Decluttering Your Purse

I know we've been working on our kitchens this week, but I'm going to change things up a little. I was digging through my purse the other day trying to find a particular receipt. There is so much stuff in my purse, it was rather embarrassing. What does your purse, diaper bag, and/or wallet look like?

What prompted the need to clean out my purse was lost money. Nope, I wasn't missing actual cash, but while looking for that darn receipt, I had missed a great opportunity to save money. Ugh, I hate that! You know how much I love loyalty programs for the "free" items we can get as a result of simply shopping for things we're going to buy anyway. Well, I had a coupon for $10 off any purchase at a store I shop at often for my kids' clothes. Because I didn't have a system for making sure I used the coupon, I forgot about it and lost out on $10 worth of free clothing, which we could use. UGH!!!

Time to dump everything out and start fresh. Honestly, while I don't care for the process of going through everything, I do love having a clean, organized purse. I'm going to file in this month's receipt file the receipts I don't need to keep in my purse. All of those extras pens are outta there! I only need two - one for use and a second pen for backup. Do I really need three lipsticks in my purse - especially since I rarely even remember to put it on anymore? Buh bye clutter!

Probably the main culprit for cluttering up my purse are all of those store coupons such as 20% off your purchase at _________ in addition to gift cards. I need a system for all of these coupons and cards because I don't want to miss out on any more opportunities to save money! (Let me explain that I hang onto these coupons for if I happen to need to purchase something at those particular stores. I don't buy things just because I have a coupon.) I have a coupon organizer for my regular coupons, but that would be too bulky for my purse. I have used envelopes in the past, but have still forgotten about money off coupons until it was too late.

I plan to place all of my gift cards in one particular compartment in my purse. At least then they will all be in one place. I just need to make a habit of checking it periodically to see what all is in there and use the gift cards when applicable.

As for those store-specific coupons, I think I'm going to use an envelope again to keep them all together in one place. This time, though, I'm going to use technology to my advantage to help me remember I have them - specifically the "free money" coupons such as $10 off your purchase of $10 or more. From this point on, I plan to make an entry in the calender on my phone and possibly even on a paper calendar about five days before the money off coupon expires. This way, I'll have a reminder if I forget the coupon is there, yet I'll still have five days to get to the store if I want to use the coupon.

Now that I have my coupons under control, it's time to put back in my purse everything that I actually need. Ahhhhhhh, much better!!! This may sound silly, but I'm so excited to finally have a plan to help me remember I have those fantastic "free money" coupons.

How about you? What have you done or are planning to to do to help keep your purse organized? I'd love to hear any ideas you may have!

Task for today...organize your purse - your shoulder will thank you for it!