Giveaway: 5 myCharge Razors + 5 $100 Visa Gift Cards
It’s funny how drastically your on-the-go necessities change when you have kids. Remember when all you needed was lipstick and a credit card hanging off your key ring? I didn’t even have a cell phone back then!
Now, I don’t just need my phone, I need an additional charger to make sure I have enough battery on my cell phone at all times. I need snacks at the ready to meet Mazzy’s demands at after school pick-up. I can’t leave the house without a sandwich baggie full of crayons and a coloring book just in case we ever stop for something to eat with the kids.
But don’t you go to work during the day?
I do. But if I take that baggie of crayons out, I will forget to put it back in and then the next time we are out to eat with the kids, my husband will look at me like I’ve failed at motherhood for forgetting the crayons.
I still carry a little make-up bag around, but in addition, I cart around a carrying case for diapers, wipes and cream. I’ve got a wallet which is so stuffed, it can barely close. I carry an assortment of hair bands and clips for various hair emergencies.
But that’s not even half of what I have in there. I dumped my purse and searched every inner and outer pocket for all the random goodies inside. Then I laid them all out on the floor so I could see what was what.
I separated everything into two categories— necessary items and unnecessary items. But I’ll warn you— there are many items that straddle both.
Things in My Purse I Can’t Live Without
• diaper carrying case (2) with diapers, wipes and diaper cream
• a coloring book (3)
• My overstuffed wallet (5) including my money, credit cards, Metrocard, license, health insurance cards for all the kids and various receipts for items I’ve been meaning to return since 2009
• Boogie Wipes (7)
• a myCharge razor (8)
• a sandwich baggie of crayons (9)
• keys that look like they belong to a super of a building (13)
• a nail file (15)
• Over the counter allergy medication (16)
• prescription cream for my eczema (21)
• cheddar bunnies for after school pick-up demands (20)
• my make-up bag with lipstick, under-eye concealer, eyeliner and mascara (23)
• baggie of crackers for secondary after school snack option (25)
• sunglasses (27)
• my new rainbow coffee cozy (28)
• a pack of tissues (29)
• headphones (30)
• a pen (33)
Things in My Purse I Could Probably Live Without
• a plastic baggie (1) with Anna’s boots and Elsa’s shoes and gloves inside (Mazzy took them off while we were out and said she no longer wanted them- we’ll see about that)
• Anna (4)
• Littlest Pet Shop figurine (6)
• a pack of Splenda (11)
• Tinkerbell (12)
• a ticket stub for the Mystic Aquarium (14)
• washi tape (17) – no idea where this came from or why it is there
• a drawing Mazzy made for me (18)
• a button that says “Macy’s Santaland” (19)
• Ariel (22)
• a lollipop (24) given to her by the teller at the bank and put in my bag for later (there will never be a later)
• a plastic knife (26)
• a letter to Mazzy’s new pen pal that I was supposed to put in the mail last week (31)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stickers Mazzy got at the doctor (32)
• two additional pens (34) to my one necessary pen (a fourth pen was in three pieces so I threw it out)
• Tattoos for a stuffed animal (35)
That appears to be it. Although, I should mention, in the past I’ve found a friend’s remote control in my bag (stolen by Harlow) and a pair of My Little Pony undies put there after an accident and then forgotten about until they dried on their own (ewwwwwwwwww).
And— the only reason why you see no random change is because my Metrocard ran out yesterday and I scrounged every last nook and cranny for $2.50 in change to get Mazzy and I to school on the public bus. I came up a dime short and a friendly stranger came to my aid, thank goodness.
After taking everything out of my bag, it is glaringly obvious that I should CLEAN OUT my bag. Lighten the load, if you will. Did I mention I cart around my laptop amid all that mess most of the time? It’s a wonder my right arm is still attached to my shoulder.
The one item (besides my phone and my wallet), I will definitely be returning to my bag is my super light ultar-thin myCharge Razor Plus. It takes up very little space and delivers 13 hours of additional talk time to my iPhone.
I have to say, since I’ve become a mom, I really can’t risk my phone battery dying. Before kids, the phone was used mostly to make plans to go out, but now I need it to communicate with Mike and our nanny about the kids throughout the day. I need the school to be able to contact me if necessary, I need the girls to be able to facetime with Grammy, I need to email back and forth with my co-workers while I’m shuttling the kids to various after school activities, I need something to entertain the kids if I’m stuck on line at the bank, I need to take a video of Harlow if she suddenly breaks out into song— you know, all the important stuff.
