There are lots of purse and bag organizing products available but I’ve never tried any of them. I never felt they were necessary. By choosing the right bag and the right accessories and following a couple of rules, I was always able to keep my purse or bag organized.
So here’s how I do it and here are my rules:
Choosing a Purse or Bag
Regardless of whether I’m choosing a purse or bag, the same criteria apply. I’ll warn you ahead of time that I have very specific things I’m looking for. I generally have a hard time finding what I want but I know it when I see it. So here goes:
1. Structure. I hate a bag that falls over when I set it down. It needs to be stay upright so my stuff stays where I put it.
2. A center divider. This isn’t a deal breaker but it’s my preference. And if the center divider is flimsy, I add cardboard to it to stiffen it. You can read about that here.
3. Outside pockets. At least one but preferably two. I use one pocket for my keys and one pocket for my phone. My current purse doesn’t have outside pockets. I’m dealing with it but I don’t like it.
4. Medium length straps. That really has nothing to do with being organized – it’s just what I like. I don’t like straps so short that I can’t carry the bag over my shoulder but I don’t like them so long that the bag bangs against my hip.
5. Open top. I hate zippers or flaps. I want to be able to get in the bag quickly and easily. And if my cell phone is in one of the interior pockets, I need to be able to hear it.
6. Inside pockets. At least a couple. I use those for lipstick, business cards, digestive supplements, cell phone.
7. Not too big. Not too small. (Do I sound like Goldilocks and the Three Bears?) But it has to be big enough to hold my planner.
Here are a couple of bags I’ve used in the recent past that fulfill most of these criteria:
This bag doesn’t have outside pockets. Other than that, it works pretty well.
I carried this bag a long time! It had everything, including a great color (I had carried mainly only black before I got this one). But after a while I just wanted something new.
This was actually a mini tote I got from Franklin Covey. The first one I got was pink and white and I wore it out. I was so sad about its demise that I got another one – but it was the brown one (they didn’t have any more pink and I had a heck of time getting a brown one – had to have it shipped from another store) which I didn’t like quite a as well. You can see this bag didn’t have a center divider but it had great outside pockets. It had one on the front and one on each end. I put my keys in one of the end pockets and my phone in the other. The only major problem I had with this bag was that the straps weren’t quite long enough. When I was wearing a coat, I couldn’t get the bag on my shoulder.
I thought this was an awesome bag when I got it but I didn’t end up carrying it very long. It had structure, the center divider, the pockets – but I couldn’t carry it on my shoulder and it leaned to one side (the side with the outside pockets). For some reason that bugged me. I haven’t gotten rid of it, though, because I really like it and I may end up using it.
Now, here are my rules:
1. I only carry the things I absolutely need. For me, that’s my wallet (a very small one), a clear cosmetic bag with odds & ends, several pens, a small notebook (in case I don’t have my planner with me), and, of course, my planner. I have a few small things that go in the pockets but that’s it.
2. I keep odds & ends in a clear cosmetic bag. It makes it easy to transfer those little things from one bag to another and I can see at a glance where something is that I’m looking for.
I’m a contractor’s wife so, of course, I carry a tape measure. You’d be surprised how often I use it. I also have a key to my husband’s truck. I don’t have it on my key ring because I never drive the truck. I always have my Swiss army knife – another thing you’d be surprised how often I use. And those are my husband’s reading glasses. Am I a nice wife, or what?! We always get to restaurants and he can’t see the menu. But he doesn’t want to carry them himself.
3. Keep it cleaned out. Sometimes after a shopping trip or a busy day, my bag gets full of stuff. Before I go out again, I clean it out. Sometimes that just means dropping all the extra stuff on my desk (my black hole!) and sometimes it means actually putting things away. But either way, they’re removed from my bag.
4. A place for everything and everything in its place. Since I always choose structured bags, it’s easy to assign each item a location and to keep it there. Sometimes items get moved around but I end up putting them back where they go without even thinking about it.
And that’s it. Finding the right bag and following the rules keeps my bag clean and orderly.
What kind of bag do you like? And what’s in your bag?
My bag is sooooo full!
Everyday i think i might put out something but i think that i may need *that* thing *that day* and i carry around everything 
I know what you mean! I switched to a very small purse for a while and was a bit panicked about leaving out my cosmetic bag with all my odds & ends. I found that I didn’t need it 99% of the time. The only thing I missed was my husband’s glasses and he actually survived without them. I ended up going back to a bigger purse, though – for my planner.
You might try taking out one thing at a time and seeing how it goes. Or, if you’re okay with a full bag, just keep hauling it around as is. There’s no rule that says you have to have an empty purse!
A few months ago, I bought a purse organizer from The Container Store. It was an impulse buy that I didn’t think I really needed. I already kept everything in little cosmetic cases and pouches. It has been a life saver though. I swap my bags a lot, sometimes more than once a day depending on if I’m going to work or going out somewhere else. Now I just have to pull the organizer out and put it in another bag and I’m done.
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I’ve seen those but never had one. I wondered if they would work well. Good to know.
{Melinda} I feel so much better! I’m not disorganized, I’ve just been buying the wrong purses!!
Seriously, it does make a big difference to have the right bag. I need a new purse, so I’ll be keeping these things in mind. You always have such practical tips.
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Thanks, Melinda. The right bag DOES make a difference! Good luck on your purse hunt.
