What Do You Carry in Your Bag?

Waiting for another promo to finally buy THE bag!! Having a partnership soon, Jo? :)

Joanna I’ve noticed you said you don’t carry a wallet around and just a card and $20. I’m curious though, do you take the subway? I ask because I’m always surprised when a New Yorker carries minimal essentials. I have a card case I always tote with me but I always carry: ID, metrocard, credit card, & my work card. The idea is alluring to me but frightening at the same time. When did you stop carrying it all?

Fantastic idea the fruit!!

OMG – so light on! I have
– bamboo cultery & straw & linen napkin
– fold up shopping bag
– charging cord and stone shaped battery
– wallet
– phones (one for work, one personal)
– zippered pouch with: painkillers, KFC wipes, lip balm, lipstick etc
– two pairs of sunnies (one pair is super scratched…)
– keys on different rings: home, work, church, work car, personal car, garage remote
– work ID pass
– mints
And sometimes a water bottle…

I loved Cuyana, but, unfortunately, their bags are not the quality you’d expect for the price you pay. I purchased 2 saddle bags and both broke within 2 months (same piece of hardware came off on both bags causing the seam to split down the side). To their credit, they replaced the first bag after it broke and then gave me a full refund after the second split as I was not interested in getting another defective purse at that point, no matter how good looking it is…

I have a little bag from a Supergoop sample set that says “HELLO SUNSHINE” in huge letters, and that’s where I keep all the little stuff that gets lost in my bag otherwise – ibuprofen, lipstick, band-aids, eyedrops, safety pins, tiny bottle of sunscreen. It makes me smile when I take it out of my bag.

Also, I carry a small Swiss Army knife – if it gets confiscated at the airport it was only $15 and I can replace it. The scissors have come in amazingly useful for various kid-related emergencies, or if there’s an annoying tag on my shirt.

Cute bag ^_^ I carry a slightly bigger bag because I never leave the house without a reusable shopping bag, filled S’well water bottle, and a cloth napkin with a spoon, chopsticks, and stainless steel straw wrapped up inside in case of eating out where only disposables are available. A moment of convenience with plastic disposables wreak havoc on our planet for an eternity so I try to avoid those situations by being prepared with my reusables :)

Does this bag have two zippers, so that you can choose where the tassel goes when it’s fully zipped? I like the way the tassel looks on the side in the second picture rather than at the bottom as in the first.

I carry a small black cross body Sherpani bag, made of some kind of beautiful yet indestructible cleanable non leather material. 3+ years of daily wear and it looks like brand new. It was from REI. I highly recommend for anyone who doesn’t but leather. Or if you like a squashable, indestructible bag. I keep it stuffed in a compartment in my car, but you’d never know.

In it, bobby pins, a pony holder or 8, a small zipper pouch with cash, another with slots, with credit cards and id, etc. A nice big pocket for my phone, a clip for keys, burts bees lip balm, some homemade hand salve in a tiny tin, stamps to send my daughter in college a couple letters a week.

I wish I could keep chocolate in it. Inevitably I would leave it lying in the house and the hound dog would smell chocolate and destroy my bag. Not actually indestructible on second thought ;)

Sometimes I feel my bag routine is a little ridiculous. I have a rotating cast of three “everyday” bags that I carry – a Madewell leather tote for work, a medium cross body for grocery shopping and walking, and a nicer “purse” for all my other needs. Then, I keep most of my bag essentials in smaller bags (an old clutch and makeup bag) that I move from one to the other. Those smaller bags contain my tissues, hand lotion and sanitizer, feminine products, cuticle cream, a small notebook, and headphones (because I always forget them when going to the gym after work). I also keep a small change purse just for quarters (I keep the other spare change at home), because you always need quarters for tolls, parking meters, and vending machines at work! I also have my wallet, phone, and big ol’ prescription sunglasses case. :) Then, because I’m crazy, I make sure each of my three bags havr plenty of lip balms tucked away in a side pocket because it’s the WORST when you’re stuck without one!

I have a mini emergency kit in a band aid tin- some bandaids, a small tube of antibiotic ointment, a needle for slivers, a roll on peppermint and lavender essential oil, all tucked in the tin. I have 5 kids, this is used a lot! There’s also a small makeup bag that contains lip balm, a few pads, a tiny swiss army knife with that very useful scissors, and a little tin of homemade hand salve. Then it’s just the regular purse stuff, wallet, pens, kindle/book. I also have a purse flashlight and a lighter, because a state patrol officer once told my kids who asked about what he carried on his belt to always have a way to make fire and a light source. We mostly use the lighter to sterilize the needle for slivers, but I was in a Target once that went black in a storm so that flashlight was handy!

Lately it’s been my wallet, keys, phone, earbuds, Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick, a felt tip pen, and my leatherman pocket knife. I like to be able to switch everything really quickly between a tote that fits my iPad if I need it and tiny little crossbody.
The Cuyana bags are so cute, I definitely have their zip satchel pinned for the next time I need to upgrade my work tote!

I’m a total minimalist. I empty my bag of receipts and other clutter I’ve gathered every few days at the most. My standard items are keys, phone, wallet, phone charger, earbuds, lipbalm. If there’s much more in there, I feel overwhelmed!

I carry the minimal things (keys, phone, wallet, lip gloss, tampons, pen/paper, toy for kids) in a largish bag. That way, I have room for the unexpecteds on errands – like small purchases or things the kids want me to hold or library books, etc. etc. I always make sure I can carry the bag cross-body, too, so I can be hands-free.

I noticed no one has mentioned the main thing I have in my bag:
…rubbish
Just me?

this is such a cute post- i love the hot wheel! i am digging the dusty rose version!

xo, brittany

I feel like the question is what do I not keep in my bag? Lol. I have a tiny baby right now, so most of it is dedicated to her. But within my mom bag, I keep a darling leather clutch for me with cards, phone, keys & whatever lippies I’m using.

Joanna,
Where did you get the raincoat?? Love it!

that looks like the perfect purse size! now can you share where you got your jacket? i’m finding it so hard to find a spring jacket that’s utilitarian but still feminine and chic :)

I can’t wait for the day I feel like I’m ready to invest in a bag! Cuyana’s at the top of the list!