Packing to Save Money

One way to save money when traveling for business is to avoid those checked baggage fees on the airlines.  The best way to do this is to pack your clothes in a small roller bag that can fit in the overhead storage on the plane. 

If you can get away with one pairs of shoes for the trip, that would be ideal as shoes take up the majority of space in a bag. 

However, if you must take an extra pair of shoes for your job, or a pair for exercise, then always start with yous shoes in the bag first.  Put the shoes in the bottom of the bag with their tops facing each other and toes facing away from each other; just the way they come in their shoe box when you buy them. 

As I said, the shoes take up a lot of space, therefore, make sure you take advantage of that space.  Roll up underwear, tee shirts, socks, any small articles of clothing you may have that you can fit in your shoes. 

Next, fill in the space around the shoes with other rolled up slightly larger articles of clothing.  For instance, your shirts and shorts.  Be creative, everything does not have to lay in the exact same direction.  Use the area at the top and bottom of the suitcase. 

On the top of everything else, put your pants and suit jackets if you are taking some. 

 Every suitcase I have ever seen has zipper compartments on the inside of the lid, use them. This is a great place for your clear zip lock bag of toiletries.  Also, this is a great place for tee shirts, underwear, and other smaller articles that could not fit in shoes or the bottom of the suitcase. 

No matter how good of a packer you are, it will not matter if you take three weeks of clothes for a one week trip, plan your outfits accordingly.  There are many different colors that go with brown shoes and khaki pants. 

Roll your clothes, use your shoes as storage for smaller clothes, use the zipper compartments; remember these few easy steps, and you will save yourself $25 every time you have to get on a plane.

Don't Forget These!

Here are a few things that I always make sure I have with me when traveling.  They may sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many times you find yourself without them, and when you are without them, you really need them.

Toilet Paper: Yes, I always take a roll from home.  Let's face it, hotel toilet paper can also be classified as very fine sand paper.  There has never been a time I regretted packing toilet paper, but there have been several times I regretted not packing some.  A roll is not that big so it will not take up much space in your suitcase.  On a side note, try to avoid the wet wipes.  I know they are more compact, but some hotel plumbing systems cannot take them and that is an awkward call you do not want to have to make to the front desk.

Extra Cell Phone Charger: Go ahead and buy an extra $10 charger and just leave it in your suitcase.  There will be a time when you leave one hotel and travel to another only to realize your charger is at the room from the night before.  This usually happens at night as you are trying to get to bed.  Now comes the decision of whether to get dressed and go buy another one, or rely on the wake-up call from the front desk in the morning which doesn't have a snooze button.  This little trick has saved me more than once.

Sound Machine: Most smart phones have an app for this, or you can buy small ones not much bigger than a playing card online.  Make sure you use this at home as well.  Otherwise, your body will not be used to the sounds from the machine when you are traveling; at this point you are trading the strange noises from your hotel for strange noises coming from your phone or sound device.  However, if you use the sound machine regularly at home, it will help significantly when trying to sleep in a strange bed with unfamiliar noises in a hotel.

Fingernail Clippers: We have all had a nail get bent back, or get caught on something and leave a piece dangling.  Again, as with the cell phone charger, and as luck usually has it, this happens right when you are turning in to go to sleep.  Once again, do you hope you do not snag it on the covers when sleeping, or get dressed and go buy a pair?  You can get them for $1, it is worth it to have a set that you keep in your shaving case or make-up case solely for traveling.

Air Freshener: This is pretty self explanatory.  Without going into great detail, most hotels now have done away with bathroom exhaust fans, need I say more?  One thing to consider though, if you are flying, then you will not be able to pack an aerosol can; so find a non-aerosol pump air freshener.  Again, this is something to leave in your suitcase when not in use so you will always have it when traveling.

These are just a few things that generally people may not think about when traveling.  However, if you pack them, they will make your trip much more enjoyable!