Was looking for something in my handbag tonight and MAN what funny things are in there!

Keys, Reading Glasses, Pay slip, Wallet, cheque book, 3 bills with cheques attached and envelopes to post them in, an unpaid bill, shopping list from last fortnight,note book,bulldog clip,tin of Rawleighs ointment,grandsons lollypop wrapper,inhaler,7 pens,needle and thread,panadol, a piece of paper with a joke written on it,perfume, lipstick(been looking for that one),2 rubberbands, nasal spray,an old envelope with my late mothers hand writing on it, screwdriver, scissors, hair clip, selotape and lots of dust!!! and receipts!!!! Total cash $7........gee I'm rich!!!

:}:-o:/

This must be one large handbag Raewyn.... are you sure it isn't a small suitcase???
Kaye.

Hee Hee, I think I can beat that, even ! Yes, I personally must have a clean out or move up to a small suitcase.
Cheers

Please dont Ask !!!! Full of Rubbish

This topic is going to be really interesting!! Let's have it girls! I've always wanted to know what's hidden in the depths of lady's handbags.

Mere male.

Mine is boring with a capital B !! Purse, one lipstick, one chapstick, one lipgloss, cellphone and work keys and car/house keys. Oh and the packet of ciggies and a lighter. :/

My handbag is always a minefield - so much so that I won't let Ed go to get anything out of it as I know that his "orderliness" would have a fit at the rubble. (not to mention unbanked cheques, bills to be paid etc...)
Every so often I tip it upside down and do a good clean out but not as frequently as I should!

I think we all sound alike. I was at the hospital this morning with my son who had had an accident at work and knew I had tissues in my bag. Decided to have a tidy up much to Aarons disgust as I knew our waiting time would be an age to try and the find the little packet of tissues. Found all sorts of things but not the tissues:- Must have used them but I was sure I had spare packets of them. I'm like Helen, wont let Darrell lose in my bag as he would have a blue fit about the "mess".

Helen CB

I have everything minus the kitchen sink. ( only because it doesn't fit ).:}:}:}:}

My Dear Husband says he lives in fear of my handbag. He's sure his watch and wedding ring will be sucked into it just like a blackhole in space if he dares to put his hand in there! I confess, it is full of odd items, and I have know idea how some of them got in there! A clean out is definitely on my list of things to do.:}

I am always surprised at what I consider to be essential when I clean out my handbag. It usually contains small scissors, a nail file, perfume sampling card,a small container of mints, several pens, diary,emergency sewing kit, small calculator,handkerchiefs, tissues, gloves in winter, as well as wallet etc. Somedays I wonder why it gets so heavy!! Have to remember to remove scissors and file when flying ,as had scissors confiscated once.

Don't have one.

I rarely use one now because it got to the stage I almost needed a forklift to move it. Downsized to a small bag just big enough for wallet, glasses, phone, keys, pen, etc. Even this seems to overflow sometimes with ATM receipts, supermarket dockets etc.

Must admit that I have a handbag fetish, so I change bags constantly, works well in keeping bag clutterfree, as they get a clean out with each change, not a lot of spare change in them though, suppose it goes without saying really, I spend it all on bags..... and shoes........and clothes....help I have a problem!!!!!!!!!:-o?:-(:-o

Well, the way I see it, some of us have cluttered kitchen cupboards (see Foodlovers food forum - Kitchen clean outs...) and some have messy handbags. When it comes to cleaning out both there are still things that will find there way back, give or take a lolly paper or two!!!!!!

I totally agree Nellie - my handbag is orderly, but my plastics shelf is a nightmare!!! :}

Gee this got you all going didn't it?
We should ask John our mere male, what he stores in the glove box and pockets of his car. We would love to be enlightened, wouldn't we girls?

Come on John.........spill the beans!!!!

Cheers
Raewyn:}

Mine is just as boring as Irene's I'm afraid - my purse, small make up bag, two pens, specs case - and I, too, have a packet of fags and a lighter Sorry 'bout dat :}

Like Carol No 2, I change my handbag to match my outfit so all that's in there is wallet, phone, keys and sunnies! Oops, mustn't forget the lipstick!

I'm enjoying this topic. The secrets of the deep (handbag) are revealed at last!! I lifted a friend's handbag one day just to move it out of the way and was amazed at the weight of it. She wouldn't tell me what she had in it but I suspect much of the weight was from bars of chocolate which she loves along with other goodies. Bit like a squirrel I thought.