Have you ever been at a dance recital or a soccer game when your phone suddenly died? Murphy’s Law of Parenting is that’s when your kid will stick the landing or score a goal. HAPPENS EVERY TIME.
The fact is, my phone is now my lifeline. When I run out of battery, I panic. Having a myCharge on hand, whether it’s a Razor Plus or a HUB (which I always take on longer trips since it delivers 27 hours of additional battery power), makes me feel like my bag has an emergency back-up plan.
Today, I’m giving away FIVE myCharge Razors along with Five $100 Visa gift cards to FIVE lucky readers.
Give away rules:
1) To enter, you must sign up for the myCharge newsletter. Once you sign up, you will get 20% off any purchase at mycharge.com delivered directly to your inbox.
2) After you sign-up, leave a comment below telling me the most necessary and least necessary item you currently have inside your purse.
3) For a second entry, you can also leave a comment on the Mommy Shorts facebook page.
4) For a third entry, you can tweet the following and then leave a comment saying you did so:
I just entered to win one of five @myChargePower Razors and five $100 Visa gift cards from @mommyshorts! http://bit.ly/15al2lZ
You can find the full rules here.
Good luck!
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This post was sponsored by myCharge, but my obsessive need to have my phone charged at all times is my own.
Def most necessary is wallet. Least necessary- 6 lip glosses!! I have a problem 😉
Ha! I has 6 lip balms
My fat finger hit submit by accident. I meant to write, I had 6 lip balms in the bottom of my purse. Haha!
The most necessary item in my purse is my Target Red Card. Our Target has a grocery store and a Starbucks, so the only thing I can’t do with that thing is get gas. The least necessary thing in my purse is probably the tampon wrapper. The tampon itself was graciously removed by my two year old and thrown on the floor while shopping at Trader Joes. I leave the wrapper there because I really love pulling my wallet out to pay for something and finding it’s gotten stuck halfway in the front flap.
The most necessary thing in my purse would have to be my chapstick and my least necessary item would be the unused pregnancy test plus the box it came in. Its huge and takes up a lot of space.
Most necessary: wallet and chapstick.
Least necessary: Rapunzel figurine and the stacks of receipts I never look at.
i requested the newsletter.
My most unnecessary item would be the piles and piles of empty gum wrappers that line the bottom of my purse.
Most necessary is my hair clip because sometimes you just got to get that hair out of your face to get stuff done.
My most needed and least needed items happen to be the same. I carry two disposable nursing bra pads that I’ve had in there for months. I’m still nursing my six month old but haven’t had any “leaking” for months. However, I know the second I take them out of my purse I’ll be in the middle of a meeting at work and, uh oh…
Necessary thing: chapstick. Unnecessary thing: chapstick. Seriously some people never use the stuff, why do I apply it 13 times a day?
Most necessary is my phone. I can live without my wallet id credit cards etc most days. Least necessary is the steak knife my husband liked from an unnamed restaurant and decided he needed to take home (which if from months ago and Tells you how often I actually stick my hand in my bag)
The most useful item is my wallet, it is my little ones FAVORITE thing to play with (I’m lucky if I get all my credit cards and money back when she’s done!) a close second would be the baby wipes.
Sadly, I have a ton of useless items in my purse (mostly because I need to clean it out!) but here are a few: old receipts, wrappers, raisins, and the sand at the bottom (how does that even get in there?!)
Most useful: my debit card. I never carry cash anymore.
Least useful: a dead battery.
Even after looking through my purse it is still on there.
snacks. never go anywhere without snacks!!
Most needed hands down baby wipes. Not just for cleaning tushies I use it for everything.
Least needed… I always carry this old Benefit “Bad Girl” mirror and seriously if you saw me you’d know I haven’t looked in one in a very long time! Ha!
That sounds so convenient! The most necessary thing in my purse is my wallet, of course. The most necessary mommy item in there would have to be the diaper pouch! The most unnecessary thing would be all the crap at the bottom of the bag! Wrappers, random little toys, crushed up snack bags!
Also…just a tip, if you have a big enough purse. I bought one of the Huggies plastic wipes cases, those thin ones meant for travel? After using the wipes I filled it with crayons for my purse!
Btw I tweeted!
Most necessary… my kindle paper white (for those unexpected minutes I can sneak in a few pages)
Most unnecessary… My kindle paper white because even if I find a spare minute I don’t read because I am on my phone reading Mommy Shorts blog, or checking out her Facebook or Instagram, or Harlows Insta2yrold.. Lol
Most necessary: Metrocard
Most unnecessary: half eaten suckers
Most necessary would be my phone: my husband and I talk and text A LOT throughout the day.
