Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What's in your handbag?

26 replies

Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar · 21/11/2025 14:35

I'm curious - What's in your handbag right now?

I find I accumulate a lot of crap in mine so I periodically have to clear it out. I've just done a clear out and I'm wondering if this is normal and what you have in yours.

This is what I had that I cleaned out:

An unopened, in date, miniature pot of jam
Two empty crisp packets
Two keyrings that I had bought as stocking fillers and hidden in my handbag
Salt and pepper sachets
A teabag
A battered remembrance day Poppy
A child's sock
LOTS of old receipts and old bus tickets
A leaflet about Jesus
Handbag dust

This is what I now have in there:
My purse
My keys
A folded and compacted shopping bag
A compact umbrella
A small notebook
2 pens and 2 pencils
My passport
My favourite lippy
A small tub of vaseline
Several hair ties and a Kirby grip
A compact mirror
Four paracetamol

Will add keys and phone when I go out.

What do you have?

OP posts:
DarkEyedSailor · 21/11/2025 14:38

Oh, a lot.
Empty lunch box
Purse
Copy of Adrian Mole aged 13 1/2
Copy of Butterfield8
Lip balm
Hand lotion
ZamBuk ointment
Sachets of tomato ketchup
Crayons
Hair pins
Comb
Earrings
Elastic bands
Hair bobbles
A pair of hand warmers
Couple of tampons
Glasses wipes

vodkaredbullgirl · 21/11/2025 14:41

Pens
Pharmacy 😆
Hair brush
Purse
Lip balm

vodkaredbullgirl · 21/11/2025 14:41

Only got a small handbag

JetFlight · 21/11/2025 14:43

At the moment, I have
small toiletry bag with lip gloss, sanitary towel, hand cream
a clean pair of socks
a dressy scarf (not warm one)
some loose change
some old tickets and receipts

Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar · 21/11/2025 14:47

vodkaredbullgirl · 21/11/2025 14:41

Only got a small handbag

Me too!

OP posts:
toomuchfaff · 21/11/2025 14:49

Hardly anything...

Purse
Tissues
Glasses (sometime forget these)
Pen (always in there)
bag hook for table
phone
Teabag tin (3 bags of individual tea)

Aliflowers · 21/11/2025 14:51

I carry a large tote day to day which usually lives in my car so full of incidentals I may need

Purse
House keys
Bottle of perfume
4 tampons
Packet of tissues
Lip Balm
2 dog Pooh bags (new of course 🤣)
Little carry bag with mini toothpaste toothbrush and floss
Portable charger
Packet of panadol
Two plasters
EarPods
Couple of gift vouchers
Two old car park tickets
An unopened MdDonalds straw
A pen

I do a clear out every few weeks of the random receipts and shite that accumulates so it’s pretty clean

outerspacepotato · 21/11/2025 14:52

Hot sauce

Lip balm

Phone with little wallet thing for id

Napkins

Earbuds

Pen

Hand Sanitizer

Sunscreen stick

Fan in hot weather, gloves in cold.

takealettermsjones · 21/11/2025 14:54

My 'proper' handbag:

Cash and card
Pile of receipts
Lip balm
About 20 hair bobbles
Cold and flu tablets
Berocca
Moisturiser
Mini orange cordial
Spare knickers
Spare toothbrush
Mints
Laptop charger
Audio headset
Wet wipes

Day bag for when out with kids (oh lordy 😅):

Nappies
Wipes
Change mat
Spare trousers and socks for child #3
Snacks (it's fruit leather this time!)
Water bottle
Ear defenders for child #2
Safety pins
Glove puppet
Half a magic trick (no idea where other half is)
Half done colouring sheet
Baby doll's hat and dummy
Empty snack wrappers x a million

Ariela · 21/11/2025 15:00

Nothing. I wear trousers/jeans and purse in one pocket with keys, and phone & car key in the other.

If I'm dressing up and need a handbag (lack of suitable pockets) only the above items and a comb, plus lip balm if dry weather/location.
I'll ditch all the keys if hubby driving.

Evaka · 21/11/2025 15:02

Laptop
Phone charger
A ring i sold on ebay and need to post
Makeup bag
Empty sushi package from lunch
2 novels

Avie29 · 21/11/2025 15:14

Right this second- purse, hair grips, mascara, eyebrow pencil, eyeliner (i don’t normally carry makeup but DD had a Halloween disco at school and i haven’t taken them out yet haha, an empty bread bag (from feeding the ducks lol) a nail file, a heartshaped rock from DD and a ring DD bought me on holiday last year, 🤔 where did my pen go? 😂 xx

Ilovepastafortea · 21/11/2025 15:18

I've tried having a small handbag, but ended up also carrying around a rucksack as my handbag wasn't big enough for all the 'essential' stuff that I 'need'.

