Do you carry a large purse? Do you feel that overwhelming need to have everything you might need in case of an emergency or if you are stranded somewhere?
Or do you just carry a large purse, not intending on carrying your life with you, it just happens to collect everything over time?
Or do you feel you need to have anything and everything in case someone else might need something, and that nurturing makes you feel good about yourself?
Many moms feel like they must carry a ton of stuff with them all the time because there is just no telling what their child might need. Being a mom of three, I fully understand this feeling. I carry a purse, and a diaper bag with me these days. The older two, which are now 7 and 9, really don't need that much, but take advantage often of what they might find in the bag such as snacks, drinks, candy, and wipes if they make a mess of something. But my baby who is almost 3, still needs most of the necessities such as change of clothes, extra shoes, pull-ups, wipes, snacks, toys, ect because she still makes messes and needs entertainment on certain occasions.
But how many people out there are still carrying around these large bags when they only have themselves to worry about? A recent study by a local chiropractic association says that the average purse weighs about 14 pounds! Why are we doing this to ourselves ladies!!?? You may not realize it, but that actually affects your body. It can cause lop-sidedness, problems with posture, and back, shoulder, and neck problems.
Galatians 6:5 says "each one should carry his own load", But, the bible didn't say make it has heavy as possible! LOL
I have listed several ways below to still carry your things you might need at any given moment, yet still consolidated so you aren't carrying such a big load.
1. Do you have several medicine bottles in your purse? Consolidate! Get one big medicine bottle, take each type of pill you think you might need and a couple in their own little craft baggie that's only about an inch wide, write on each baggie what it is, along with dosage, and put all of them in the one bottle. Presto!
2. Is your bag littered with receipts? This one is easy...DON'T leave them there. At the end of your day, always put them in a prepared folder or firebox for easy retrieval should you need them later. If you are like me, you'll leave them in there so long that you get tired of seeing them and throw them away, or throw them out of your purse somewhere, and then need them and they aren't there.
3. Do you really need all that makeup with you all the time? Most girls I know, carry their makeup bag with them in their purses as well. This is partially what makes our bags so heavy! After you've done your makeup in the morning, all you really need to take with you is some lipstick, lip gloss, and maybe some pressed powder. If you've got an event that night, leave the bag in your trunk inside a cooler with an ice pack to keep it from overheating. There's no need in wagging it around all day.
4. Only buy purses with pockets in the inside to help you organize. Don't buy ones with pockets on the outside, though. You make yourself a victim of theft too easily that way. Anyone can come by and snatch your phone on the street or desk when you are away if it is visible. Designate each pocket inside for keys, phone, or even an inhaler for easy grabbing without having to shuffle around in your bag to find them.
5. Get a big enough wallet to carry all your cards, pictures, and ID's in one. With all the new discount cards we all carry for the different stores we frequent, it really adds up and can be hard to keep up with if we don't have them organized in one place. Some stores also give you the key chain version, so store the card at home, and the key chain version will keep up with itself! Unless, of course, you misplace your keys, then I can't help ya! haha
6. Don't let anything just float around in your purse, other than your wallet itself. Buy about three different small, clear, makeup bags. Separate things like your lip gloss, powder, beauty products into one. In another, things like gum, band aids, candy, medicine in small baggie, small tissue pack, safety pins, pony tail holders, bobby pins, ect.. Then in the other I would recommend a two ink pens, a small notepad, tokens for transportation (if you take public transit), an extra house key (should you lose your keys), and any other miscellaneous necessity you might need during your day.
7. Don't go too small, and don't go too big. If you go too small, these things won't fit inside. Your purse will look like it's about to throw up all your belongings, and the straps will break fairly quickly because a small purse is not made to carry that much weight. BUT, Don't go to big either, because you will surely stuff more and more stuff in your bag and make it too easy to get disorganized. You will lose your knack at organizing and just begin to throw things in your bag again just because they fit!
I hope these idea's help you out. If you can think of any other great idea's to help us girls organize our bags, feel free to email me or post a comment below! Thanks!
Www.AskThePreachersWife@gmail.com
FYI - in many areas it's against the law to carry prescription medication in anything other than the original bottle. Even where it's not, the cops view it as questionable since that's how people dealing in black market pills carry them. Doing what you said about combining pills into one bottle can lead to being detained or arrested until you can prove you have a prescription for those pills and aren't dealing. If you get pulled over Friday night and the Doctor isn't open until Monday, you could be in for a long weekend at the gray bar hotel.
ReplyDelete