Least necessary would the endless supply of receipts I carry and never seem to empty out until my wallet won’t close.
The most necessary item in my purse would be my wallet. The least necessary item would be a foot scrubber/brush/stone combo thing.
Nessicary, my driving glasses!
Unnessicary, probably playdoh! The baby likes to stick all of her toys in there!
Most necessary item is my cellphone. Least neccessary item is my empty Kleenex packaging.
Most Necessary: Diapers
Most Unnecessary: a plastic toy dinosaur, it was given to my son as a “I had a good day at preschool” present, and i promptly put it in my purse and it’s been living in there off of the crumbs and random candy for months now. It’s a T-rex. I’m not sure how it hasn’t grown too big for the purse with all the random food in there. Oh, wait, it’s fake….that’s it…..
Most: Diapers; Least: old flyers
Least necessary: the rock my daughter found on the ground outside walmart
Most necessary: the rock my daughter found on the ground outside walmart
If she asks for the special rock and i dont find it there will be hell to pay
Most important – cell phone and credit card (tie)
Unnecessary item – old receipts
Most necessary item is my credit card. Least would be my lip stain cause I never put it on. I don’t keep any baby items in my bag cause I tote around an other bag in addition to my purse when she’s with me.
Most necessary item- my phone
Least necessary- one earring, not a pair, just one earring. Very unnecessary.
Most necessary = Chapstick!
Not necessary = left over hard as a rock tootsie roll from my sons halloween candy!
Most important: my wallet…even though for some reason I’m constantly forgetting it. Least important: old snack & candy wrappers
one thing I can’t live without: my keys. I’ve got a coffee card on there and that alone makes it necessary. And it also opens my door so I guess that counts too…
one thing I can live without is the fistful of candy canes leftover from Christmas and last week’s cheese stick. how it got left behind is an mystery i’ll never solve.
most needed item: my phone!
Least needed: is probably the 5-8 tampons. (I’m a stay at home mom, no reason for that many!!)
Firstly, thank you for getting me to clean out my purse by doing this! Lol!
Most necessary, my keys (which I actually lost yesterday and spent 3 hours searching for – including going through the trash piece by horrible piece with rubber gloves – until I found them inside my toddlers jacket sleeve of all places!) and the least necessary is a lone inflatable arm swimmy from over the summer (we lost the other one in JUNE!). Yeah, probably don’t need that anymore!
Well this was definitely worth cleaning out my purse! The item I found to be most necessary (beyond the cell/keys/debit card stuff we all must have) would be my awesome pink Tweezerman tweezers. For some reason, I find the oddest hairs while sitting the line to pick up my daughter from school.
The one item I could most certainly live without would be the ancient red condom that was disguising itself as a gummy candy. I had a tubal ligation 13 years ago.
Well, I guess my most necessary would be my wallet, and maybe the least necessary is my hairbrush … NOT that my hair is just the way I want it but I guess I just ignore it most of the time. Great giveaway!
i have also tweeted (@nut_meggs)
We have the exact same prescription eczema cream for my sons!
Besides my phone the most necessary is probably my little pill box with all my medicine for headaches and allergies and stomach aches. The least necessary is probably a little mini candle in a tin I have never used.
Can’t love without my wallet, Burt Bees Chapstick and a healthy snack! Can ditch old receipts from the grocery store and used tissues!
Most important is diaper and wipes for my one year old. The least necessary is my library book. Like I’m ever going to get a chance to read that.
Most necessary item – Cell phone!! For all the reasons you mentioned 🙂
Least necessary thing – Random receipts and wrappers from granola bars/goldfish packs/fruit snacks, etc.
Most important: wallet, whose contents could potentially replace everything I need.
Least important: a church bulletin from last month.
Bonus unexpected item: a potty seat because my 2 year old won’t sit on a public potty without it.
Most necessary at the moment a tampon….least 20 hairbows and a sticker
I could live without the 15 school art projects.
I can’t live without the extra pacifiers!
Necessary: wallet,tampons,suckers and a binkie
Unnecessary: candy wrappers 30 pens and random magnets the kids get at any doctors visit
Most necessary?? Money! Least necessary?? The 742nd Goldfish >.<
Most necessary: boogie wipes, especially right now since we all have a cold.
