my sunglasses in a case so they don't get scratched.  I only really have 4 loose things at my purse at any given time. My wallet, my keys, my makeup bag, and my sunglasses case.  

Go through your wallet. 

Now that you have made progress, you can do this same process with your wallet.  It's always important to be mindful of what's in your wallet.  Imagine if your handbag got stolen and you didn't know what was in your wallet.  How would you know what cards to cancel and what needs replaced.  Thing like your social security card aren't needed on a regular basis so should be kept securely at home.  You don't need to carry every single debit or credit card in your wallet. Store them securely at home and only keep one with you at all times.  If it gets stolen, it's much less of a hassle to cancel just that one card. Make sure your wallet is neat and tidy in it's own way.  Organize your bills in whatever way makes sense to you, find a pocket for your coupons and only keep what hasn't expired. 

 

Having a decluttered and tidy handbag can make life so much easier especially when you're in a hurry.

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