So in my bag I have
purse (God only knows what rubbish is shoved in the back of that!)
small packet of wet wipes
case with credit cards
vape x 2 (in case one runs out of charge)
vape refill stuff
phone
multi charger (for phone and Kindle)
Kindle
2 packets of tissues
5 poo bags (obviously unused) not just useful for the obvious, I have been known to put one over my head when it's started raining & I don't have a brolly
small brolly
gloves
make up bag containing 3 emery boards, face powder, 2 lipsticks, spare vape charger, denture fixative & 2 safety pins
5 receipts
2 packets of paracetamol
1 packet of ibuprofen
1 packet of codeine
small water bottle
computer card, door entry card & photo ID pass for work
Edited as forgot the pocket in the front which contains:
comb
pens x3
bracelet that I've been searching for for ages & thought I'd lost
more tissues
more dog poo bags
notepad
panty liners -which I've now ditched as they'd been there for so long the strip had come off & the sticky bits were covered in fluff 😳

isitmytime · 21/11/2025 15:19

£6 in change.
Handcream
lip salve
tampons
individual salt packets
car key
water bottle
packet of crisps
can of juice
pain killers
crumbs

I rarely take my purse anywhere and currently have no idea where it might be.

Jugendstiel · 21/11/2025 15:23

A wallet holding cash, cards, travelcards, passport and pen; my phone, a packet of tissues, asthma inhaler, lipsalve, keys, ADHD medication and paracetamol, spectacle wiper, prescription sunglasses.

It's a tiny cross body bag DS bought me. Since he gave it to me I have never used a full sized handbag. I love it. It doesn't hold water or phone charger or a book, and I am slightly starting to miss that flexibility. But I love how light it is and that I can;t fill it up with junk because there's no room.

squashyhat · 21/11/2025 15:27

Phone, purse/wallet, pack of tissues, pen, keys when I'm out of the house. It's a small bag.

665theneighborofthebeast · 21/11/2025 15:27

Card Wallet, no cash in it
1x £1 coin
Phone
Keys
1x hairband

WineBeforeWhine · 21/11/2025 15:28

Nothing, i don’t use a handbag. I just need phone (apple wallet) and keys both of which go in my pockets.

BauhausOfEliott · 21/11/2025 15:50

vodkaredbullgirl · 21/11/2025 14:41

Only got a small handbag

Presumably it's not empty, though.

vodkaredbullgirl · 21/11/2025 15:58

BauhausOfEliott · 21/11/2025 15:50

Presumably it's not empty, though.

See above my post, forgot to edit it.

Topseyt123 · 21/11/2025 15:58

Purse - including debit/credit cards & cash.
Phone.
Three black biro pens.
Car and house keys (same keyring).
Small tray of paracetamol.
Additional power pack for phone.
A comb.

If I am going on a long train journey (to visit my mother) then it will also contain my kindle or kobo for something to read. If going on holiday abroad then my passport will be there too.

I often end up with a few old shop receipts and/or used bus tickets or the odd leaflet etc. but I do regularly have to clear them out before they build up too much. They can be endless and are needless clutter and weight.

Ireolu · 21/11/2025 16:10

In bag today

Phone
Secrid wallet
Lip gloss
7ml bottle of perfume freebie from MH
House keys
2 tablets of paracetamol/2 tablets of brufen cut out.

As little as possible.

Muffsies · 21/11/2025 16:10

I used to carry a shit-tonne with me in one of those handbags that doubles up as a smart backpack. Plasters, tools, wetwipes, magnets, torch, memory sticks, to do lists .. so much stuff bc i felt i had to be prepared for everything. Also, phones couldn't do so much back then.

Now i've slimmed-down to a smart leather bumbag. I also have a pretty velvet one for wearing with dresses. I like having a bag that is secure, light and hands-free. In my bumbag i just have my phone (with cards, licence, money) and reading glasses, pen and chap stick.

I cycle and bus everywhere, and i used to hate having a large bag. So pleased i de-cluttered, i don't miss all that stuff at all.

MsSquiz · 21/11/2025 16:13

My everyday handbag:
bank cards
£20 cash
2 nuromol
3 or 4 lipgloss/lip balms
compact mirror
hair bobble
tissues
lemon sherbets
eye drops
airpods
battery pack for my phone
cigarettes
lighter
chewing gum
snickers bar

BauhausOfEliott · 21/11/2025 17:02

My bag contains:

  • Purse
  • Card holder
  • Kindle
  • Phone
  • House keys
  • Sunglasses
  • Umbrella
  • Earbuds
  • Tampons
  • Painkillers
  • Hairbrush
  • Concealer
  • Eye crayon
  • Mascara
  • Notebook
  • Three pens
  • Travel size perfume
  • Work ID pass on a lanyard
  • A dental appointment card
  • A hair appointment card
  • Two restaurant bills
  • A button that came off a jacket
Swipe left for the next trending thread