What’s In Your Purse?

I’m probably one of the few women who carry the bare essentials in a purse: a wallet, pen, small writing tablet, a few business cards, cell phone, reading glasses, and lipstick. The main thing I’ve learned as a woman approaching the body-falling-apart-age is that I should keep my load as light as possible.

I haven’t always been such a streamlined person. I learned a valuable lesson during a trip where I was concerned that I would be without something I might need while out doing some tourist thing. About an hour into my walking excursion, the weight of my purse began to cripple one side of my body, causing me to shift the weight to the other side. Of course, soon later, I was crippled on both sides of my body.

To make matters worse, it turned out I only needed my wallet and small purse-sized camera. I didn’t need to re-apply all my makeup, or eat all the snacks I carried so I wouldn’t starve to death during my excursion, or even read the book I thought I might read in case I got bored while hanging out with friends on an adventure.

I mean, what was I thinking as I prepared to be out drinking wine and being a wild girl? That I’d read a book?

I realize I’m not the only female who tends to fall into the carry-everything-in-your-purse trap. This dilemma has plagued a majority of women, and some haven’t learned my lesson, nor ever will I’m afraid.

Just shopping with a friend yesterday made me realize even more that this carry-all mind-set is still quite prevalent. There we were at the checkout counter when my friend opened her over-sized purse to get money out (which should be properly named a luggage-purse in a pretty color and expensive leather).

I stood next to her while she dug, pulling out a wrong wallet apparently, and eventually coming out with the wallet she wanted. I had the sudden urge to start singing and dancing to the “Hallaluya” song, but restrained from causing that kind of excitement in a subdued environment.

It actually wasn’t until three stores later that she couldn’t find her debit card at another checkout counter. That’s when I got to see what was really in her purse as she dumped everything out. Things sprung to view like, three checkbooks, two wallets, various portfolio cases of receipts and papers, a flashlight, a full makeup bag, a sewing kit, a notebook, magnifying glass, cell phone instructions, kleenix, vitamins, and various other “necessities” for our walk-about shopping trip.

I rather admired the fact that her cards and receipts were “organized” into various specified holders, except she only had to remember which was kept in what. I did however learn that all these items were her “Girl Scout, be prepared” motto.

After seeing this (and it wasn’t the first time I witnessed a search through over-packed purses), I began to observe what kind of purses women carried. That’s when my survey scan determined that 90% of women carried large bulging purses. The other 10% carried very small purses that looked to only be able to contain a few bare essentials for their outting.

It wasn’t just about the purse size however. My own daughter carries a small purse and, when opened, you’ll find loose money and cards and papers. So, what’s in her wallet? I ask.

It turns out, she’s just always in too big a hurry to be bothered with putting items away in the wallet or in purse compartments. That’s an entirely different issue; not to be elaborated on here.

If a woman were to ask me for advice about what to carry in their purse, I’d be very inclined to instruct them on managing it with a “can’t leave home without it approach. And that is to have 2 purses at hand: 1) a small one for short, designated trips with only the bare essentials for that outting and 2) a larger one containing all the “be prepared” essentials.

The truth is, I truly don’t believe that any woman should really be asking me what they should carry in their purse. It’s just one of those subject matters that’s not a “one size fits all”. And I might sound too brutal for them.

When all is said and done, I believe we’ll continue to wear heavy purses that cripple us and high heels that kill us.

Storage solutions

Clutter sometimes happens when we don’t have a place to put something. The solution is to create a place for items, and that’s where various storage products can help.

I came upon this video that shows product uses for organizing items:

Holiday Storage

New Holiday Storage Products

We recently added lots and lots of new products, including holiday storage solutions.

Check out our Holiday Storage items:

Off-site Storage

How to choose an off-site storage facility

I came across a very informative article within the Yahoo Small Business information services that gives advice on storing away archived documents. In an excerpt from this article (found in Yahoo Small Business Resources, Office & Technology, Business Services) it states:

“When choosing an off-site storage facility, you’ll want to keep a number of criteria in mind. First, ask yourself how often you will need to access the documents. If it is more than once a week, off-site storage may prove to be more of a hassle than a space reliever. Also, if you know that you’ll need to access records regularly, choose a facility that is close enough to offer delivery service in your area, as opposed to a cheaper one located further away.”

Read the full article.

Gift Wrap Clutter

Wrapping Gifts Made Easy

Wouldn’t it be nice to keep all your holiday wrapping in one place, nicely organized and easy to get to?

Consider using a gift wrap station, like this one that stores all those wrapping products. It sure beats the clutter of gift wrap paraphernalia!

For this item, click here to purchase.

You’ll find this and more items like it in our Product shop!

Organizing Gifts

Gift of Organization

With Father’s Day around the corner, think about gifts that help make dad’s life a little easier.

Think about his hobbies, habits, work, day-to-day activities — those things that he does or takes part in that may need some aspect of organization. It could be an electronic device that simplifies his life, or desk accessories that help him manage his paper and work, or some hand-made or custom item that allows him to store stuff.

Some decorative storage device that helps him store something is a perfect gift. Baskets and special containers are always a favorite for organizing items that clutter a space.

Check out some of the products available at www.organized-living.com/products.