How to Organize a Purse

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Krista Colvin, a professional organizer and owner of The Shebang, The Smart Woman's Guide to Doing it All! I'm going to show you how to simply and quickly organize your purse. Grab your handbag, dump it out, but dump it into a tray so the stuff doesn't go everywhere. So I've already dumped some of my stuff but there's always the remainders, lipstick, I always have too many of those in my handbag. So take a look at what you have, sort through it and remove what doesn't need to be here and then also make a pile of the keepers that do need to go into your handbag. So obviously, a wallet is a keeper, my sunglasses, but you know, how many clips and pens do you really need in your handbag? You just need one, you don't need those, but one pen and you won't lose it if you only have one, trust me. So remove what you don't need, determine what you do need to keep and then decide how you're going to arrange your handbag. So most handbags have all sorts of pockets built into them. And when I look at a handbag, I like to determine before I buy it, will it function for me? So is it function, functional and is it fabulous? So outside pockets are great for your phone, easy access and you can get that. And then also, what else do you find yourself grabbing on a regular basis? For me, it's two things, gum and lipstick. Now I only need one lipstick that I wear all the time, in the pocket, the rest can be kind of hidden away because I don't need simple and quick access to them all the time. So for inside the bag, I love using an insert like this and this one's called the Bag Made and they make different kinds. But this one in particular, it's flat on the bottom and it's easy for me to stick my things in, and then remove when I switch handbags. So wallet, sunglasses, little pocket sin here for my extra lipsticks and something that I find I need all the time, is just a little pad of paper. So I take that and I keep it in there and then of course, I have my, my favorite pen. Other little objects that seem to, to float around are business cards and whether they're mine or they belong to someone else, I need a place for them, and then also gift cards and paper galore. So gift cards that are basically money in hand, I think these should go directly in your wallet, and put them somewhere where you can see them. So whether it's where your credit cards go or right in your money pouch, either way , keep those close at hand, so you'll use them. And then for all those other paper items I was talking about, I love using little organizers like this where I can shove my receipts in them and they're not clogging my wallet. So go through, determine what you need to remove and what you would like to keep paper wise, and that can go right in your handbag. A couple other little items that are always the random ones, the Band-Aids, the hair accessories. Remove the ones you don't want and then the ones you want to keep in there, just stick them in a little cosmetic bag, put that in your handbag, and you're good to go and it's quick."