alina warrick

Host of Immigrant Entrepreneurs Podcast

11 Easy Ways to a Minimalist Purse

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Minimalist purse

The minimalist purse

Women typically don’t see the impact of a heavy purse. We go about our days picking up our purse from the back seat of a car (shoulder impact), setting it down on the floor and picking it up (back impact) and carrying it all over the stores, malls, and anywhere we go (shoulder and back impact). Especially if we are wearing high heels, the weight is not proportioned and our bodies are unaligned. Although we might not notice the impact in the short term, it does affect us in the long term and then it hurts, like crazy.

The weight of your purse

Research says that a typical purse weight is averaged to be at 5.2 lbs. That means the weight can easily go up to 15.1 lbs. Can you image carrying a 5lb dumbbell, let alone a 15lbs dumbbell everywhere you go? No wonder it puts a heavy strain on our bodies.

Bigger is not always better

Although there is nothing wrong with huge, big bags that fit our styles they do tend to fill up fast and it’s no wonder we’re walking around with a 15lbs purse. What do we stuff our purses with? Well, typically it can be anything from diapers, nail polish (and remover!), memory cards, nail clippers, sun glasses, pepper spray, water bottles, books, etc. All the little things add up to 15lbs!

Items you really need in your purse

Go through your purse and pick out only the items that you use on a daily basis. Everything else should be put back to its place (either at home or in the car).

I used to carry around tea bags with me in my purse. I would buy several boxes of different tea collections and keep the tea bags with me.  I’m a tea addict and I love drinking tea wherever I go. This saves me money in the long run by not purchasing a $3 cup of tea several times a week but instead just asking for a hot cup of water (free!). I would be spending tons of money on tea if I didn’t go this route. Tea bags are not heavy, at all, but it brought extra mess to my purse that was unneeded along with tons of random receipts that I would keep. I now keep my tea bags in the car, that way I can grab it and go.

It might be hard to go through your purse and pick items that you only use on a daily basis and not keep everything else. In reality, do you really need to carry seven different types of lip glosses/lipsticks, all of that make up, several pens, markers and flash drives with you? Another way to think about it is: only keep items in your purse that you need to survive with. I know you can do this, and this will save you so much weight and it won’t affect your body.

You are free from clutter

Once you’ve cleaned out the purse, you will feel so much lighter. You will feel like you’ve bought a brand new purse and it’s beautiful. Your purse feels like a feather and you’re thinking, “why the heck didn’t I clear it out a long time ago?”

Ways to keep a minimalist purse

  1. Don’t say “yes” to the freebies at conferences, events, and stores and then shove them in your purse for later. You will never need them.
  1. Don’t save those coupons and flyers that you “might” need in the future. A lot of coupons are online, and most stores are now price matching items. I’ve found that being a cheaper route than using a coupon.
  1. Don’t save receipts unless they are neatly stored in your wallet, especially the ones from the grocery stores. Do you really think you’ll be returning that bag of potatoes that you’ve bought a thousand times already?
  1. Don’t keep business cards. Remember, it’s the 21st  century, everything is online.
  1. Don’t take off your jewelry and throw it in your purse to be put away in the future. I’m sure you can find jewelry in your purse from months ago. Now, it’s rusty and it doesn’t look sharp.
  1. Don’t carry around that pepper spray for 10 years and think one day you might actually need it.
  1. Don’t carry around your makeup. Makeup is sensitive to heat and other conditions. For lasting products, makeup should be kept in a safe place called home.
  1. Don’t use your purse as trash. The more you treasure your purse, the more it will retain its’ value. I’ve used the same purse for about a year and a half now. Don’t throw stuff in there for the means of tossing them later. It will look like you’re carrying around a nice bag of trash around with your keys and wallet hidden somewhere on the bottom of the purse.
  1. Try going smaller. I’m not saying to throw away your big purse, but next time you’re in need of a new purse, try getting a much smaller purse. That way, you’ll have no choice but to limit your purse belongings.
  1. Empty your purse out on a weekly basis. This will allow you to keep that minimalist purse that you’ve always wanted. Throwing away any extra junk on a weekly basis will give your purse a nice, clean and simple look on the inside.
  1. Don’t carry around your extra electronics (phone/laptop charger, batteries). Keep them at work, car or at home. One tip for your phone: don’t charge it overnight. Wake up in the morning, turn off your phone and plug it in while you get ready. It will charge super fast, and the battery will last longer.
minimalist purse

What’s in my minimalist purse? 

Wallet, work badge, mirror, keys, cell phone, pen, hair tie, peppermint essential oil, and one chapstick.

Happy living!