This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I may receive a small commission. Please read my full disclosure policy for details.
A woman’s handbag is undeniably important. We’ve got a lot of stuff we need to carry around with us. But sometimes we’ll end up filling our bag with stuff that we don’t really need on us just because we can. Here are 8 quick tips for how to organize your handbag and carrying around the only what’s important while leaving the rest at home where it belongs.
Table of Contents
How to Organize Your Handbag
1. Lighten Up
According to the American Chiropractic Association, your purse should not weigh over three pounds. If it does, you can start to negatively affect your posture. It’s time for a serious organizing session to determine if what you have in there is vital. Of course, you need your phone! But you probably don’t also need your digital camera in there, now do you?
2. Organize Cards and Paperwork
With just a quick glance through your wallet, you will probably discover that there a few credit cards you hardly use, and maybe a library card that you never use. For the sake of lightening up the load of your purse, find a spot in your house where you can keep these cards to grab on the days when you actually need them.
A drawer works well: just make sure you remember which drawer you placed them in for easy access.
If you’re carrying around a lot of paperwork in your purse, this is another thing you might want to clear out. Receipts and bills should be kept at home where they can be more organized unless they are on the way out to be mailed somewhere.
Check out this if you need help to organize your bills.
3. Reduce the Amount of Makeup you Carry Around
Just because your entire makeup bag fits into your purse does not mean that you need to be carting it all around.
Are you really going to use your foundation and your bronzer again while you are out? Probably not. Usually, you can get away with a pressed powder and some concealer.
If you know you’ll need some foundation later, put some on a cotton swab and keep it in a plastic bag so that you can still have access to the product without carrying the entire bottle.
Pillboxes can also work great for carrying around a small bit of makeup, especially lipsticks. (You definitely should not be carrying around more than two lipsticks at a time.) Just slice a bit off and pop in one of the containers for a more portable version of your favorites.
4. Start a Coin Jar
All handbags, but especially large handbags are going to start collection change in them which can get pretty heavy quickly.
To combat the carrying around of extra coin weight, start a coin jar at your house and make it a point to empty your purse once a week. When the jar is full, you can cash it in and feel like you just made a little extra spending cash out of nowhere.
5. Create Your Own Pockets
Most purses have internal pockets. But to remain even more organized, get some small zippered mesh bags that you can see through. Have one for makeup, one for receipts you haven’t removed yet, etc. If you find yourself switching purses from day to night this will also help you better see what needs to transfer over to the next bag and what does not.
6. Remove the “Just in Case” Items
Things that fall under the “just in case” category can include things like sunscreen, umbrellas, jewelry changes, spare underwear. Of course, all of those things would come in handy some of the time, but you need to get clear about how much of the time.
Try planning in advance as much as possible or at least considering which “just in case” items are the least likely to be put to use on an average day.
7. Split it Up
If you have gotten in the habit of using your main purse for your gym bag and your overnight sleepover bag, it can be easy to start lugging around unnecessary items even when you are not doing any of those other activities.
Get a separate temporary bag to use for outings where you need to bring extra gear. Then get in the habit of emptying it out every time you get home. Nothing lives in the temporary bag and nothing temporary gets to live in your main handbag either.
Dasein Women Satchel Handbag Shoulder Purse 
Baggallini women’s Everywhere bagKate Spade New York Cameron Medium Satchel Ladies Shoulder Bag Ostrich Top Handle
What sort of purse makes you happy is going to be different for everyone, but there are some general attributes that are a good thing to look for.
First off, the purse should be relatively light when it is empty otherwise you’re just asking for trouble.
If you find yourself scrambling for your phone on a regular basis, maybe it’s time to upgrade to a bag that has an easy to access pocket for your phone on the inside or the outside. Think beyond cuteness. Blend style with function to settle on the perfect purse.
Are you guilty of overfilling your handbag or being overly prepared in the purse department? Let us know if you decide to tackle any of these tips to get organized once and for all!
Reply