Least necessary: palace princess pet-I just found about 10 little toys in my purse! Haha 🙂
Most important is my phone…. How can I Instagram without it :(… And I think I need to get rid of some old receipts and coupons in my bag which I’m sure is full of it right now..
Most necessary things in my purse – Chapstick, phone, and boogie wipes (they have so many uses!). Least necessary things – broken goldfish, gum that’s 1/2 in a wrapper/ 1/2 stuck to the bottom of my purse, and toys my kids dump in there when I’m not looking.
Most necessary is my phone, as for least necessary, probably the receipts I keep just in case I need to return something… I never get around to it either!!
Most important: my phone and keys so I can communicate and get back into my house.
Least important: All the receipts I throw in there and the 20 chapsticks
Most necessary (besides phone) is my inhaler — you never know. Least necessary is a movie ticket stub from Interstellar…that’s been in there way too long!
can’t live without: Duo watermelon mints
could live without: discarded Starbuck’s straw wrappers
Most necessary item is my hand sanitizing wipes (and my charge cord because my phone constantly dies!!). Least necessary item is the four or five lip products that I’m not even wearing and a toy mouse!!!!! 🙂
Most important item in my purse- wallet. Least important item- old parking meter stubs.
Most important other than my phone and wallet are band aids! My supply of bandaids have saved me from enduring many meltdowns. Least important would probably be tissues. Everyone has already used their sleeve by the time I fish them out of my bag, anyway.
Most necessary is my wallet with cash, debit card and cc cards.
Most unnecessary is a Mickey Mouse sorcerer antenna topper.
1 Needed Item: Keys…no, I take that back! My phone… other wise how would I call for help when I lock myself out? 😀
Least needed item: The empties….empty mint package, empty baggies, empty medicine bottle, etc. Why don’t I just throw them away when they are empty?!
Most necessary would have to be my ATM card. Least necessary is a lollipop that we got at a restaurant while we are on vacation this summer. I only had one left, and with 4 kids, that would be a major fight! Signed up for the newsletter and tweeted
Most necessary: wallet with lots of receipts and very little money.
Least necessary: a Baggie of crushed/stale goldfish…u never know when a snack may be needed :).
The most necessary thing in my purse is probably my wallet pouch. I have so much crap in it I can’t even use a wallet — it’s an old makeup bag that I now use for wallet purposes.
The most unnecessary thing I have in my purse is used tissues. For real. I am *that* mom. SMH.
The most necessary item in my purse is my drivers license since I am constantly chauffeuring my 3 daughters around. The least necessary item i just found was the target receipt with chewed gum :-/
Although I am not a mom, your blog is still interesting to me! I can’t live without my lotion.. I have severe dry hands and hate when my cuticles are disgusting! I could live without my phone in my bag…..
I entered! The most unnecessary item is a pair of headphones. Most necessary is my keys!
I twittered!
https://twitter.com/RebeccaS_1905/status/558040279627096065
The least necessary thing has got to be the lone makeup brush my daughter put in there ages ago, I rarely even wear makeup. Lol! The most necessary thing is DEFINITELY wipes, in public she turns into a tornado that just leaves a path of destruction and I hate leaving a mess behind so wipes have saved me way more than once 🙂
The most important item in my purse are my sunglasses. I probably could live without the two books I’ve carried around the last two years.
Most important item would be my wallet. Least important item would be all of the random toys that get shoved in and forgotten about for months.
most necessary: my debit card and eos lip balm; unnecessary: wrappers
Most necessary: My wallet and phone
Least necessary: The (same) baggie of carrot sticks I continuously throw in my bag each morning in case I need a healthy snack.. ha
The most necessary item in my suitcase, I mean purse, are my car and house keys. The least necessary item in my purse are the fruit snacks that I never remember are in there until I go digging for something else.
Most necessary item: my wallet
Least necessary item: an empty bottle of Advil
I signed up for the mycharge newsletter. I also and leaving a comment on my purse.
Since my 21-month-old ‘ s diagnosis’, I can’t fathom carrying a purse with the extra larger diaper bag, treatment journal, treatment bag and his tote bag. So, my items are with his. Anyways, I would have to say that the most necessary items in the bags are hospital masks and hand sanitizer. My most unnecessary item is the broken thermometer, that has since been replaced.
