Broke by Choice did a fun exercise about how much the stuff in your purse would be worth.
She goes on to say that women carry ~$500 worth of stuff on any given day (!!!)
Let’s see…
- Bag – $90 (I use my Lululemon one… honestly, it holds everything & has awesome pockets)
- Wallet – $50 (all leather, has all the compartments I need)
- Cellphone – $0 (came free with the plan.. and I am already due to “upgrade” for free to a new one if I lost it)
- Rose Salve Lip Balm – $9 (found it at Urban Outfitters in a tube! LOVE!)
- Cards – $50 (?? Driver’s license, health card, etc. They cost $$ to replace)
- Pouch with eating utensils – $10 (chopsticks, handkerchief, fork, knife, spoon)
- Purse Holder – $15 (holds my purse off the ground very nicely)
- Pouch with Miscellaneous items – $20 (earplugs, wet wipes, bandaids and so on)
- Reusable Bags x 2 – $15 (I hate being caught without a bag)
- Post-Its & Pen – $2
- Hand lotion – $5
- Sunglasses – $40
- Keys – $30 (to make and replace them all)
- Stamps – $5
SUBTOTAL: $341
But wait!
Just these days while I’m working:
- GPS – $250 (I carry this around most days, as I travel on contract; otherwise, it stays at home)
- iPod – $200 (I play it in the car for my 3-hour long commute)
- 2 x USB keys – $200 (to backup my work while on client site)
- Calling Card – $5
SUBTOTAL: $655
FINAL TOTAL THESE DAYS: $996
Huh. 🙂
That was an interesting exercise.
I carry anywhere from $350 – $1000 worth of stuff in my purse on any given day.
I guess it’s the reason why I’m so darn paranoid about my purse all the time.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
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I had never heard of a Handbag (Purse) Holder before… what an ingenius thing! I'll be running out and buying one of those asap.
As for what's in my handbag? I think it contains the world, my world and somone else's… judging by the weight at least! I try to slim it every so often, but I get lazy and don't do it enough or forget what's even in there. Tut tut to me.
Generaly I carry several lip balms, lipsticks, wallet, keys, iphone, earphones, gloves, hat, FT, diary, nail varnish, nail glue, hair grips, brush, pen, scribbled notes from my day at work.
Also currently in there? Bonjela, magnetic server tape from work.
Sometimes included? Biscuits, tin of soup, or a tupperware with leftovers in it to have as lunch.
As for the rest of it? I think I carry around some poor family in it. It weighs a ton :S
My recent post Studies and being above the rest
I didn\’t hear about a holder before either until Asian Pear (theasianpear.blogspot.com) mentioned it to me in Montreal when we hung out 🙂
I too, try to cut down on my stuff but it\’s so hard. I need to carry a GPS with me now, seeing as I am unexpectedly going to strange places….
Mmmm tupperware of food.
I joke that my car is my purse. My wallet was an old gift. Inside is normally less than $30 in cash. I only a purse if I'm going into an office for the day and therefor carrying snacks and lunches. I'll also bring my iPod shuffle which is about $50.
I've been carrying my $40 super lightweight cotton crossbody bag;
with a (price unknown) Coach wallet that I would replace with a $15-20 Target wallet;
a 2.5 year old iPhone that would cost … $100 to replace? I don't know;
a $100 Bluetooth;
a $5 cosmetic bag;
a $10 mirror;
some OTC pain meds;
a couple pens;
keys;
free memory stick (replaceable by a FAR memory stick from Staples).
So $275? Oh right. Some kind of lip balm as well! So round to $300 at any given time I guess. It's not really what my purse is worth, just what it would cost me 🙂
I should put it as “cost” rather than worth.. Haha 🙂 How much would it cost to REPLACE everything 🙂
Well, I'm a guy and no manpurse for me. I do, however, carry a wallet and in that wallet is a green card, which I have to carry by law. If I loose it, it's about $500 in filing fees for a new one (hey, the government's gotta make money somewhere). I am paranoid about losing that wallet.
