I’ve tried all types of purse organizers – and short of having my husband carry my lipstick in his pocket – what I’ve found to be the easiest and what works best for me is to use a system that corrals, confines, and communicates with small zippered pouches.  I have one I call “Personal” and one I call “Business.”  Those two, combined with my wallet (“Financial”), sunglasses and  phone make it easy for me to carry lots, find things quickly, transfer between bags easily, and remove components I don’t need (no need for sunglasses on a rainy day!).  They also keep me neater- there’s no container for trash so that has to be dealt with daily!

Here’s what are in my containers:

Personal: mirror, tissues, cough drops, skin cream, dental floss, allergy pills, hand sanitizer, gym pass, contact lens solution, lip gloss, lipstick, mascara, band-aid, aspirin, emery board, nail clipper, safety pin, breath mints, nylon tote bag.

Business: Checkbook, business cards, tape measure, earphones, name badge, sticky pads, paper clips, elastic bands, keys, frequent buyer fobs, pens, my “colors”, and one of those nifty coffee cup plugs from Starbucks.

My smart phone is really my traveling computer, book reader, note taker, calculator, calender, camera, address book, GPS, etc.

My wallet is my financial fortress with cash, credit cards, gift cards, coupons and receipts of anything I’m thinking about returning.

My sunglasses case also holds a cleaning cloth.

What makes this system work for me is that I frequently review for relevance.  Also – I try and get containers that aren’t black so they won’t get lost in the black interior of my purse (note the blue ribbon I tied on my black case).

What’s in your bag?