Yeah, pretty much all the time. The last time I wore a purse was when I went on a job interview. I’m not even sure where my purse is - when I do need to use one it’s usually a half hour hunt to find one.
Least thing I go out with are my wallet (money and ID) and my keys.
I have to say, I’m kind of amazed some women get by without purses or backpacks. I’m routinely baffled by how small the pockets on girl pants are. I swear they might as well be decorative. I’ve seen pockets that couldn’t properly hold an iPhone.
I have a small purse, but usually only carry it on weekends. I wear jeans to work daily, giving me ample pocket room for the essentials.
Most of my life, I was a no-purse girl. As others have pointed out, lots of women’s clothes are pocketless, but barring that, I used a very small, thin wallet, or just threw a credit card, cash, and ID in a pocket.
Then my pancreas pooped out, and now I have to carry around an insulin pump, test strips, candy to treat lows, and a cell phone. So I’m forced to have a purse. I hate it, and very much long for the days I could get away with carrying around next to nothing. I can’t even go for a freakin’ bike ride without what seems like a suitcase full of supplies. 
I’ve got some smallish cross-body purses and many in other sizes. I like nice purses–not the most expensive sort but something to add zip to a simple outfit & sensible shoes.
Since I commute by public transit, I need a collapsible umbrella, sunglasses & gloves (in cold weather). Plus a shopping bag. And something to read–although the Kindle and/or smartphone are invaluable here; need a portable battery & cord if running off the phone. A little makeup bag, wallet & keys. Writing materials, often; I’m exploring fountain pens again. Hey, the shop/gallery has notices of upcoming events–where can I stash them?
If you’ve always got a car to carry your extra stuff, it’s easier to appear “minimal.”
I hate purses. I have one for the times I wear a skirt, and am not going out with my husband, because the lack of pockets on women’s clothing truly sucks. For everyday, dress-down wear, I buy men’s pants, preferably cargo pants. Wallet goes in one side pocket, closed with zipper or velcro, phone in hip pocket, or other cargo pocket. Keys go in one hip pocket, money in the other. The pockets are so deep, it doesn’t fall out, and if nothing else is in the pocket with my money, I don’t accidentally pull it out when pulling out something else. I can keep tissues, a few Tylenol, an extra pad (ie, “feminine hygiene”) in the cargo pockets. I can even stash snacks for my son.
Sigh Before I had a baby, I could buy pants in the boys’ department. Those really had some pockets.
Speaking of babies, when I wore maternity clothes, the situation was really dire. Those clothes had NO pockets. I even had one pair of pants with FAKE pockets. My mother found me a pair of shorts with decent pockets, that held keys, money, license, and at the time, tiny phone. I wore them practically every day of my whole third trimester. I mostly wore men’s pants a couple of (non-pregnant) sizes too big with an elastic belt second trimester. Sometimes I couldn’t leave the house because both my pants were in the laundry. Unless I wanted to carry a stinkin’ purse.
The Old Wench and most of the ladies in ACE go with something like this for the ID and some cash and leave the cell phones at home or use a zippered jacket pocket. Some, including the OW, are using the same rig for things other than amusement parks as well.
I have a small wallet with a wrist loop that carries my major cards and ID. My purse is used to transport that wallet and my breakfast/lunch and workout clothes to and from work only. Apart from that, I only carry my wristlet - when going out during the workday, evenings, and weekends.
Sometimes I carry nothing if my husband has his wallet and is driving.
(P.S. You seem to generalize a lot, often w.r.t. women - or at least it comes across that way with your questions.)
For me, it really depends on what I’m up to.
Obviously I don’t carry a purse while hiking or biking, etc.
If I’m going out, the purse is usually around. If just going to dinner, then I’ll carry it.
If going shopping for an extended period, then the purse usually stays in the car and I carry a very small traveling-style wallet, which is basically a miniature purse. It’s for one credit card, cash, keys, identification and lip balm.
