What's in Your Handbag? Money Supermarket Competition Entry

Money Supermarket recently discovered that the average woman's handbag, including it's contents, is worth over £850! If designer handbags and more expensive gadgets were considered, this price would soar!

So, Money Supermarket are trying to find out what's in our handbags to get a better understanding of exactly what the average woman carries around with her every day.

They're asking bloggers to write about the contents of their bags here, and each participant is in with a chance of winning a Mulberry bag, purse, and phone case! There are also six £25 ASOS vouchers from   http://www.FashionPerks.co.uk up for grabs. I'm sure you'll agree those prizes are irresistible, so of course I had to participate.

So, what's in my bag, and how much is it worth?

Today I'm using my ASOS mint scalloped satchel. It's a decent-sized day-bag for carrying around all those essentials, without being too big or too small. I bought it in December as a treat for myself as I loved the scalloped detailing. This bag was just £28, which was a bargain for something so pretty.

The bag holds a surprising amount of things!

This is everything in my bag, excluding most of the make up which is still in the make up case. The contents of my bag can vary from day to day.

So, these are the things I would call my 'essentials'. The pieces I couldn't leave home without. I always carry around my purse, phone, keys, iPod, and earphones. The purse, and key fob are by Cath Kidston, as are the cases on the back of my Blackberry and iPod Touch. (I have a slight Cath Kidston obsession!). There's no money in my purse at the moment, but the two gadgets are both worth a couple of hundred pounds.

This is a carry-all case from Fossil which has room for a gadget and a few cards. I use this case when I can't be bothered to leave the car with a heavy bag; for instance, if I'm quickly popping in to the supermarket and just need my money and phone.

I always have some random lotions, potions, and other handy beauty products in my bag, to be prepared for what ever life may throw at me.  I like to at least have some blotting papers, hand lotion, and plasters on me if nothing else.

Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter // Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cleanse Gel // 
L'Occitane Verbena Body Lotion // Carmex Lip Balm //
 Lehearesor Powdered Paper // Paul & Joe Blotting papers  // 2 plasters

I forgot to add this to the photo before, but I recently bought this Impulse body spray for nostalgic reasons. I used to love a particular scent called 'O2' when I was about twelve / thirteen, and I was curious as to whether it was still available. I think the answer is no, but I discovered True Love in the supermarket, and decided to give it a chance. I like to have a body spray in my bag for freshening up.

I always carry around a hair brush and a hair bobble. Just in case. I think this hair brush is by Revlon, and it's one of the best hair brushes I've ever owned.

I usually carry my Fossil key-per make up case in my handbag, as well. I got this case in New York two years ago, as I fell in love with the key print and couldn't leave without it. It's a brilliant make up case, with plenty of room for all those essentials and it has a mirror inside which is helpful for applying make up on the go.

As you can see, it holds a generous amount, and has a cute print on the inside, too.

The contents of my make up case vary depending on the ocassion and the look I've gone for that day. I couldn't leave home without my pressed powder, a mascara, and an under-eye concealer. At the moment, my make up case has the following inside:

The Body Shop face powder // Benefit The Porefessional // Benefit Benetint // Benefit Sun Beam //
Lush Intuitive eye shadow // Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara // Dainty Doll concealer pen // 
Bourjois Khol and Contour eyeliner in black // Stila lipglazes in Holly and Splendor  // 
L'Oreal Colour Appeal eyeshadow in Pure Gold  // Benefit lipgloss // 
Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in 100% black

And there's also one solitary Bic biro in the mix.

So, how much is this little lot worth?

ASOS Bag: £28

Apple Earphones: £25

Cath Kidston Purse (with not a penny inside): £12

Keys and Cath Kidston Key Fob: £4.50 (how much are keys worth??)

Blackberry and Cath Kidston case: £190 + £25

iPod touch 32gb and Cath Kidston Case: £220 +£25

Fossil Gadget Case: £25.

The Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter: £4

The Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cleanse Gel: £2.50

L'Occitane Verbena Body Lotion: £5.70

Carmex Lip Balm Pot: £2.05

Lehearesor Powdered Paper: £2.30

Paul & Joe Blotting Papers: £3.50

Two plasters: £0.20

Impluse True Love £2.00

Hairbrush and bobble: £5.00

Fossil Key-per make up case: £35.00

The Body Shop face powder: £12.50

Benefit The Porefessional 7.5ml: £8.35

Benefit Benetint 4ml: £7.84

Benefit Sun Beam 4ml: £6.00

Lush Intuitive eye shadow: £14.50

Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara 4g: £8.24

Dainty Doll concealer: £12.50

Bourjois Khol & Contour eyeliner: £4.99

Stila lipglazes x 2 £30.00

L'Oreal Colour Appeal eyeshadow: £5.99

Benefit lipgloss: £14.00

Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner: £4.29

Bic biro: £0.24

= £746.19!

That's astonishing! I can't believe my bag is worth so much! And that's a scaled down version of what I normally keep in my bag, too!

Ordinarily, I also usually carry around my Kindle (£89) in it's Cath Kidston case (£24), and sometimes a book (£7.99), as well. I always carry around my Canon camera (£230) and Cath Kidston case (£9), but I was using them to take these photos. And I often have a spare pair of glasses (£125) in a Cath Kidston case (£14), sunglasses (£25), notebook (£9.00), medicine (£28), sun cream (£7), and various other hair accessories, which would all increase the cost of my handbag. If I added all of these to the total, it would increase dramatically to:

£1314.18!

And that's not including any money that might be in my purse.

Considering the satchel is so inexpensive, I'm shocked that the contents of my handbag are worth so much money! Although, I do love my gadgets, luxury make up, and pretty Cath Kidston accessories, which I know are all quite pricey, so I can understand the total.

This challenge has certainly made me step back and think about just how much I'm carrying around, and how much I could lose if my bag became lost or stolen. I would be devastated to lose many of these daily essentials; they 're all important necessities to me in different ways.

If you would like to participate or learn more about the challenge, you can find all the necessary information at here. I'd particularly love to see what's in the following five ladies handbags: Rachel from A Dress is For Life, Nita of Pashteit, Hannah of Doodleheartx, Becky of Does My Blog Make Me Look Fat?, and Jenny of The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth, but if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged, too. I'd love to see what you guys keep in your handbags.

How much is your handbag worth?