BF has a man purse 🙂 I think it’s cute. It’s handy too, because now, he can carry MY stuff.
Great exercise…I never realize how much I am carrying with me!!
Purse: $2000 (gift to myself – a bit extravagent but well worth it to me. a blue/black prada bag that I double as my laptop bag)
Wallet: $700 (Gucci – on sale! I've had it for 8 years so I think it's also well worth it)
Blackberry Bold: $300 at the time, probably worth about $50 now
Make up case with various lip balms, meds etc: $100
Grand total: $3,300
I love that your Prada bag doubles as a laptop bag!
$3300. I think you are the highest so far 🙂 I’m not surprised.. especially since your purse is 2/3 of that price 😛
Hahaha…Maybe I should be writing this "Fabulously BROKE" blog instead of you. 😛
I hate hate hate carrying anything and only have the bare essentials –
Small cute sturdy brown tote with wrist strap – $8 many many years ago (it still looks great)
The cards (health, DL, kids health cards, library cards, credit, debit) – $50 to replace if that
Blistex – $2
Cell phone – $0 (verizon upgraded an old one for free)
Erm…that's it. I occasionally have an odd receipt or two in there.
On other days I sometimes have:
Sony Cybershot – $200
Zune 120GB MP3 – $250
(But never at the same time). 🙂
And believe it or not I have 2 kids under 3 (yeh, I hate diaper bags too – i just keep them some basic stuff in the car). You outta see the looks I get when I occasionally pop a small diaper outta that little tote! 😛
FB is an old name of mine when I was $60,000 in debt with $1000 in cash to my name.
And you are very welcome to try writing a blog if you’d like.
This is sad… I think my stuff is not even worth $300 when I add it all up. And the only reason why it's up to $300 is my metropass.
What an interesting post, Me! But shouldn't you also include the amount of money in your purse as well? 🙂
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Len
Len Penzo dot Com
Technically yes, but I only carry $20 or so.
And the name is “FB” not “me” 🙂
That's easy for me!
$0
…except for once a week for about an hour. I take out some cash from my "food" checking account to use at the farmers' market (usually $20 or $40), and then spend what's left at the grocery store before using my debit card marked "food". Makes budgeting really simple.
I just carry my wallet and my 3 keys in a keychain. That's it. I've been thinking of getting a travel neck wallet from leatherology.com…yes I'm very minimal in my girly needs 😉
http://www.leatherology.com/item_detail.aspx?Item…
Man, every single day, I carry my laptop and iPhone 4G (oh, a girl has to have a few luxuries). Aside from that, I only carry one or two library books (maybe $50 to replace?), keys, cards, $15 earphones, and a $6 wallet. Oh, and the messenger bag was $30 at an art fair, but before that I carried a $5 vintage Russian army medic bag.
Even so, I'm guessing the laptop + phone puts me well over the average. I'd be useless without 'em, though!
Wow that laptop would bump up your cost
USB keys are no longer $100/each even for 4+G. Just an observation 🙂
Okay, here's mine:
Wristlet: $20 (retail)
Driver's License & Debit Card: $10 (to replace)
IPhone: $200 (retail)
Chapstick: $1.25 (retail)
Total: $231.25
Add $350 to this if it's a work day and I have my train pass on me.
I don't think it is fair to include replacement costs because if I lost my iPhone it would cost me $400 for a new one, but I would not buy a new one until my contract ran out and it would be $200 again. So it seems silly to put that down.
I buy 32GB USB keys. They run ~$100+ 🙂
And this is in CAD too…
This is assuming if your purse was stolen, so if you lost your iPhone, it’d be another $400 to replace it.
But if I lost my iphone I would not immediately replace it. I can live without an iphone until my contract is up. I would just use a free phone for the interim.
Good point!
I carry ONLY the essentials–in pockets, no purse. A wallet is even a recent addition to this mix.
