21 Things Every Woman Should Always Have In Her Purse

1. Cash, in case she winds up somewhere that doesn’t take a card, stored separately from her wallet in case she lost that and needs to get home.

2. A nail file. (It’s a fact of life that this is the one thing you always wind up asking people if they have but they almost always say no, and picking at rough edges will only drive you to distraction.)

3. A hair tie or headband, in case she needs to throw up her hair and get to work.

4. An extra tampon, for any woman who might be in need.

5. A second, because nobody wants to give away their last tampon.

6. A condom, because this is her responsibility, too.

7. Change for the barista’s tip jar, or the cup of the one street performer whose talent always manages to make her smile.

8. Lipstick in a color that instantly makes her feel a hundred times more powerful with a single swipe.

9. A small notebook (even a Post-it pad works) to write down ideas or thoughts or phone numbers at a moment’s notice.

10. A pen that makes her want to write all of these things down.

11. Business cards, because you never know who you’ll meet and when.

12. A day’s worth of medication (if she takes any), set aside in case she can’t get home or to the pharmacy in time.

13. A snack, because nobody likes anyone when they’re hangry.

14. Photos, either on her phone or in her wallet, of people she loves and wants to keep nearby always.

15. A good luck charm, be it a penny she never uses or a keychain from a special vacation, or anything else that might mean something to her.

16. A phone charger, and maybe an external battery back if she’s busy all day and not near an outlet.

17. A scrap of paper from a fortune cookie that really stuck with her, because it’s nice to believe in fate and luck sometimes.

18. A mirror. (The front-facing camera on your phone absolutely counts.)

19. A song, downloaded on her phone in case she loses service, that instantly puts her in a ‘can do anything’ mood.

20. A book she can get lost in if she’s waiting or commuting or sitting alone in a cafe and wants to escape to another world for a moment.

21. And the knowledge that no matter what the outside of the bag looks like, how much she paid for it, or the label on the tag, her world is so much more than the sum of everything she’s carrying around, but at least they are the tools to help her conquer whatever comes her way that day.