Join Kathi and Erin MacPherson as they talk through why it’s important to clean out your handbag and how to do it. It’s not hard, but it’s important. Grab 2 plastic bags and listen in to hear Kathi’s simple steps to get rid of the clutter in your handbag. You’ll be so glad you did.
As promised, here are the pictures of Kathi’s bags…
Giveaway
Kathi is giving one set of 3 Clear Bags to one listener (US resident only) who shares a great idea for keeping your bag clean and neat. Leave a comment to be entered.
Meet Our Guest
Erin MacPherson
Erin MacPherson lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Cameron, her sons Joey and Will and her daughter Kate. She is the author of “The Christian Mama’s Guide Series“, a staff writer for Dun & Bradstreet and a freelancer for publications like Thriving Family Magazine, MOPS MomSense, FamilyLife Magazine, Daily Guideposts and BEMag. She blogs about her life, her kids and her faith at ChristianMamasGuide.com.
Thank you Kathi for all your great info.
I find is important to clean out purse after you come home any papers
things we picked up; helps a lot and the many good tips from other ladies 🙂
which I meant to list as well.
God bless you ~
I can’t stand a cluttered purse. I scan my receipts into rebate apps and shred or file every evening. I have pouches for lip gloss, gum and mints, essential oils and rescue meds that I can pull out by feel. And my keys are on a wristlet that is easy to grab.
Hi Shawna Lee,
Congratulations! You are the winner of the giveaway! I will send you an email for your mailing address. Thank you for participating!
I never let garbage ever enter my bag … gum wrappers? Straight from my hand into the garbage can. Receipts? Put them in my wallet or leave them in the bag. Kids’ garbage … take care of it themselves. This seems to keep my bag less dirty
Clean your purse out weekly or biweekly. Don’t stuff receipts and wrappers in your purse. Only 1 or 2 pens (instead of 10 lol). I keep my keys in the outside zippered pocket; makeup in the inside zippered pocket. Get a thin wallet to save on space.
I try to clean my purse out once a week. I also tell places I don’t want my receipt – it creates less random clutter to clean out later.
I have a problem with purses- meaning I love them and love to change them. I keep a few staples in every purse I have such as tissues, pens, lipgloss and female items. So when I change purses, all I have to move is my wallet, my checkbook and fave lipstick.
My biggest tip is to just travel light. I do not schlep my kids’ stuff. Not my responsibility! When they started potty training they got a little backpack. THEIR stuff, THEIR responsibility!
I also am ruthless about carrying a smaller purse. The smaller purse forces me to carry what I will actually need and a few emergency items. Once I had a single gal at church come up to me, “hey, you’re a mom, do you have a bandaid?” Yes, I have *A* bandaid, not an entire first aid kit!
I have 2 great ideas for keeping my bag clean and neat – if I could attach pictures I would but I’ll do my best to explain.
I have a nice wallet that closes and I love – but I have 5 kids and have lots of cards I don’t need all the time but still need (insurance cards, dental cards (they each have a different card!) ) so I bought 2 small “card only” wallets – I have one for insurance cards and another for misc cards (library cards, rewards cards etc) – I keep those in the inner zipper of my purse as I don’t need them as often – but when we need them – they are there! My kids know where they are too – if we are on our way to the library – I will be driving and say get the library cards out – and they know exactlty where they are! I have been using this for a few years now and love it!
My other suggestion is the “bagnet” – google it ?
It’s a magnet that attaches to your bag – you can hang it on any metal surface (think bathroom door with no hook) – and my keys stick to it so I always know where they are ?
Happy bag cleaning!
I call my pouch of odds and ends my “just in case” case & leave it in my car instead of adding the weight to my shoulder bag. I got this from Elaine St. James suggestion in one of her simplicity books – pour entire purse on table and only put back in your purse the items you have used/touched in the past week. Even decluttered my wallet this way. The other items you haven’t used store in your trunk (my just in case case!) It felt so drastic but was eye opening! I carry a big bag as well but have very little in it now and enjoy having room to add a book, water bottle etc if needed on outings.
I keep my hand sanitizer clipped to my purse strap, so it is easily accessible for little hands.
And, I have a purse with an outside pocket, which is where I keep my keys, so they are easily accessible and not lost in the rest of the *clutter.*
I hate finding my keys. My latest purse has a tab at the top where I attached two caribeaners. One I click the car keys to (because I have the car that doesn’t need the key in the ignition – just in the car) and another that holds the other keys. Then I found one of those ID extension holders and put the house key on that. When I need to unlock the door, I just reach in and grab it, and it extends to open the door with my purse still on my shoulder!! No more digging or having to set my purse down to get inside!!
Kathi – thank you for all you have said and done to encourage and strengthen us.