Yesterday, I posted my
first five tips for how to save on care packages. Today, here are my final five tips for saving money on care packages during deployment. I hope they work for you!
1. Use packaging that matters. No matter how skilled you are at
Tetris-ing your care package, you will probably have nooks and crannies and extra space in your care package. Even if it's small, use that space to your advantage. John appreciates when I use plastic shopping bags as packing material-- he can reuse the bags and is always in need of them. Can't fit the whole box of granola bars in intact? Open the box up and slip individual bars in the cracks between the other items. Write a whole slew of letters and wedge them into small spaces. Make sure that what packing material you do use either makes your recipient smile or is useful-- don't just send wadded up newspaper.
2. Get friendly with dollar stores, dollar sections, and clearance shelves. Face it-- most of what you're sending in care packages will either be consumed, thrown away, ruined, or left behind when your recipient comes home. Choose your expensive items carefully. If you're looking for items that are disposable, check out discount stores. My five-and-ten of choice is Five Below (they always seem to have the funkiest, most interesting stuff), but I've also found helpful items at The Dollar Tree. Check the ends of the shelving rows at Michael's and Staples-- usually they will hide their heavily discounted clearance items there. Target and Michael's also have pretty awesome dollar sections that have both raw crafting materials and gift items. (Watch the coupons for Michael's-- they will sometimes have coupons that can be used for total purchases, as well as their standard 40%-off one item. Michael's also has a 15% teacher's discount, if you are one.)
3. Use free materials. If you haven't heard yet, the USPS will deliver care package supplies right to your door! They'll ship you different sizes of the boxes and customs forms (which you can also pick up for free at any post office); however, their Care Package Kit also includes free packing tape. Packing tape is expensive. Spend three minutes on the phone and save yourself some dough. Click
here for more information.
5. Avoid single-serving foods when possible. Since single-serving products are almost patently more expensive than bulk ones, this is a great place to save money. Depending on the situation, this can be tough. John was in a situation where I could send him whole boxes of cereal and packages of cookies and crackers because he had a place to store them. I also made my own single-serving foods by measuring out the serving sizes and bagging them in small Ziploc sandwich bags.
Welcome to the first week of Link Up Tuesday's Blog Hop! Be sure to come back and join us every Tuesday to link up your Blog, Bloglovin', Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Interested in co-hosting? Contact me at crazycraftiness [at] gmail [com]. For the time being co-host spots are free, so be sure to take advantage of it!
This is a great way to find other blogs to follow and find exposure for yours.
Rules:
1. Follow your host and co-hosts
2. Grab the blog hop button and post on your sidebar or blog hop page to help promote this hop. The more people who join the better!
<div align="center"><a href="http://craftycrazinessandlife.blogspot.com" title="Crafty Craziness & Living the Hooah Life"><img src="http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z384/codyaldridge/tuesdaylinkupcopy2_zpscf89587a.jpg" alt="Crafty Craziness & Living the Hooah Life" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
3. If you're new, leave a comment and we will return the favor :)
4. Tweet, Facebook, Pin about this hop. The more people who know, the more exposure your blog gets! <not required but would be nice :)
Meet your lovely co-hosts!
Jo @ Jo, My Gosh!
The next two weeks are going to be insanely busy for me, so I've brought in some help-- my wonderful, wonderful blogging friends! Starting Sunday, you'll be treated to my first-ever Made in America Week! Check back every day to see what star-spangled treats and crafts are being shared from some of the most wonderful women in the blogosphere! 
