Tote bags

[NemophilistRebel]

Are tote bags supplementary or used as stand alone bags?

I have a smallish cross body bag I use daily. It was a wedding gift from DH so I cherish it and don’t want to stop using it.
But I’m finding it’s just too small for days out as I struggle to get a bottle of water in or small purchases that don’t require a shopping bag.

Is this what totes are for?

I don’t want to be w bag lady going around with supermarket shopping bags carrying my overflow

I think they are both stand alone and an extra. I would not carry my purse and keys in an open tote bag though. Too easy for pickpocketers.

That’s what I was thinking - they just look only useful as a shopping bag

I use my totes as shoppers as none of mine have zips on them.

I do have a little zipped purse that I can thread through the straps. It can fit bank cards, keys and phone but not much else. I will use this sometimes if I only want to take one bag out, but I'm conscious of pickpocketing so don't do this very often.

But you could use your cross body bag for the important/valuable things and put all the other items e.g. bottle of water in the tote.