KonMari attempters: is the purse thing working for you? - YouLookFab Forum

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KonMari attempters: is the purse thing working for you?

April

Veteran

Years ago, I started reading Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up but didn't get very far. The idea of doing a whole house at once was too much to contemplate.

I just went back and finished the book, though, and am intrigued by her rule to empty your handbag completely every night, put the contents in a shoebox, and put the bag away.

Seemed like a colossal waste of time to me at first, but I'm thinking it might be smart. Anyone doing this? How's it going?

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42 replies

Latest reply was from April

Minaminu

Veteran

I do this most of the times, it's just a question of developing the habit. The current content of my bags is very minimal, so it is simple to remove things and do a quick swipe on the bag, I hope it will increase the longevity of the bags!

My mum has several pouches for her contents and she easily removes in and out of the bags, I admire her dedication but it would drive me nuts!

Brooklyn

Veteran

I do something like this, although not KonMari. I empty my bag when I get home. I have one receptacle for purse, keys and sunglasses. I put my phone on charge. I put my hand sanitiser, lipstick, hair comb and any make up type things away in the bathroom. Mask aside for sanitisation (I have a box for clean ones). Bag away. So I guess my system is a bit more complex! But it’s a habit now and it works for me. It means I have no compunction about choosing a new bag each time I go out (otherwise I tend to form a habit of taking the same bag). I’m guessing the KonMari objective is more about avoiding accruing too much stuff in your bag/s?

Lynne

Veteran

Well done, Minaminu! You're very organized; as you say it's a habit.

April, I find FlyLady's suggestion works better for me: I try to empty and change out my bag on a Friday. And I follow the late Brenda Kinsell's suggestion: I never carry a pen that isn't retractable so I don't accidentally destroy the lining with leaking ink. I read Marie Kondo's book a few years ago but I probably only really adopted 10% of what I read :).

Vildy

Veteran

Well, I eventually read the book but didn't remember the shoebox part.
I carry very little in a handbag, no matter if I feel like taking a larger one.
I tend to put the contents back where they were before I added to bag.
Of course these days I'm not going out every day where I want a bag but when I went out more regularly I did empty my bag every single time.

Don't think the shoebox idea would work the best for me, though. I use the things I would take daily, most of them. Don't want the extra step
of going to a box to retrieve my phone or reading glasses or cigarettes or tape measure. Maybe just resistance to a change in habits, though.

cat2

Veteran

That book! It drives me nuts! I don’t, instead I use organizers in my purses so it’s easy to swap to another bag. I put makeup and toiletries in one zippered pouch, and my charger and external drives in another. Then I just need to swap those, my electronics, my sunnies, keys and pens to a new bag. I find this a great use for those freebie pouches that arrive with travel toiletries or makeup. When I am traveling I add a pouch for medications, bandaids and teas.

RobinF

Veteran

I don't do that but I do have a little bag to keep chapstick, cough drops, kleenex, stuff like that in. Unfortunately I am not very good about using it consistently and end up with lots of odds and ends in my bags. Every once in a while I go through and empty them all out again.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I was doing the pouch-in-bag thing for a while, because of carrying larger tote style handbags. That was really easy.

Lately I've just been swapping out my cosmetic bag/wallet/keys/phone when I change bags, which isn't every day.

Emptying the purse and putting it away .... how novel. And it might make my kitchen counter look a little better, too if I manage to stop using it as a dumping ground.

cjh

(website)

Veteran

An interesting concept and Kondo is always fun to read and contemplate. I don’t do this and doubt if it would ever be useful to me, because I don’t change bags daily. While I enjoy a bag that coordinates with my style, clothes or coats, changing bags has never been important to me. The most I consider is season, sometimes getting a new bag for summer or winter, but usually only when one wears out after a year or two.

This is because I look at a daily handbag, purse or tote as a utility, not an accessory. To me, an accessory bag is for weddings or fancy dates, both rare in my life, so I have a little fringed velvet purse, a black peau de soie clutch, and a bronze box clutch.

