Not that I have one.
Just one of the many ways that my mess happens. Thoughtlessly collected clutter meets a moment of desperation, typically when I’m in a big hurry, and I have to “make do” and stuff the clutter somewhere. Anywhere. To be dealt with “later.”But, of course, when “later” comes, I don’t feel like dealing with it. It’s easier to just enjoy a clutter-free purse and ignore the bag on the floor. I can’t actually throw it away, of course, because there might be something important in it.—————
I wanted to end the post there. Isn’t it enough that I acknowledge my faults? That I’m honest about my lame excuses?
But I did it. I went through the bag, and the purse, and trashed almost everything. I even put doctor’s and dentist’s appointments on the calendar and threw away the little cards. I guess that’s a better way to remember than to hope I’ll run across the card in my purse a week or so before (not after) the scheduled appointment.
I did it.
But I didn’t like it.
You don't have to like it! "Fake it till you make it!" I think that I'd do better if I strived (strove?) to act more like a normal person until it became sort of habit. Hmm.
I am so bad about my purse, I keep telling myself that I ought to go through it at the end of every day…never happens though…
Oh the dreaded purse. 90% of the time I keep it locked away in my car. I carry any cards I need in a nifty little case that fits flat and wonderfully in my pocket. It's much easier to keep my purse clean if I never use it! LOL.
Good job – way to tackle the bag. My least favorite thing is tackling the "misc. pile of where in the heck should I put this" stuff.
Oh my goodness, it's as if I'm looking in the mirror. Only, my bags are still on the floor…
IF it makes you feel any better…. I lost my keys 3 weeks ago and haven't found them since! Argh… I'm a messy person and it really takes joy away from me sometimes. I would love it if someone can just drop by without me panicking or having to plan it Today I have been working on that with the house. But it seems like I have to do this an awful lot. My two sisters are neat freaks so I don't know what happened to my genes. lol
I do this all the time – I have bags of clutter for "later" all over the place. I have a real issue with paper clutter – bills, mail, etc, that I think I should or want to keep, but I don't have a real system for dealing with it all, so it all piles up, and then ends up in a bag to go through later. Good job going through your bag!
oh my gosh, i am the exact same way. I clutter and clutter and then in desparation dump stuff into a bag to be gone through later, and i never go through it! I have done this countless times. i am so happy you wrote this, it makes me feel better about myself 🙂
I totally do this too… except that I now have about 5 of those little bags from my purse in the closet and about 4 more purses that I changed out of and only moved the things I needed. I need to fix that lol.
I have that bag!! really, I do….it's stacked in the basket of stuff that was moved out of my desk chair so that I could sit down to use my computer….because my laptop broke. Wonder how long it would have remained covered if the laptop still worked…..also wondering how long it will be before I go through that basket…. Good job on tackling the "purse relocation bag""!!
I actually turned that into one of my weekly (sort of) tasks. Every two weeks, I get allergy shots and have to sit for 30 minutes before the nurse checks for a reaction. So every two weeks I go through my purse. Expired coupons, stuff to enter into my calendar, receipts that got tossed in, it all gets pulled out and organized or tossed.
The weeks that I skip it in favor of reading, I pay for it and end up with a plastic bag full of randomness like you show above.
Baby-steps and repeated actions are truly the key, as you have said.
I have the best solution to never having a messy purse again….just don’t use one! I know, radical, right? I have one of the large wallet/change purse things. It zips on one side for cash and change with some little pockets for receipts. The the other side snaps shut with a card holder on a hinge (of sorts. My description is awful). It holds a ton of cards, like enough cards so I can have all my and my five children’s insurance cards as well as debit cards and store cards. I love it. There is no chance for me to accumulate random trash, lollipops, stickers, crayons, tissues. It works for me 🙂
I love this idea and totally agree that it’s the best way! (Not that I’ve been brave enough to try it!)
Hi, I’ve been reading from the beginning for a few weeks now, and I look forward to catching up to the present… 🙂
Marvelous blog! I love the honesty and the humor, and have felt identified with so much!. The lost keys finally prompted me to comment.
When I was in grad school, and we lived in university housing, I lost my keys. We had to pay for the apartment to be rekeyed, I had to ask for new office keys at my dept., etc. The keys never turned up, although I searched and searched. Fast forward a couple of years, when we were moving out. As I was packing up clothes, I felt something in the pocket of some pants I hadn’t used in a loooong time… and there were the lost keys… I also had to call AAA a couple of times because of having locked the RUNNING car with the keys inside, once at my daugther’s school, where everybody saw me. So embarrasing.
These days I have a fixed place for keys, where they get put immediately upon entering the house.
Thank you, Nony, for your wonderful frankness and insights!
I’m surprised no one has commented that they just buy a new purse….
Hahahahaha…. I 100% totally have done this before… more than a few times!!! I actually have 3-4 nice bags (a back pack, a couple reusable shopping bags sitting in the corner of our master bedroom RIGHT NOW just waiting to be emptied and reused I don’t know as say to at bags… drives my wonderful hubby a little crazy!!!!
Wow! This is a call from the past! You caught me! I switched to a new purse a few weeks ago, and my old purse is STILL sitting in the living room full of crap I didn’t want to transfer to the new one. I need to go take care of it right now. Thanks!
I clean out my purse (and sometimes the car) when I’m stuck waiting somewhere. Then I make a point to take all the trash with me when I get out of the car.
One problem being that I can’t see (or reach) the back seat, so imagine how that looks. Eeek!