10 things to KEEP in your purse

I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Verizon Wireless and I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The Softcard related content is provided by Verizon Wireless. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Call it what you want… purse, handbag, shoulder bag… its all the same thing, right?   Well- how full is yours?

I am laughing as I write this because last week, my friend Jen was trying to find her phone in her purse and had to dig through so much stuff to find it.   On that same day, I had just cleared out my purse, so I had three things: wallet, keys, phone.  She mentioned how impressed she was to see it so empty.

Fast forward three days…  she was with me again, at our son’s football practice and her daughter’s cheerleading practice (same time & place) and she asked for a pen.  This time, I had to dig through socks, red ruby slippers, hair bows, two straws (yes, I know), a chapter book, a brush, store loyalty cards,a real phone AND a pretend phone… and more.  I’m sure you get the idea here.

Today, I am sharing 10 things to KEEP in your purse.    I would love it if you would add to this list!

1). Keys.  Obvious, right?

2).   Pony-tail holder.   I feel naked without a pony-tail holder around my wrist, but you can be that I have two or three in my purse.   Bobby pins aren’t far away.

3).  Verizon Soft Card.  Remember how I mentioned about the “loyalty card overload”?  Well this one takes care of that. Softcard from Verizon is a free app that allows you to store your credit cards and loyalty cards all in one place with a unique pin to open your wallet that protects your information!  SoftcardTM is a free* app that lets you pay with a tap of your phone, save with special offers, and store loyalty, membership and rewards cards.   You just add eligible payment cards to pay for purchases and get all the benefits and protections you would with your physical card, or setup a prepaid account and add money to it with your preferred debit card, credit card or U.S. bank account. Softcard uses state-of-the-art technology and layers of security to protect your information and you can pay with Softcard anywhere contactless payments are accepted, at over 200,000 locations.
You also earn $1 back on purchases: Tap to pay with an American Express Serve Account in Softcard and get $1 back on each purchase of $1 or more. Up to $50 per month with the Serve credit through December 12, 2014. Terms apply.
First 3 Coca-Cola:  through December 31, 2014. You must sign up for the “My Coke Rewards” loyalty card within Softcard to take advantage of this offer.  Drinks are FREE. After the first three free drinks, if you buy 10 more, you get another 1 FREE.

4).  Snack.  My new favorite snack are Cliff Bars.  I love them (white chocolate macadamia nut is my favorite).  I buy the Cliff Kids bars for the kids and I keep at least two in my purse (worst-case scenario is that I just split each of them in half if the kids are getting hungry or cranky.)  I also do this thing where I keep a ton of different snacks in our rainbow loom kit.  I keep this in my purse… 

5).  Pen.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been stuck without a pen!   Seriously… more than I can remember (in this past week alone!)

6) Kid Undies– yes, this one may not be for you!! haha!  We just finished potty training our little girl in a weekend (right before she turned two) and you just never know when an accident may happen.  Those tiny princess undies will fit right in the zipper part of my purse!  haha!

7).  Emergency contacts on a little piece of paper.   I say this because my Mom was a nurse and one time she came upon a car accident and the man’s phone was dead, so they had no way to contact anyone.   Just write down ICE: (In Case of Emergency) and then two phone numbers.

8).  Work ID – I was a teacher and by keeping my Teacher’s ID in my purse, I get a lot of discounts (Michaels, JoAnn Fabric, etc…)   Plus, if our kids get bored, they can just play with the little clip that holds it to my shirt, and this keeps them busy for at least another ten minutes!

9).  Candy – a handful of lifesaver mints goes a long way with four kids!   (ps- I throw them down, still in the wrapper, as hard as I can before I give it to them.  This breaks it into a lot of little pieces and then when I open the wrapper, I just dump the little pieces into their hands and they love them.   This keeps me from worrying that my two or four year olds will choke on the big mints.)

10).  Cash– $5 is all that you need.  Just keep it tucked away in a little zippered part of your purse.  It could come in use if you are out and need to get something.  I have run into the issue of someone’s debit card or credit card machine being down and all that they would take was cash.  $5 was enough to get what I needed.

ps- I mentioned the Verizon App, Softcard.   You know how I love a deal…  right now, when you Spend $40, you get $20: Verizon customers with an American Express Serve Account on Softcard from Verizon can get a $20 credit after you spend $40 or more on one purchase with your Serve Account through September 30, 2014. Terms Apply. 
Just tap your card to pay using your app.
I thought this picture that I found online today was too fun not to share with you! ..

See the 10 things that I keep in my car…