If I do need to switch to a different bag, I’ll just transfer everything from one to another. My daily bag holds phone, wallet, keys, Kleenex, sunglasses case, pens, a small zip bag with lip balm, nail clippers, bandaids, pillbox, etc., and a birthday card, which I use as a hot flash fan. The birthday card can also serve as a note paper to jot a phone number or reminder. And it’s just roomy enough to also hold a scarf or lists and coupons or small water bottle.

And I wonder how having a shoebox full of stuff looks any better or neater than having your filled-and-ready bag at hand on your entry table, kitchen counter or dresser.

April

Veteran

Some of you might recall that I moved all my handbags from my second-floor dressing room to the first-floor coat closet to encourage me to choose bags more deliberately. Guess how many times I've switched bags since I did that: zero.

I hoped emptying my bag each evening might encourage me to rotate bags. Or maybe I should just give up and embrace the "one bag at at a time" life...

The Cat

Veteran

I am generally not following the KonMary system, but since many years ago, I have used to empty my bag(s) every day and to store "basic" content on a shelf. This way, I know exactly where to look next time I need to grab my keys, wallet, Kleenex, lipgloss, etc. And on the shelf right below are my gloves and soft hats.

unfrumped

Veteran

I can’t say this ever made a lot of sense to me, though I guess it could be good iv one has very special bags tgst need to be stuffed and tested between each use.
Also I never used a handbag during the actual workday- I keep mine in my vehicle! ( to DH’s dismay).
I could see this system more if one leaves home for the day and returns and may have added in items. It might also work well for the combo briefcase/ tote taken to work, wher need to remove lunch bag, papers, etc and repack daily. So I do like the idea of a dedicated landing/ packing spot and a box or tray to corral things.

I have a few types of standing- up purse organizers but find they tend to slide around or even turn over, no matter what, so am moving more and more to pouches.

I do have some systems for emptying pockets though for awhile tgat got outmoded, since women ‘s pants got stingier and stingier re: pockets.
But in my new reality, I have on my do-buy list, casual pants with good pockets, deep and/ or zip. Even with pockets I am gravitating to system of tiny pouches for items I would commonly take on a hike or long walk, and stuff in pockets or in lightweight backpack - could of course be just a zip- lock bag and often is, but I try to collect small mesh zipper pouches when they turn up.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I feel zero need to do something like this. I don’t change bags everyday, and I typically don’t carry many loose items in my bags anyway. Changing bags is a simple matter — keys, iPhone, wallet, eyeglass case, and a pouch that hold odds and ends like comb, lip balm, etc.

When I get home from somewhere (these days it’s rare to even go anywhere where a purse is necessary), my bag goes on a shelf on a stand in the kitchen nearest our garage door entrance - it’s the landing pad for keys, husband’s wallet, etc. Then I’ll take it up to the bedroom sometime when it’s convenient, and I’ll switch bags the next time I’m getting ready to leave the house, if a change feels right. Having a separate box to put my purse contents in would not be useful or helpful to me at all — it would just be another item of clutter. Perhaps for someone else with different habits, it would work.

rachylou

Veteran

I’m not a big bag person and I’m terribly forgetful. It’s better for me to keep duplicates of things in different bags... an extra mask, emergency mini coke, sunscreen stick...

April

Veteran

Wow, so many thoughts and varying practices (rachy, love your "emergency" mini coke). Thank you all.

LaPed

Veteran

The box system would never work for me. Each thing in my bag already has a designated place when it's in the house -- keys on a small hook, sunglasses on a little shelf nearby, wallet and lip balm in a tray on my desk, phone at the charging station (or, more often, in my hand...).

If there's other stuff in my bag, like mail or paperwork, it either sits in there til I forget about it or I'm forced to deal with it. I'm terrible with papers, receipts, etc and wish all of them were automatically, magically digitized! I could use a better filing system, but I don't think a KonMari shoebox would do the trick.