The regular purse holds all the above things plus a small camera, Swiss Army knife, perfume, some makeup, pens, mints, an Apple Touch… I think that’s about it. I do keep a go phone in the car but only load it/use it while traveling. Don’t have cell service where I live so cell phones are (happily) wasted on me.
No. I have to carry an inhaler and an epi-pen. The epi-pen in particular doesn’t easily fit into pockets (I have no idea how men handle it).
I can pare down to a wristlet (which also fits my phone).
Keys, tokens, maybe money or a credit card. Umbrella goes under the arm, Walkman was in my hand. I remember even when taking the train everywhere, I carried a tiny bag.
As many others have noted, men’s clothing tends to have functional pockets. Women’s clothing, especially “going out” clothing, tends to not. I don’t like carrying stuff in my hands and I don’t want to have to rely on other people to hold my things for me, so I tend to use a purse.
Also, for me, the stuff that I need when I’m going out (keys, ID, some form of payment) lives in my purse. If I were transferring stuff into and out of my pockets every day, I’d spend most mornings spending time trying to find everything from where I’d left it the night before.
I always take a bag to work, although I usually use a backpack instead of a purse. I’m a librarian so I’m often carrying books around either for work reasons or because I checked out things to take home to read myself, and a purse isn’t ideal for that sort of thing.
If I’m going out to the store or to a restaurant I rarely bring a bag, though. I put my wallet in one pocket and my keys in the other.
My wife knew what it was, Money, ID, Lipstick, and Keys.
For years and years I never carried a purse; but I have a large handbag, now that I commute on public transportation in a large city. It has all kinds of stuff I might need during a day: my work ID, kindle, chargers for iphone & blackberry, both my iphone and blackberry, emergency snacks, spare fork/knife packets, wet wipes, pocket change/emergency $$, notepad, several pens, my checkbook, a hairbrush, spare deodorant, maxipads, painkillers, hand sanitizer, a water bottle, mints/cough drops, tissues, my wallet… I think there’s a pocket copy of the US constitution and the Federal Rules of Evidence in there as well. Its easer for things to just live there, than to decide day-by-day what I’ll need on any particular day. Transferring wallet/phone/headphones to my gym bag 3x/week is trouble enough.
When I commuted by car a lot of this stuff lived in my car. Now I carry it with me because you just don’t know what will come up when you’re an hour+ away from home.
Dress-up situations where I need to go out without my bag only come up very rarely in my life and in those very rare situations usually in the winter I can put stuff in my jacket, otherwise my husband holds my wallet.
With a bag over the shoulder or across the body, I can carry everything I need & still keep my hands free. The umbrella under the arm tends to get left behind. And I do like to read…
Yep. Or lip balm if I’m not wearing lipstick.
Today I walked to the library (to return a book) and the nearby Starbucks and back home again. I carried phone, lip balm, and a dollar to drop in the tip jar at Starbucks. Husband was home so I didn’t need to take keys.
Normally I don’t go anywhere without my purse. Most importantly to carry my lip balm!
Are all you ladies who don’t carry purses pre- or post- menopausal? I used to hate carrying a purse but enjoy it now, but I’ve done so ever since I had my period – I would feel very uncomfortable if I didn’t have a pad or tampon with me when it was happening, and indeed in case it arrived unexpectedly…
I suppose a backpack would work just as well, though the lack of interior pockets makes it a less versatile accessory (and my backpack is usually full of books anyway).
I’m completely attached to my handbag. I go by public transport everywhere, so I obviously can’t keep stuff in my car and I like to have a book for train and bus journeys. I typically carry my wallet, keys, phone, a glasses case, a book or my kindle, and sometimes there’s more - diary, iPad, bottle of water. Any time I’ve tried to go out with just the essentials ie money, keys, phone I’ forget something like my Oyster card or ID thus justifying my bag lady mentality.
Still pre-menopausal… *>sigh< * (Looking forward to post)