Challenge #8 - Clean out your purse

January 22, 2010 | HappyMom challenge

Welcome to the Happy Mom challenge. For more on this series, click here.

My purse is a mess right now. Like, seriously. I can’t find anything, it takes me more than four seconds to hoist it up on my shoulder because it’s so heavy, but the worst part of all is that I can’t seem to stop myself. Right now, I have a big roomy purse, big enough for all my essentials and then some.

What’s in my purse right now? Let’s see…

  • wallet
  • loose dollar bills
  • iPod car adapter
  • day planner
  • “thoughts” notebook
  • loose receipts
  • cell phone
  • two AA batteries
  • six random business cards
  • empty makeup bag
  • small felt baggie that’s supposed to hold my Flip camera
  • empty Ziploc bags that used to hold my kids’ snacks
  • two pairs of gloves
  • my work cell phone
  • my daughter’s almost empty inhaler I carry around for emergencies
  • umbrella
  • car keys
  • feminine products
  • a bottle of Victoria’s Secret Cranberry spritz
  • a jump drive

This is actually a good list, because I emptied my purse last week. This is actually what I consider to be the “essentials.” Since I have what I (and others) call a “suitcase,” EVERYTHING ends up in there and it usually takes me a few days to get everything that’s not needed out and in its proper place.

I notice whenever I do clean my purse, I feel better. I feel more organized and more….ready to go. I can find things when I need them and I’m not fooling around wasting time when my time is better spent kicking ass and taking names. You know?

So this is your challenge for this lovely Friday: clean out your purse. Get rid of those loose scraps of paper, grab all the change at the bottom and put it in the piggy bank, organize your wallet. Little changes add up to big changes, ladies.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter and check out the group on Facebook for more on young motherhood. (Be sure to check out our Question of the Day!) Even if you’re not a “young mom,” you are welcome to join! I'll see you there.

Share/Save/Bookmark

10 Comments »


Sometimes I think your comments are better than any post I could write. Make sure you leave one. :) I reply to each comment so know it won't go unread!
  • Milk & Honey Mommy said:

    Tara,

    It is very sad, but I don’t even have a purse. I’ve been carrying around a Whole Foods reusable (designer :) - Cheryl Crow designed) bag. Usually it is stuffed with my children’s stuff, but today it has my Bible, study book, and daily devotional in it. Oh hey, I just found a bag of my children’s stuff in it too, which is also in a bag inside of my bag. I do have a little satchel I carry w/my money and it is loaded w/change (can’t find one green bill), my drivers license, too many receipts, and some lip balm. I guess I’ll go roll some coins and trash a few receipts.

    How big is your bag; umbrella. What’s a jump drive?

    # 22 January 2010
  • Katie said:

    I try to clean out my purse every few days or so, because it drives me crazy when theres so much crap in there! But in just a couple hours, it seems like it was totally worthless. Frustrating. I even bought a smaller purse to discourage myself from stuffing so much crap in it, but somehow I always manage to find more room…its hopeless…

    # 22 January 2010
  • Ronnie_BMWK said:

    I found cracker crumbs at the bottom of my purse. You are right though…cleaning out your purse will make a big difference for your time management. I can’t tell you how long I look for my keys ..which are hiding in the mess in my purse. Sometimes I don’t see my keys in my purse and then I start running around the house looking for them and then I look in my purse again and there they are!!!

    Or even worse, my wallet had gotten FAT! It was full of old receipts, business cards of people that I do not remember and will never contact,old and new insurance cards…and a couple of dollar bills that I tucked in there and forgot about (yessss..i like finding money.) But the problem with this FAT wallet is that I could not get my debit cards in and out quickly or my license or my Sams club card. So I am always holding up lines trying to get stuff into and out of that FAT wallet.

    This is a good challenge!!

    # 22 January 2010
  • Tara (author) said:

    @Milk and Honey Mommy - Don’t feel bad about not having a “purse.” Seems like your Whole Foods bag is serving its purpose. I think I need to go back to wearing tote bags, because I need something with a little more structure, with more sections for my stuff. When I call my purse a “suitcase” it really is. That’s why I have things like umbrellas in it. It’s a decent sized umbrella too, but it doesn’t stick out. So sad. A jump drive is probably more commonly called a USB drive or a flash drive?

    # 22 January 2010
  • Tara (author) said:

    @Ronnie - I used to have random Cheerios on in my purse all the time. Those crumbs are no joke!

    And yes, I’m holding up lines with my wallet so I usually just stuff everything in my purse and figure I’ll straighten it out later. My husband is kind of obsessive about his wallet though. He has a certain order for his cards and he will take AS LONG AS IT TAKES after paying for something, to make sure everything is in the right order. All his dollar bills have to be facing the same way and on the same side. It’s ridiculous. But he’s never fumbling around looking for something. He’s organized and never flustered. *sigh* Maybe I should follow his lead…

    # 22 January 2010
  • Tara (author) said:

    @Katie - I’m even considering getting a new purse and ONLY buying one with more compartments to see if that helps. I was wooed by my current bag’s shiny gold interior, overlooking the fact that it has only ONE pocket. :(

    # 22 January 2010
  • Katie said:

    Thats a good idea, Tara. More compartments could help you stay more organized. I was also drawn to my purse despite the fact that it has only one tiny pocket inside by the pretty black/grey/silver swirl designs on the purse and the comfortable braided straps. I have a terrible time shopping and picking out nice things. I need a friend to shop with, I guess…

    # 23 January 2010
  • Mocha Dad said:

    I sent this challenge to my wife. I’m afraid of what lurks inside her purse.

    # 23 January 2010
  • Tara (author) said:

    @Mocha Dad - Yeah, “lurks” is probably the correct word. I went to pull out my wallet at the stores and all these iPod cords kept popping out. Folks probably thought I had a bomb of some sort. LOL

    # 23 January 2010
  • Manic Mommy Meg said:

    I just bought a new purse this past week so I am a step ahead of ya! I got to reogranize & clean it out. What a crap ton of old receipts! I dont know why I keep them, I never write the transactions down! Oh and a couple cough drops from a few months ago - a bit linty. Yum! haha.

    # 24 January 2010

I love comments - let me know what you think!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.