From Large to Small: How to Downsize Your Purse

Maybe it’s because I’m reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, but I recently decided to dramatically downsize my purse.

Cole Haan has been my go-to for bags for the last couple years, but before Vegas I switched it up and bought this inexpensive Zara tassel bucket bag, which is on sale right now for under $20! (I like to think it resembles this Tom Ford Bag.) And now I’m downsizing to a very petite Kate Spade cross body. (Similar)

The bucket bag worked great for Vegas, I like flying with a bigger bag to store my kindle, a bottle of water and other travel crap. During our visit to Vegas I could toss my chapstick, sunglasses and a few waters in it the morning. But in more normal day-to-day it wasn’t working for me. 1. It was too big to keep on while hopping in and out of the car. 2. The inside shed (I’m sure Tom’s wouldn’t). 3. It’s like an bottomless pit, I’m always digging around it in, getting said lint all over myself.

Wallet

My sister got me this Tory Burch (similar) wallet at least 3 years ago for Christmas and it’s the best! I like how it zips up completely and has a separate zip to avoid loose change from roaming around. The leather has worn a little, but the zipper still glides like butta. This was the hardest thing to change, but was made easier by going to this cute Kate Spade wallet and because, really, how many cards does one need on a daily basis?

Sunglasses

I bought the Coach sunglasses on a whim several years ago and thanks to the case they’ve held up really well. The inside of the case has somehow collected the aforementioned bag shedding though. I’m going to continue to wear them but keep the case in my car. When I play volleyball I wear my cheapest shades. I’ve actually had these brown Ray-Ban-esque ones for several years and they are super scratched up, but until they break or I forget them on a court I’ll keep wearing them during volleyball, but instead of lugging them (and the freebie Target ones) everywhere, I’m going to store them in my car.

Lips

I love COVERGIRL giant lip gloss, it’s light, not too shiny and has just the right amount of lip stain for me to leave my mark on wine glasses all around the twin cities. I also rely on EOS Lipbalm and thankfully it’s small enough to fit in my new bag.

Random Junk That’s Weighing Me Down

Because you never know when you might need to your flash drive to pop up a PowerPoint, shoe pads, or a golf tee. I also carried around a small notepad from TJ Maxx and use it jot down notes (you know my goldfish memory). I used to be really diligent about planning out blog posts, weekly menus, volleyball schedules, etc. in this notebook, but it’s sort of lost its appeal.

I still love big bowling-ball-size bags, but for now I’m going to give my shoulders a break. If you want to downsize even more, my friend introduced me to this cute and seemingly functional iPhone Wristlet.