Purses are notorious for accumulating mass amounts of unnecessary and unused items. Without continual cleaning and sorting, I've found receipts from stores I've never been to, fliers from events that happened years before, and various items I must have interacted with throughout the day. Anything touched by my hands at some point in the near vicinity of my purse is essentially fair game for a one-way ticket in. Most of the time they reside free of charge until my purse is literally too full for any additional items. At which point, I usually stop using it, and decide it's time for a new one. But certain items, believe it or not, I actually intentionally keep in my purse. Here's a list of the 11 most important ones:

1. Gum

This doesn’t need too much of an explanation. Sometimes the garlic bagel sounds better than the plain, and your breath reminds you of this decision throughout the rest of the day. At which point, a little minty refresher can solve your problems.

2. Protein bar

I get hungry, let me rephrase that, I get hangry more often than not. My brain has this unique capability of focusing on how very hungry I am until I eat something, rendering me mentally incapacitated until food reaches my stomach. Carrying around a protein bar helps me refocus on whatever it is I’m working on and allows me to continue my day without having to leave right then to get food.

3. Hand sanitizer

Because germs are gross and germs are everywhere.

4. Phone charger

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Let's face it, we all use our phones more than we should. The battery drains faster than a full day does, and often needs that mid-day pick-me-up.

5. Vaseline

This actually can serve several purposes. The main one, is a chapstick substitute. For those of you familiar with chapstick's strangely addictive potential, vaseline is a wonderful alternative that immediately soothes dry and cracked lips.

6. Toilet paper

Public bathrooms are scary and unpredictable places, and you never know when one will be missing some TP.

7. Safety pins

To fix those emergency wardrobe malfunctions.

8. Hair ties

Although I always keep some on my wrist, it never hurts to have backups.

9. Advil

Because why go through a day in pain when Advil is out there, ready to save you.

10. Tampons

If not used for myself, I usually end up giving them to those in dire situations. Great way to make new friends.

11. Notebook and a pen

Inspiration is constantly hitting me the times I'm furthest from my computer. Whether it be article ideas, project ideas, to-do list items, carrying a notebook with me allows me to let temporary and potentially important thoughts survive memory's censorious filtration.