Wallet – 20 bucks, and is actually a pretty leather business card holder because it's less bulky
Cards – your 50 amount sounds fair
Phone – Was 150 after the rebate, but I've got another in my plan in a month, so 0 to replace….
And my apartment key – It would run me a couple bucks to get a copy made from Husband's
Total $75.00
I've always felt I was unusual in this, but your last commenter's amount was right around there, as well. Kinda funny.
If I went really minimalist, like for a walk or just out for a couple of hours, I’d bring just my credit cards, ID card, keys and some cash.
The case I carry it in, is $15 — it’s a cigarette case, but it’s so handy
It’s around $50 to replace it all, in that case… but it’s impractical for a day in my life.
Bag: $13 (it's actually a BYOB lunch bag)
reusable bags: $4 (a scrunchable one, sometimes free promo bags too)
lip balm: $8 (I carry multiples)
reusable water bottle: $8
keys: $0
Wallet: $20
Change purse: $1 + $3 change
miscellaneous snacks: $1 (granola bars, fruit snack, etc)
pens: $0 (freebies)
paper: $0 (scrap paper from work)
Cash: $10
Metropass: $100 (though if stolen I would just suck it up and walk)
Total (excluding pass): $68
Total w/ metropass: $168
Oh, there's also mu lunch – if you include tupperware and food, add on another $5 for my lunch items.
I usually leave my lunch at work, so I didn’t think of counting it in my purse.
It’s nice that with or without your metropass, you can still get to work.
Yes, but to get to work, you do carry lunch, right? 😉 I tend not to leave the office during the day.
If I'm not at work, I tend not to carry a purse, and just grab my wallet. If I don't plan to buy anything, I will take my credit card, metropass and health card, along with a reusable bag (maybe), as a just in case thing.
As for work, yeah. 45 minutes to walk, or 15 minutes for two streetcars, including transfer (provided everything is on time! – not so awesome when things break down). I luckily live just down the street from a stop, and work has a stop right outside the door!
Only once, and it’s for the whole week 🙂
Ok, I'm curious… Looking at my purse right now:
$280 Leather Coach bag (I've carried it every day for 3 years and it looks new)
$90 Green Kate Spade Wallet with polka dot interior (again, 3 years old and still looks new)
$100 makeup – MAC eyeshadow pallette, 2 lip glosses, 1 lipstick, 1 lip balm, 1 eyeliner
$280 Zune HD – use it every day! Love it__$0 Blackberry – it is my work phone, so I don't pay for it
$17 to replace driver liscense__$100 car keys. I drive a newer car, with theft protection and remote locking, so it is quite expensive to replace the keys
——————–
$967 total
Yep. You and me 🙂
$500 – $1000 sounds like a good ballpark for girls who carry electronics.
Well, I was curious about that, too… Let's see:
Leather messenger bag:60 euros
Leather wallet:25 euros
MP3 player:70 euros
USB memory stick: 15 euros
sunglasses: 60 euros
Cell phone: free
2nd cell phone: 45 euros
Keys and key ring: 20 euros
Tissues: 0.50 euros
lip balm: 3 euros
Iron supplement pills: 5 euros
Bottle of water: 1 euro
Total: 304.5 euros = 385.5 $
sometimes I carry my camera with me, it costed 230 euros so it's 534.5 euros = 676.7 $
I think I must take better care of my purse :/
That’s what I thought when I saw my number. I realized I can’t just leave it anywhere.
what lululemon bag do you have? i'm looking to get one of their bags!
This one: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=11989499
But mine is in a different colour…
I had to buy it to replace my old Roots bag whose handles were dying. I adore it. Lots of space, great, fun, and totally functional with all the pockets.
thanks so much!
i found this one online i hope it's the same: http://shop.lululemon.com/Classy_Classic_II_Gym_B…
i just need something huge with lots of pockets and i love lulu, so that's why i asked.
That is exactly it. The classy classic… the bag is really amazing. I love it. The compartments are great, the mesh pockets are such a good idea, and I like the little side top pockets near the handles too.
Are we talking about new prices, what we paid, or current market value, lol?