Being a person who doesn't hoard anything (I'm always dumping things) not a lot, but important, practical things that all us males have in the glove box, like: car service book, maps, torch, sun hat, knife, tyre gauge, garage key, mints, and tissues.

John, IS THAT ALL?:}

I've downsized handbag - so I dont have as much storage space, but its amazing what you can fit in. I only have one handbag that I wear out until its dead! It has all the female trappings - lipstick etc
My ex used to regularly upend my handbag on the floor and I'd have to sort it out..lol.
Mine too has a packet of fags and lighter(s)
One thing I always have now, is a shoe horn! Bout 7 years ago my eldest son was urgently transported from Timaru Hospital to Christchurch Hospital. I had enough time to race home and grab the essentials (for me!) change of underwear, makeup, etc etc. It was a nightmare trip in the ambulance with him and I.
I was housed in the nurses quarters, and it wasnt until the next morning that I realised that the shoes I was wearing were impossible to get on without the aid of a shoe horn - which was miles away in Timaru. I had to catch a bus (barefoot) to the nearest shopping centre - find a shoe shop and buy a shoe horn.
So now I always have one with me!
Paula

Tobacco etc and 2 lighters too! No wonder I can't zip the poor old thing up at times. Mine is relatively tidy at the moment!!! but heavy!!! No bugger would pinch it, coz it would break their arm or spill out all over the place!!!! And whatsmore it's never got money in it. Last nights cashflow of $7 is rich for me!!!
Used to carry a pair of wire cutters, and they sometimes are in there, especially when I go to the cemetary with wired silk flowers that need trimmed off for the vase there. The cutters usually end up staying for weeks until the massive tip out on the floor!!!!!:}

Reminds me of way back in the late '60s in Hamilton. The department store AFC used to have a live quiz show every Friday morning and to qualify they would shout out questions to the crowd and whoever answered them first got on the show. One week they asked if there was a lady out there who had a 6 inch nail in her bag. No one did, but I thought, 'hah, next time I'll be prepared!' and sure enough a few weeks later they asked the same question. Guess who went dashing up with a 6 inch nail!!! You should have heard the laughter, and the yells of 'What else have you got in there?' Oh, incidentally, I won an Italian blue glass wine carafe with 6 wine glasses. Very ornate shape with a twisted glass stopper in the carafe and twisted stems on the wine glasses to match.

Just been to have a look in my current handbag: purse, spectacles case, pen, little box of listerine wafers, a stone, 2 foreign coins, 3 scrunched up but clean tissues and a whistle. Don't ask me where that came from, probably the grandchildren hid it in there and forgot about it.

Lorna

Lorna, I am intrigued!!!! What have you got a stone in your handbag for? Between that and the whistle I have a mental picture..........????????? Trolley rage at the supermarket!!!!! A stone to throw and the whistle to blow for the queue jumpers eh?:}:}:}

Maybe a bit like a 'pet rock' - only smaller??

It also intrigues me why we all have "glove boxes" in our cars?? I can understand the necessity in cold climes but I have not even owned a pair of gloves since I came to this gorgeous country 37 years ago!!

what an intriguing thought Renee about the glove box!! I never thought of why it was called a glovebox - and now.... I have to ask the question...... does anyone own a pair of gloves??? The only pair I have are about 30 years old and woollen for winter, but I never really wear them

I now have 4 pairs of gloves. 2 mohair pairs, one Kathmandu leather pair with sheepskin lining and a pair from my dad. Most essential when walking on our cold frosty Hamilton mornings.
I think from memory the glove box originated in the old cars for "ladies" to put their driving gloves when changing into their good gloves for church or functions. My dad had driving gloves which I inherited. A good solid leather pair.
My sister in law was married with elbow length gloves many years ago but you dont see them any more!!!

Helen CB

Oops - I do apologise for speaking like a Jaffa (or Jafa - I don't even know just what it means) but I had overlooked those who definitely suffer more inclement winters than we do here in Auckland!! Sorry about that ladies.

I too Helen mourn the demise of those elegant elbow length evening gloves - and for that matter the elegant dresses that went with them - I am of the age that enjoyed dressing to the hilt for evening occasions during my late teens and early twenties in the UK - in fact it was positively de rigueur in those days and I loved it 8)

It's not totally dead Renee. I have a pair of long black elbow length gloves with ruching up both sides of them that I wear to balls if I'm wearing a black dress. Everyone makes wonderful comments on how I look when I wear them and it makes me wonder why others don't wear them! Mind you, you probably can't buy them anymore. Don't know where mine came from but I've had them for years.