Anonymous

As I wrote on minaminu's recent thread about bags: I was apparently standing behind the door the day the organization and discipline genes were passed out . Emptying my purse out when I get home is not going to happen. I think at this age, developing these new habits is very difficult ! When I go to change a bag - certainly not everyday - I rummage through the last one used and pull out what I need, leaving behind extra tissue, receipts, lipstick (pre covid, sigh) etc. After a month of this, every bag I've used is full of random things and all of my makeup is spread throughout my purses. In my dreams, I have a huge dressing room with pull-out display shelves for bags, with a large island-like table in the centre of the room for organizing , sorting , etc. I have read all of the KonMari stuff, and what stuck were rolling jeans, sweats and casual pants in my drawers. Nowadays I take a backpack to work, same one every day, and I know where everything is. So simple and efficient, it makes me think I was really meant to be a one-purse person .

JAileen

Veteran

I have several drawers of clothes that I fold Kon Mari style. I do not empty my bag every day, though. I have reduced what I carry around. I put miscellaneous doodads in a small zip bag, making it easier to switch.

bella

(website)

Veteran

I must have completely skipped over this part in the book I am rarely leaving the house and only using one bag these days, so this would be a colossal waste of time right now. But, when things get back to normal, why not?

Staysfit

Veteran

This sounds too time consuming for me.....

Barbara Diane

Veteran

As for Marie Kindo’s methidd, I changed how I store my socks and underwear since I read her book. However I don’t take the time fold items so they can stand by themselves. Socks are folded in half and stood on end so I can easily see all of them at once. 2 rows fit in my sock drawer. I love my fun and varied socks and now I can see them all at once.
I don’t do her purse method, although I can see the logic of her method. I like keeping my purse ready near my bed in case of an emergency.

Roberta

Veteran

I carry one bag for long stretches of time. I can see this might be useful if you change bags according to outfit or otherwise frequently. If I did that, it would seem easier to have a couple smaller bags in my purse. If I am really traveling light (with a mini bag or wristlet), I grab lip balm, keys, a credit card, DL, phone, and a bit of cash out of my big bag. Short hair and a low/no makeup lifestyle make this much simpler!

I feel I am doing well to put my shoes and coat away immediately. My purse gets slung on a hook and maybe I'll take the days receipts out of it.

April

Veteran

I am seriously considering whether I actually need to change bags more often than I do.

Before I came to YLF (11 years ago!), it had never occurred to me to carry a different bag depending on my outfit. I just used one bag until it wore out. Angie's example showed me that bags were important accessories, so I started building a modest collection to go with my professional wardrobe.

Now that I don't go to a job, though, maybe this doesn't make sense anymore. Angie, what say you -- when you have a client who doesn't change bags, do you encourage her to do so, or do you just work around it?

Runcarla

Veteran

We have a family ‘valet’ (nicer than a shoe box!) for keys and wallets on a cupboard near the front door. There is a charging station and a bowl of clean masks. I empty my bag of keys, wallet phone.

My bag gets changed up daily (or when I go out) in order to co-ordinate with my outfit. I keep duplicates of a few things in the two or three bags I’m using the most (small package of tissues, coins for parking meter, face mask) then add my wallet, phone, keys on my way out the door.

I don’t have a lot of bags, but I do like to change them up.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Since COVID, sometimes, often, even, I don't carry a bag at all.

My family of four keep keys, wallet, sunglasses, hats, gloves, and masks in different baskets, hooks, and boxes on a set of shelves by the front door. So if I'm NOT using a bag my things get stowed there (except my phone which I keep on me).

Pre-covid, I would typically keep my phone, keys, badge, gloves, hat, etc. on the shelves, and would only empty my bag if I swapped it out (1x a week or less).

I'm ADHD, so moving items in and out of a bag is extremely risky. I do follow a rule that my bag must be empty before it gets put away in my closet. That's because if something is left in it I would be hopeless trying to remember which bag I'd left it in!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

When I want to switch bags I just take whatever is in the bag I used last and move it into the new bag. I do not feel compelled to fix what ain't broke.

bj1111

Veteran

pockets

MsMaven

Veteran

Never been big on bags until recently but before Covid. Now I’m a bag minimalist. I’m not going to an office though, and mostly staying home. More pockets please!

April

Veteran

Interesting. While I love pockets for putting my hands in, I literally never put objects in them (except for those bags we take on dog outings).

Anonymous

Nope, but I do try to remove receipts and other miscellaneous junk at the end of the day. When I can, I skip the bag and use pockets.

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