How To Organize Your Purse (And Quickly Find Everything)

If you have to rummage through loads of stuff every time you need something from your purse, it’s time to organize your messy purse. Throwing everything in your tote bag and heading out seems no big deal unless you have to find the car keys, and they’re nowhere to be found.

Purse organization is one simple yet rewarding step you can take to make everyday things easier for yourself. Whether you head out with a big tote bag or a backpack, organize it and know exactly where to check for a band-aid, sanitizer, or keys when in a hurry.

A mess-free purse can save time and help keep things clean without requiring much effort. Therefore, we have compiled an easy bag organization system to make things simpler for you. So, no more clutter in your purse if you follow the steps we have listed below. This will help you keep your purse organized and neat at all times!

Pin for later

Steps To Organize Your Purse And Keep It Neat At All Times

Receipts, cards, keys, pins, feminine products, a makeup kit, business cards, toiletries, and a whole lot of other things – our purses hold quite a treasure (or trash). You need a system to declutter your purse and keep it that way. Here are some easy steps you can follow to do purse organization the right way.

1. Get Rid Of The Trash

First, start by taking everything out of your tote, diaper bag, or the backpack you use daily. These bags hold unnecessary stuff that takes a lot of storage space and makes your bag look cluttered. Pour your bag’s contents on a table to see what we have here to organize.

If your bag needs dusting or wiping, do that and keep it aside while you handle the remaining things. Take useless bills, used gift cards, receipts, tissues, wrappers, pins, and pamphlets out to bin them. Now you only have usable things lying neatly on the table that can easily adjust in your purse.

2. Gather Things You Need To Carry Around

Do you need to carry hair accessories, cosmetic items, and beauty products with you every day? If not, take them out of your stash because they’re only occupying space in your purse. Separate the most needed items, for example feminine care products, your coin purse, credit cards, medicines, et cetera, to know how much effort this organization requires.

If you use one zippered pouch for all small items, like makeup things, toiletries, pens, sunglasses, et cetera, it will only make your bag messy. Therefore, take everything out to separate useless items from the needed ones before organizing your purse.

3. Categorize Your Stuff To Reduce The Mess

Throwing everything in the purse or zipper pouch and calling it a day won’t work here; you need to keep your purse clean to avoid the mess. Therefore, categorize your things to reduce the clutter in your purse.

You can make four categories initially; beauty items, healthcare products, toiletries, and everyday essentials such as currency and cards. You can add more categories to your list if you need other things regularly like hair accessories, stationery items, or snacks.

Once you know how many items you need to carry in your bag, you can buy or make organization pouches accordingly. You won’t need a new organization pouch if your tote bag has shelf dividers or zipper pockets.

4. Use Purse Organizers And Pouches

Getting a few handy pouches is the best thing you can do for purse organization. If you enjoy organized purses that offer sufficient storage space, zipper pouches are mandatory for you.

If you carry a big tote bag, a removable purse organizer will do. This organizer will snuggly sit inside your purse and make organization easier for you. Especially if you switch between your purses often, this is a big help. You just transfer the inner pouch to your other bag and you’re done!

But if you want to keep things in their respective compartments, get zipper pouches for your makeup, hygiene, and emergency items. Cotton zipper pouches are ideal for backpacks and smaller shoulder bags where stuffing hard dividers aren’t feasible.

If you have a crossbody shoulder bag with limited space, a hard bag insert is a way to go. This purse organizer will sit close to the purse’s frame, ensuring you have enough space to accommodate your stuff. You can purchase different types of organizers online or from a dollar store to ease your purse organization journey. The best purse organizers are made of faux leather or cotton pouches that don’t take much space and offer sufficient storage.

When we talk about a smart approach to purse organization, how can we forget moms of babies and toddlers? Those who have to carry wipes, diapers, a bottle of water, and multiple other things (like snacks!) around can easily organize them with big storage pouches. Since these pouches are washable, they are best for baby products and outdoor usage.

You can adjust your own and the baby’s essentials in separate pouches and toss them into a bigger bag while heading out. No mess, only convenience!

5. Declutter Your Purse Once In A While

Once your purse is organized, and everything is in its designated pouch, you’ll only have to declutter it once in a while. Take a good look into your tote bag every other week to take the useless stuff out, and you’re good. You can easily keep your favorite handbag clean and tidy by using zipper pouches. No worries if you have a large tote bag or a backpack, sort your stuff by buying good organization tools and relax.

6. Organize Your Purse Collection

Do you have a large collection of bags, totes, purses, and clutches? It may be a bit of a challenge to organize your collections of bags in your home. There are several ways of purse organization.

Organize Your Purse Like Marie Kondo

Marie Kondo suggests putting a smaller bag in a bigger bag and displaying the biggest bags next to each other on a shelf. The challenge here is that you never really view your total collection at once and you might forget what you have.

Organize Your Purse Like The Home Edit

Joanna and Clea of The Home Edit suggest using clear acrylic shelf dividers to organize purses. For instance, these dividers, available at Amazon, will help you do the job this way.

Organizing Purses In A Smaller Space

If you live in a smaller home, like me, organizing anything is always a challenge. I usually tend to declutter a category first and take the available storage space as my limit (not the number of items I have). My tip is to maximize the vertical space, for example with the help of a hanging door organizer or hooks on a wall. Displaying your purses this way will put a smile on your face as well, right?

FAQs On Purse Organization

How Do I Declutter My Purse?

If you don’t remove useless things from your purse, it will soon become a mess.

Firstly, avoid putting unnecessary stuff in your purse while heading out because it will only occupy space.

And secondly, pour everything out of your handbag every other week and remove the trash from it. We often forget to declutter our purses and can’t find anything when in need.

Remember to look through your handbag once in a while, and you’re good.

How Heavy Should Your Purse Be?

As a rule of thumb, your purse should never be heavier than 10% of your body weight. If we talk about everyday errands and trips to the store, your bag shouldn’t be heavier than 2-3 pounds. Because you won’t need to use everything every day. Keep things neat and minimalistic to avoid carrying the extra weight.

What Should I Put In My Purse?

Although this question’s answer depends upon your routine and tasks, a few things must be in your bag. Toiletries, a small first-aid kit, currency & cards, and sunglasses are a must when you head out. You can carry other things in your purse too, like makeup, snacks, a journal, or a book depending upon your preferences.

That’s A Wrap!

If you’re tired of the mess in your purse, take action right now. Purse organization doesn’t take much time and sorts things out for you. Start by removing the unnecessary things you’ve been carrying around for weeks. Next, categorize your everyday essentials and move them to different zipper pouches for easy access.

You can also use hard shelf dividers or purse inserts to compartmentalize your bag. Once things start looking neat, declutter your bag once every two weeks to maintain its neatness. Purse organization won’t take much effort or time. Just some planning, and you’re good!

MORE ABOUT DECLUTTERING:

« Quick & Easy Playroom Organization Ideas
» Small Walk-in Closet Organizing Ideas