I also have strict rules about the kind of purse I like to carry. I also like to have outside pockets – I prefer them to be one on each end but that has only happened once. I carry a bit more in my purse than you do. I have an odds and ends pouch, a wallet, a change purse/wallet thing where I keep the business credit card and business receipts, my glasses and pens. I am thinking about adding a pen pouch as well as I have ruined my last two purses by carrying pens that happened to leak. I suppose that is my own fault since my pen of preference is the Sharpie pen. If you happen to leave the lid off by accident or forget to hit the little button to make it retract your purse is in BIG trouble! I had to throw away my favorite yellow leather bag with all the right pockets because the ink was so bad it leaked through the leather and was ruining all my clothes! AGHHHH!!!!
Oh, that is SO sad about the pen ruining your favorite bag!!! Maybe a pen pouch is a good idea.
Those end pockets are hard to find but they are really helpful!
Oh, I love, love, love bags! I have quite a collection, ones for different seasons, for different uses, etc. I don’t think I have specific rules, but I don’t like big buckles or buttons or any kind of bling. I *love* the work bag I bought a while back, so much so that I bought it in three other patterns. Now I have one for each season. It is floppy and doesn’t stand up, which sometimes does annoy me. But what’s great about it is that it’s so big. I can chuck all kinds of things in there and it carries everything — working in a library, I often come home with books, audiobooks, DVDs, etc. With this bag, I don’t need a second bag for all of those items. (As it is, on days I go to yoga after work, I leave the house with 4 of them — my work bag, my lunch bag, my bag with yoga clothes, and the bag for my yoga supplies like my mat, blocks, strap, etc.) You can read about my work bag here:
http://wellplannedlife.blogspot.com/2012/04/working-girl.html or, if you’re really interested, you can read all of my bag posts (thus far) here:
http://wellplannedlife.blogspot.com/search/label/Bags
Wow! You do love bags!!! I read your post and was impressed at how organized you are with that many bags. I’m pretty much a “one bag at a time” girl. I’ve always wished I could switch around like you do. Very cool.
I find it rather easy, mainly because I keep all of the “little things” in a cosmetic bag. So when I switch, I’m only switching my wallet, cosmetic bag, glasses case, and a couple of other items. If I had a large amount of little stuff, I probably wouldn’t do it.
Yes! That definitely makes it easier to switch.
Once when I switched, though, I forgot to check that inside zipper pocket. Then I donated the purse to the thrift store. I was SO lucky in that the lady who processed it found the checks and called me. Whew! That could have been bad.
Oh, and a friend of mine gave me some of her wallets that she wasn’t using. I found a hundred dollar bill in one of them. She was pretty excited when I told her.
So now I check every pocket when I’m switching.
I have similar rules and one I recently added was to be able to hold a small bottle of water. I’m used to drinking a lot of water & when I’m out for awhile shopping I like to put one in my purse so I can be hands free. Something for you to think about with keys & phone. I never put them in my purse. The extra set of keys is in my purse, but car keys only & phone go in my pockets. That way if my purse is lost or stolen, I still have my lifelines!
Elaine – glad to know I’m not the only one who does that with keys and phone. I don’t always do it but I do it a lot. I’m always worried someone will snatch my purse while I’m walking to the car. Good tip.
My daughter likes purses with room for a water bottle, too. I go to the bathroom so much that I never drink water when I’m out. I’d never leave the bathroom! But for people with normal bladders, that’s a great idea, too.
Your rule number 5 is the complete opposite of mine. I MUST have a bag that zips closed. I’m too clumsy, I’d be dumping the contents of my purse all the time if it were open like that. I also like an outside pocket. I keep a small package of tissues and a small bottle of hand sanitizer (in a ziploc bag!) in it. I don’t like to carry a lot of non-essential items either but I really could do a lot better with keeping my bag cleaned out regularly. When I do clean it out, I’m usually removing all kinds of receipts, random unused coupons, and bits of paper.
I’ve been really lucky about my purse not tipping over and dumping out the contents. I think that’s only happened once. I can see why you would want a zipper, though. It’s more secure, too – for snoops.
I have been very happy with my Finchley expandable tote bag from Filofax. I have it in black and in brown (both from ebay for a very decent price considering the quality). The purse has a small zipped outside pocket, where I keep my lipstick and perhaps a key (my car keys are usually in my coat jacket). On the inside it has some small pockets, that I hardly use. Just a package of tissues and some gum. In the main part of the bag (no dividers!) is my planner, a tube of handcream and for the rest nothing. It might seem odd that I carry such a huge bag for such a few things. However ….
…..
I’m notorious for forgetting to bring my grocery bag. And when I do my shopping, it’s simply A-MA-ZING how much of the stuff I can put in my bag! LOL
Another big plus of that bag: the straps have the exact right length to comfortably carry them over the shoulder. And – most importantly – they don’t slip off your shoulder (a problem I’ve had with a lot of other bags).
I actually understand that completely. I love having a bigger bag but one that doesn’t have much in it. Then when I’m out and about, I have somewhere to put things. If the purse starts out full, it’s heavy and there’s no room for additions. My daughter-in-law is the same way: big bag, but fairly empty.
I haven’t seen that Finchley expandable tote bag. I’ll have to look it up. Sounds interesting.