Packing Smart

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.