Ladies' handbags

[Graye]

I don't normally carry one here in France, just some ID and money. As we are off back to the UK shortly I thought I would sort mine out and I'm horrified at the rubbish we carry about!

In mine (quite a small bag, deliberately) I found:

My passport (the loss of which inspired the search)
Keys for our UK house
Autan bug spray
My watch
Little stash of unidentifiable and slightly fluffy tablets
Pot of Vaseline
Mini pack of moist toilet tissues (essential in France - why were they hidden in the handbag?)
Sachets of sugar (I don't take sugar)
Sachet of ketchup (ditto)
Various loose coins (euros and sterling)
Steel rule
Mini screwdriver toolkit
Torch
Chequebook (I wondered where that had gone)
Pair of scissors
Indelible marker
Gel pen
Pencil
Nailfile
Hair clips and pins
An afro comb (no idea where that came from!)
Various pointless receipts and bits of paper/envelopes

I'm dreading being back in the UK and getting back into the habit of hauling that lot around. Why on earth do we do it?

[invisiblepiper]

Hmm - mobile phone
purse
tissues
swiss army knife - mini one
gel pen
lip salve
1p
house keys
Xmas cracker keyring?

Not really a 'handbag - but a zipped shoulder bag which I can wear across my body! - often has dog poop bags too! (empty ones!)

[Milims]

I don't think I dare answer this one! The usual list consistis of:
Tissues - used and unused (yuck!)
receipts
vaseline
screws
gromits
rawl plugs
dental floss
pen
note book
more tissues
tomato ketchup sachets
a loose coin or two
spoon
purse
bits of paper
cereal bar
hair bobble
crystal
worry doll
lucky charm thingy that the kids gave me
keys
Book
Lavender oil
obscure gritty stuff
the list is endless! On the up side while I was in france with the school choir it became known as the magic hand bag because I could manage to produce exactly what the child needed when they needed it!
It's no wonder it takes me half an hour to find anything in there tho!

[Graye]

...then I found another pocket I hadn't noticed with -

Cat tranquilisers (for travelling)
More sugar sachets
A tube of Arnica tablets
More coins
Metal pull from a zip
Biro refill

Scary! I hope I can discipline myself NOT to do this when we are back home. After all I haven't used it for months...

[Millymollymandy]

Mine has passport (must carry it by law here),
various bank, credit and medical cards
various bits of paper confirming various medical affiliations (necessary in France)
carte de sejour (albeit way out of date)
keys
mirror
maglite torch
make up bag not containing make up but things like painkillers and antihistamines, tampons, nail file, sinex, lipsalve etc
Purse
Diary
mobile phone
biro
tissues
sunglasses
the odd sweet or chocolate you get here every time you order a cup of coffee in a cafe
few odd receipts
Milim's grit

I cannot go anywhere without my handbag; it is about as essential as my right arm.

[Rosendula]

I can't be bothered with handbags. I put my purse in a coat pocket that has a zip on and off I go. In summer, when I don't wear a coat I don't take my purse and just take the money and cards, distributed around various pockets of my jeans.

I've never been able to work out why people need handbags

[invisiblepiper]

I don't like lumps in my clothing where Ive stuffed a wallet/tissues/ pen etc! May be that's why?

[StripyPixieSocks]

If it doesn't fit in my pocket it doesn't go out with me, I've never carried a handbag, I'm not a girlie handbag kind of girl, they're totally lost on me but then I always had my biker jacket on and it always has lots of pockets.

Nowadays as I can't fit in my jacket I stick my inhaler and whatever else in my OH's army jacket which has lots of tardis pockets!

[snapdragon]

I really dont like handbags - if it dont go in my pockets then I'll carry a small lightweight backpack

[LBR]

Flashlight
pocket knife
keys
spare keys
lip salve
medicine
eyeglasses
billfold with bank notes, and pieces of plastic (incl. a credit card-sized magnifier)
change purse
pen
notepad
telephone
prayer beads
hair scrunchie
envelope of business matters to attend to
receipts
tissues

Sometimes: a crochet hook and a ball of thread, or small skein of yarn
a small book


(I recently switched handbags, so this one is smaller and cleaner.)

I picked up a nice little handbag at a thrift shop. Tad smaller than I've carried the last few years. I liked the leather, and the way it looked, for the price.

Purposefully, bought smaller, and one that I could hold securely with it over one shoulder. It sits above my waist. I can keep my hand on the zipper closures when walking around, if I need to.

When I lived in Europe, I used a small belly pack for the things I needed to have at hand. I carried a backpack for carrying things to and fro.

Quite a few stores here do not allow backpacks carried into the store, so that's a consideration. I drive a car, rather than using public transportation, so all that paraphernalia that was in my backpack, is now in my car.

MMM, I couldn't go anywhere without mine, either.

[MuddyWitch]

Ok..It's now official...despite giving birth, (twice) I'm obviously not a "proper" woman!!!

In 47 years I've only owned 3 handbags:

No 1 was my Mum's old one I used for playing shops as a toddler, which I filled with soil & planted dandelion seeds in!!! (Shades of things to come?)

No 2 was a posh Aunt's 21st pressy to me as she was sick of seeing me with a ruck sack, I sold it!

No 3 is the only one I've ever bought and it cost me £1 from a charity shop, because we were going to a wedding & I couldn't take a ruck sack or stuff my essentials (inhaler, mobile, mints and cash) into non existant pockets of girlie dress.

So just checked the ruckie in the spirt of the tread:

2 carrier bags, ready for re-use (for the ump-teenth time),
purse (cards but no cash!),
pen (FoE cardboard covered one),
Milim's grit (we all have it, thanks for sharing )

MW

[Clara]

OMG.....mine is horrendous....here goes.....

wallet
passports - mine and the minime's
mittens - ditto
Rennies - for preggie heartburn
shopping lists - plural and old
homemade red & white polka dot bag containing spare nappy and wipes
sunglasses
wemoon diary
sweetie wrappers - mine not the minime's
more shopping lists
lipbalm
loose change
that grit......how do you get it out?

All stored in a huge Cath Kidston oilcloth tote - durable and practical - not only do I have the contents of a mummy bag, I've also started to purchase them with the fact that I am a mummy in mind! Perhaps I shall treat myself to sequinned mini clutch on her 18th birthday

[Milims]

Do you think there's a dodgy fairy who sprinkles grit in your handbag insetad of fairy dust?

[missy]

my relatively small handbag (well small compaired to my sister, mum and MIL) contains

Diary with my passport tucked in the back
cream for my foot
beanie hat
purfume
purse
set of keys to my mums house, which also includes a key to hubby's nans (they live in the same village)
compact mirror
headphones for my ipod (which is in the car)
receipt for lino we brought yesterday
inhaler
iron tablets
strawberry lipbalm
silver pen
lipstick
house keys
tote bag

my mobile tends to be in my pocket as it takes too long to find if it's in my bag.

[Rosendula]

I get Milim's grit in my pockets