Tweeted
The most nessessary things i have in my purse is my wallet that carries my money, my license, my kids health cards, and a bunch of awesome gas discount coupons… and also two extra soothers for the baby as he likes to lose the ones he has at every place we go too!!! The most unnecessary thing in there is a bunch of my oldest sons avengers figurines that apparently need to be in there cuz that is there home and they will be there to “rescue me if i get owies” (from the mouths of kids!)
My most important item would be my phone. Least important would be the platinum silverware. I don’t even know how big got in there !
Necessary: baby wipes and Amex
Not-necessary: 8 bottles of purel
The most necessary thing in my purse is of course the over flowing wallet and the least important would have to be the many Hot Wheels that he MUST have every time we leave the house but that I end up carrying.
Must-have, especially this time of year, is lip balm. I could do without the mechanical pencil and yellow highlighter, left in there from when I took a training class a few months ago.
most important: phone and wipes comes a close second
least important: hand sanitizer! i always have it for the best of intentions but never use it. we just go to the wipes instead. the hand sanitizer implies the kiddos are still clean and just need to kill unseen bacteria.. that’s never usually the case. they are coooooooooovered in stuff!
tweeted!
The most necessary is hot wheels. Instant entertainment anywhere. Most unnecessary is lipstick, never stays on my lips so why bother
Necessary diapers!
Unnecessary coupon holder…I always forget I have it so they never get used and they expire.
Most necessary : instant towels (like wipes, but dry and super compact until they get wet)
Least necessary :5-6 straws left over from drinks that ended up in sippy cups
Besides my phone and wallet, I can’t decide between an extra hair tie and a pacifier. It’s a toss up. My 15 month old has pulled half my hair out. I could live without gum, but what fun would that be??
Most necessary items: Wallet & phone charger since my battery life is horrendous at this point!
Least necessary item: Nail file with all the grit rubbed off
Signed up & the most necessary thing is my hand sanitizer and the least necessary is a outdated phone book that i have inside my purse.
I commented on your Facebook page under the name Nicole Dziedzic – https://www.facebook.com/mommyshorts/posts/1020985311248611?comment_id=1021153197898489&offset=0&total_comments=335
Tweeted here – https://twitter.com/lil_lady_dz/status/558061510715772930
A purse? Sheesh, I’m still carrying a diaper bag around…. Most important thing is my wallet. The least important thing is the toy tractor.
Most necessary item in my purse currently is my glasses.
I’m getting old and need to face facts, all street signs are not written blurry.
Most unnecessary item is the pass to the gym. Like I would have time or energy to work out!
I commented on the facebook, as Cassie Leavitt
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/itsmecassieb/status/558063062281125888
I couldnot live without my nivea chap stick because I feel lost without it. On the other hand, I could probably do without the teething ring (my daughter is almost 3!)
Most useful: my phone/case that’s a wallet, holding drivers license, ATM card and key card to get into the office!
Least useful: the handful of Cheerios that my kiddo snuck in there (guess she wanted me to have a snack) =)
Most important thing in my bag is my PHONE, husband being a firefighter and away days at a time, we need to commicate about the kids and life.
Least important item: hoards of Trader Joes and Target stickers….how do we collect so many of them in my bag.
I just signed up & it so happens I recently did this with my own purse. The most useful thing I have, by far, is the boogie wipes. Those things have so many uses beyond boogers! From hand and feet to butt wipes. We have the grape and they mask bad breathe ( my 2 year old is not good at the tooth brushing ), and BO (don’t ask).
I leave the house without a diaper before leaving without the boogie wipes.
The least useful is probably my keychain with all the various store ‘ membership cards on it. Most I never registered & never use, but I keep it in my purse just in case, and because I forget it is there.
most necessary- my phone or my wallet…. Least necessary – probably the 17 pens I have I my bag…
Most: wipes! I use them for everything! (& my wallet)
Least: hairbows! Tons of hair ties & clips & bows my daughter takes off, EVERYTIME I put one on & just think of how cute she’d be with all the ones I collect in my purse 🙂
Most essential- phone for all the usual kid-life-last minute related reasons.
Least essential – the old cards like my college ID (graduated in 1999!), grad school ID (2001!) and Blockbuster store card. I took a photo of them for posterity 😉
Most necessary item is my wallet and by far the most unnecessary item is my hospital bracelet from when I had our twins 6 months ago!
Most necessary this time of year is lip gloss, keeps my and my mini me a little less chapped. Least necessary my phone ear buds, I love them but never remember to use them!
My most important items are my wallet and assorted lip stuff (glosses, balms, etc.) Least is the pile of expired coupons in the back pocket of the wallet! I need to clean that out…