What's In My Purse?

I find that it's always really interesting to see what other people have in their makeup bags or purses or bags. I've had the purse I'm currently using for the past two years and over this time I've found it has got heavier and fuller so I thought that I would have a look and see what is really in there. 

The purse itself was a birthday present from a friend two years ago and is from River Island. Although they are quite expensive at £17 they are absolutely worth every penny. I love their purses because they are able to hold so much and have different compartments where you can organise all your cards and cash. I love the detailing on the front of the purse and the contrasting coral lining inside.

In the front section of the purse I store all of my cards and bank notes. Also, I can put coinage in the zipped section  in the middle, but I usually use this section to put receipts and other important pieces of paper.

In the back of the purse is another section designed to store more notes or coinage. I love the clasp for this section and it is here I store all my coins and occasionally notes and receipts if I am in a hurry.

Contents of my purse

Currently I have a £10 note, a £5 note, two pound coins, two 50p coins, two 20p coins, two 2p coins and one 5p and 1p coins. This amounts to £18.50.

After my holiday to Majorca in July, I found that I had a few cents left over. However, I cannot exchange these back into pounds sterling because I am only able to exchange notes so these coins are still in my purse and will probably stay there until I go abroad again. 

I'm not really sure why I have a Hollister receipt in my purse seeing as the last time I brought something in there was before Christmas last year. I think I've also stuffed other receipts into this to try and regain some sort of order in my purse.

From looking at the receipts in my purse you can tell which shops I go to the most. These are probably Superdrug, Costa Coffee and Morrisons as I have the most receipts for these shops. I don't actually have that many receipts at the moment because I try to shred them on a regular basis so they don't take over my purse.

My purse is absolutely overrun by cards. I think I counted about 27 of them and the reason why I have so many is because I don't throw them away even if I don't use them. Also, if a company offers me a free points card or something similar I always take one!

I have quite a few beauty and lifestyle points cards. From the top these are: 

Debenhams beauty club card

Superdrug beauty card

Matalan points card

The Body Shop points card
Boots Advantage Card
Holland & Barrett rewards card

Whenever I make a purchase in any of these shops, the cashier scans my card and depending on the scheme I then earn points. These points can then be used to pay for entire products or in some cases can be used to pay for part of a product and then I'll use cash or my debit card to pay for the rest.

I also have a few random cards in my purse, some of which I don't even use anymore. The top card is a W H Smiths giftcard, which has about £2 on it I think so I'm just waiting for something I want to buy to use it.
  The next card is a something called a coastal card which I use to get money off if I go to the local leisure centre or sports centre and the next one is an old library card from my high school, which I obviously do not use anymore.
 Finally, is my Morrisons Miles card which is used whenever I fill my car up with petrol at Morrisons. The card is scanned and I earn points which when I get to 5000 is converted into a £5 voucher which I can then use in store to spend. I've had the card about 6 months and fill up my car every week yet only have about 1,800 points I think, so it's going to take a while.

The next set of cards are all food related. At the bottom and in the middle I have a Subway and Nando's card, which is used to collect points similar to my other cards. However the top card is for Makro, a cash and carry shop which specialise in selling products in bulk to businesses. In order to have a makro card you need to have a business or work for a business that has a makro card.

For my final set of points collecting cards, these are all to do with drinks. At the top I have two Shakeaway points cards, which is for a shop which specialising in making a range of delicious milkshakes and drinks. Then I have a points card for a local coffee shop in my town called Crafty Coffee. These cards are similar because once you have 10 stamps (you get one stamp per visit) you get a free drink. 

  At the bottom, there is my Costa Coffee club card, in which you get 5 points for every pound you spend in store. Then once you get enough points, you can use them to pay for your purchase. Each point on the card is worth a penny so in order to pay for a hot chocolate you would need 250 points as the drink is £2.50.

These are the last of my cards and are the most important ones that I keep in my purse. The top three are all debit cards for the bank accounts I hold with Santander, Barclays and HSBC. Next is my national insurance card, to prove I am illegible to work in the UK and then it is my European Health Insurance Card. This is used when I am travelling in Europe and it means that I get healthcare for the same price as citizens in the country I'm in. 

 Then finally it is my UK full driving license, which proves that I can legally drive either a manual or automatic car in the UK.

Then I have a few random business cards and paper-type cards in my purse. These are business cards for my hairdressers and Santander. The other two are my organ donor card and a card to certify that I am immunised against cervical cancer.