The Large Purse Dilemma

Spring is lurking just around the corner and with it comes spring fashion and, of course, spring purses – and current trends are still pushing us all towards LARGE purses.

Now there is nothing wrong with having a large purse (I have one myself), however, usually the larger the purse, the more stuff it can hold, and thus the more stuff you lug around.

On one hand, it can feel great to have so much stuff with you at all times, but it comes with some drawbacks too. Large purses are heavy and it can hurt to carry them for a long time. And, of course, there’s always the dreaded “just a sec, I know it’s in here somewhere” problem. However, one other problem with carrying a lot of stuff around with you, one that people often don’t think of, is what happens if my purse is stolen?

My purse was stolen twice when I was still living in Germany and once here in Toronto and on each occasion, I didn’t notice a thing until after it was gone. So, then you have to talk to the police, and what do you think their first question will be? How about “what was in your purse”. Uh, “lots of things” you answer with a red face – it’s very difficult for many people to understand why a woman is lugging so much stuff around. After each incident I swore never to carry that much stuff around with me again.

What if I asked you right now to list all the things that are in your purse? Could you answer without looking?

In order to avoid carrying stuff around you don’t need here are a few tips:

• As soon as you get home take out all the things you won’t need for the next day.
• Only take one or two credit cards with you and leave the others at home and remove ID cards that you need very infrequently (how often do you really need to produce your social insurance card anyway?). If you don’t have it with you, then in the case of a theft, you won’t lose it.
• Pack your purse for the following day and only take what’s absolutely necessary (=less shoulder pain).
• Really think twice about what you’re carrying around. A large purse doesn’t mean it needs to be filled up. Travel light!
• When you are carrying less stuff, you can finally use all those cute smaller purses you have hidden away in the closet.