Let's start with just the stuff I actually bought at the price I paid and that is almost always in my bag:
* Bag: varies, but let's call it $25 (some were a little more, some were less)
* Wallet..well, binder clip: Let's call that $0. I got them in bulk and I'm sure it only comes out to a few cents
* Cellphone: $50 with plan, but doesn't count price of buying it without plan
* Small lip gloss: $3
* Reusable bags x 2: $10
* Sweater: $20
* Pouch of "emergency supplies": $20, pouch was free I think, but I added a Tide-to-go pen, a pair of mini scissors, some generic bandaids, some medical tape and a free contact lens case.
* Spare sanitary napkin: $10, it's reusable cloth. The pouch it's in came in a set. Maybe $2.
—————-
$150 (though probably double that if I had to buy my cellphone new without a plan)
Stuff that I'd have to replace but didn't really "buy" in the regular sense:
* Keys: No clue how much to replace. There's only two and a remote key for the car, but I got them "free". Could be $100, or more or less. If I lost it, I'd probably just share my husband's till we got rid of the car.
* Cards: You said $50, I'll say $50. I have no clue. I don't think it would be that much, though.
Of course, what I carry varies. Some days I stick in a small umbrella ($15?). Some days I add sun glasses ($20?) or my prescription glasses ($200?). And some days I have more feminine supplies on hand. There are also the glass straw I like to bring to restaurants and my water bottle. That adds about another $40. Throw in some vegan snack bars for another $10. And I like to bring books, but those are often from the library, so $0.
Of course, resale value of all those things is pretty pathetic, lol. So, I'm afraid anyone stealing my bag would be disappointed.
I guess how much it would cost YOU to replace it, not how much you’d get if you sell it.
Some days, I carry more. Other days, less… but it depends on wher eI’m going too!
ooh this could be fun, i sometimes do this with my outfits on the way to class.
but retail price or price i paid? I got some killer deals on some of my stuff and that changes the totals drastically. and gosh, idk how to estimate replacing cards or keys or anything 😡
How much it would cost to replace everything. So retail 🙂
well, I am no minimalist. I am a deal hunter and I do carry some things "just in case", though they have come in handy. good thing its purse clean out day – let's see whats in this thing.
Bag – Treesje Marley hobo – $650 (i only paid 50 on ebay b/c it had wear on the straps)
wallet – retails for $170 (i got it on bonanzle for 50 lol)
debit/credit/ID cards – not sure but i will go with your estimate for $50
$50 cash in my wallet too!
30 day transit pass – $86
birth control pills – free from the state
cell phone not sure actually – we'll go with $50 b/c i believe its insured
sunglasses – $330 (but I paid $36 and change at nordstrom rack)
notebook/planner – $6
ipod touch – $299
lighter – $0.99
cigarettes – $9.00 (hate this)
lipstick – $19
lip balm – $1.25
visine for contacts – $4.99
digital camera – too lazy too look up but i want to say $249
umbrella – $30 (but only about 12 at TJMaxx)
hand lotion – $3
mirror – $2
assorted pens – free because my uncle works at a pen company
so total thats…$2015.23, unless i added wrong
😮 thats shocking! but I never thought about it that way – how much to replace. thats how much itd be to replace the same items brand new; i probably wouldnt spend more than $300 total on a new bag and wallet though and I can definitely find an umbrella cheaper and everything too. I really would not spend 2 grand on replacing my stuff, just spend on the important things like deactivating old cards and getting replacements, etc.
I am one of these people who carry only the absolute bare essentials in my bag and empty it when I get back home, but on a standard day it would be.
Tote Bag $69.95
Purse free with tote back
Keys free with lease, keyring was a present
Mobile phone free on a plan ( insured )
Lip Gloss Dior given to me in a gift
Paper tissues 25c at the most
Total $70.20
Does make me unusual ????
Not at all! Lots of people carry around less than $100. If I were to do another post on what I’d carry if I was going out for a quick day, it’d be a lot less.