Minimalism: Small handbag update

It's been a few months since I switched to a small handbag so I thought it was time for an update to let you all know how it's been going and if I've stuck to a small handbag or moved back to a larger one. 

You can read my original post here. I quite enjoyed having a smaller handbag. It took a bit of getting used to but it was so much lighter, it didn't allow me to carry around a whole pile of unnecessary items and was much kinder to my shoulders.

Handbag after first declutter

I'd pared back the items in my handbag down to a few essentials and found that there were other things I wanted in my bag and was inconvenienced when I didn't have them. So I added them back in. I'd taken out the baby wipes, but put them back in along with hand cream and hand sanitiser. They are all things that I use regularly and not having them was rather annoying. I also put a notebook in my bag. I'd thought that I could just use my phone for any notes I take but I'd underestimated the number of times that I write things down for other people. Not having paper was very inconvenient. 

As well as adding things in I also took a few items out. I don't need a purse and a coin purse, so the coin purse was removed. Eljay ate the Scooby Snacks and I didn't replace them. The calm spray and little bear toy also went.  

Current handbag contents

I also switched to a larger bag. I realised that I need a bag with a little bit of extra room so when I've picked up the mail from the post office, bought something small or need to put some of the kids toys in there, I have the room.

I'm currently using a bag from The Sak and it's perfect. It's not too big, not too small, it's the perfect size. You can see from the photo that it's not much larger than my other bag, but that little bit of extra space is all I need. I clean it out every afternoon when I get home so that I'm not carrying around anything unnecessary. I'm still contemplating getting a smaller purse but at the moment I can't bring myself to let go of the purse that Tiger bought me. 

In case you're wondering the beautiful bag that I carry now is The Sak Iris Blue Diamond Crossbody.