The last time she visited, my sister took every item out of my purse, lined it up and photographed it.

“I thought mine was bad, but I’ve never seen anything like yours,” she laughed. “Do you really need all this stuff?”

I thought about it, and concluded that, no, I probably didn’t need a lot of it.

Most of the ‘stuff’ was loyalty cards for supermarkets and garages, some of which no longer existed, and receipts dating back months.

They lay among library cards, video club cards and café cards (ten stamps for a free cup of tea) that I hadn’t used for years. I even had a gym membership card – dating from 1991.

The inner pockets contained raffle tickets from a dim and distant past village carnival, various keys – embarrassingly, I couldn’t say what they were for – and an Australian coin with a kangaroo on it. And the middle sleeve harboured a few paper clips, a hair grip, a button and a French stamp.

My purse, I had to admit, was a hoarder’s paradise.

I attempted to clear it out, but it was difficult. I was convinced that at some point I would need every item.

It’s the same with my handbag, which is ten times worse than my purse. I was relieved that my sister didn’t think to investigate that. It is packed with stuff that I will probably never need, but that my brain tells me I might.

I’m relieved to say that this way of thinking is normal. Research by Kleenex revealed that women have as many as 63 different objects in their handbags, yet use only between one and five of them on a regular basis. A whopping 92 per cent of items were not seen as being useful by the 1,300 women questioned.

Commenting on the findings, a leading psychiatrist said women cling onto objects they don’t really need ‘just in case.’ Sadly, that’s not only the story of my purse and handbag, it’s the story of my car, my house, and my life.

I’m surrounded by things I never use but that may, at some point, come in handy – things like a pocket hand warmer (a gift nine years ago, never used), a mini sewing kit, a map of Jersey (I haven’t been, but may go), a Polaroid camera, a chess set (never played, but someone might teach me), a fold-away clothes dryer, and loads of clothes that won’t fit, but might in the future.

I’m going to bite the bullet and have a clear out – everything has a use, but as my husband says, life is too short for that moment of usefulness to arrive for so many bits and pieces.