What's In My Purse?

You’d probably be surprised. My mom always carried an enormous purse with an amazing assortment of stuff in it, because, “You never know…”

I didn’t start carrying a purse until I got my driver’s license. Once I needed to have that with me at all times, stuff just started accumulating in my purse. And more than once, people have availed themselves of my purse’s bounty.

Need a tissue? Got it.
Need a nail file? Got it.
Hand cream? Brush? Pen/pencil/paper?
Got it.

Over the years, I’ve tried downsizing to a smaller purse. There are a lot of cute little purses out there, and you can’t put much in them. I always find myself trying to cram too much in and go back to using a larger purse for everyday use. For church, or some other outing where I know I’m not going to be gone long, I will sometimes get one of my cute little purses and only put in the absolute essentials. And most times, I will regret at least one of the things I leave out.

So here are the essentials:
Tissues
Lip balm
Pen/paper
Keys
ID (only if I think I’ll be driving)

Also added at times:
Money/credit card
Wallet (contains nail file)
Checkbook
Calendar

The rest of the stuff:
Coupons
Hand cream
Mints
Meds
Handicap tag for MIL
Brush
Address book

For special occasions:
Camera
Reading glasses
Other crap that people say “Here, put this in your purse, will ya?”

Whenever I come back from an outing where I used a cute little purse, I am always vigilant to take the stuff from that purse and put it back into my big one. Because, "You never know..."