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. 

What's In My Bag?

I recently got a new bag and I've noticed that it has quickly got heavy and is so full of stuff that instead of waiting a few months to write a what's in my bag post, I've decided to write it right now! Let's go..

    

The bag itself was a birthday present and was from River Island. Prior to my birthday I had my eye on this bag and so when I was asked what I wanted, this was near the top of the list. I haven't had much success with bags in the past because it takes a while for me to find one I like and then once I've found it I'll usually keep using it until it breaks. Recently I've been using a smaller across the shoulder bag from New Look, but decided it was time to invest in a bigger one.
  I absolutely the bags from River Island and so this was the first place I looked. I didn't have to look for very long, and I found this matches my purse as well which was a bonus. In terms of price, I think they are quite reasonable at £45 because it will last me a long time and it is so gorgeous. 

When I tipped out the contents, I was a little surprised at the amount of stuff I have in there. I don't usually have everything that is in my bag currently but because I went out over the weekend there are some strange things in there.

Firstly I have my iPad and stylus. An absolute essential for me for checking emails, twitter, facebook, instagram and other tasks. The stylus isn't used as much, but is used when sketching or drawing usually.

After a sunny August and continued sun so far this September, my sunglasses have never been too far away. To reduce the chance of them breaking and getting scratched I keep them in this pouch from Next. 

At the weekend we went out in my Dad's car and so I decided to bring this CD along with me to listen to. I've loved this album so much and must have listened to it a lot when it was first released. More recently, I've had a break from it but rediscovered it this weekend and I can still say I love it. My favourite songs from the album are the hidden track Weight Of Living Pt 1, Oblivion and Laura Palmer.  

Whilst my sister has been on holiday in Turkey, I've been using her camera to take the pictures used in my blog. Although it is a pretty good camera with a front LCD screen, I've missed the quality of my Sony. However, this camera is great for parties and events because if you are taking a picture of yourself and friends whilst holding the camera, you can see yourself on the front screen. I love the colour of this as well and it has the ability to film too. 

A more typical find in my bag is my River Island purse and my keys. These are always in there and although at the time I didn't know this but my purse actually matches my bag quite closely which is a bonus. 

  On my set of keys I have my car keys and house keys along with a keyring my mum brought me from her holiday to Cancun in Mexico a few years ago. 

Also in my bag I have my tangle teezer hairbrush, my inhaler and my little compact mirror which comes in handy when I am out and about. These three are usually found in my bag and they all make my life a little bit easier. 

I actually didn't realise how many smelly products I had in my bag until this post. I probably don't need all of these, but I like to have a bit of variety in my bag. Firstly on the left is some body spray from Boots and it smells absolutely amazing and is a really summery smell because it smells of mango and passion-fruit. It is a lovely body spray for when you need to freshen up, and I sometimes use this as a replacement for perfume.
  Next I have the new compressed version of the Sure deodorant and this is brilliant because it is small and can easily slip into your bag.
  Finally I have two products by Calvin Klein in my bag at the moment and these are the CK One Shock for her perfume and body lotion. I actually have two sizes of the perfume and this 50ml size is perfect to put into your bag so you can reapply throughout the day if necessary. The only problem I find with carrying perfume is that I'm scared the bottle will break in my bag so it is a bit risky. The body lotion is in my bag for if I feel like I need to apply the product and it also compliments and enhances the CK perfume if I'm wearing it because it smells exactly the same.  

As I was out and about over the weekend, I carried my blog book and some pen and pencils around with me just in case I had time to scribble down some ideas or to write a post. I use this notebook as a way to write down all the posts I would like to write as well as information that I will be using within the post. Colouring pencils are used to colour code parts of the book as well, as I focus on writing about different topics. 

As everybody knows it is important to stay hydrated and so I try to keep a bottle of water in my bag for when I get thirsty. 

As I have been loving this lip tint from Rimmel, it has found it's way into my bag. This shade actually lasts a long period of time so I don't really find the need to reapply it that often so I'm not really sure why it's in my bag. 

Another essential in my bag is my trusty iPod nano. I've had this for a fair few years now and it is always in whichever bag I'm using as I listen to it a lot.

Finally in my bag I have a sample of the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation which I am going to try and possibly write a post on in the future.