My Vacation Lady is all about saving money when we can so when we heard about packing things to save money we were intrigued. What might Smarter Travel have on their list that we didn’t already?
According to Smarter Travel, these 10 items can save you a bundle.
a luggage scale— this is a must for anyone who checks luggage. In the day of fees for bags over a certain weight, a luggage scale ($20 or less) can save you $50-100 or more per flight. The Balanzza digital luggage scale is the one that I use all the time.- Re-use travel sized toiletry bottles. This is a great idea. Rather than spending a lot more for a smaller size bottle of moisturizer or lotion, or even shampoo, just use the empty 3 oz or less sized refillable bottles and keep refilling them after each vacation. I do this all the time with shampoo and conditioner.
- Sunscreen Stick– going on a beach vacation without sunscreen is looking for trouble and buying sunscreen at your destination will be considerably more than if you bought it at home. So unless you are going to the Four Seasons in Maui, where they have sunscreen at the pools, you will want to bring your own. Coppertone and Neutrogena both sell sunscreen in a stick formulation which can be packed in your carry on luggage!
- Snacks for the plane– since the airlines no longer feed you, this is a great idea. Just don’t bring yogurt through security- it’s considered a liquid- and don’t bring fruit into the airports in Hawaii- they’ll confiscate it.
- Duct tape– not something that I usually pack but I know many of my clients do. It can help repair ripped luggage and some of the more creative uses for duct tape include covering blisters on feet, removing lint from clothing, and creating a makeshift hotel-room safe by taping your wallet and jewelry to the underside of the bed.
- Compression bags for packing– these bags (Eagle Creek and Travelon are the most popular) will enable you to stuff even more in your suitcases. You can even use these for stuffing more in your carry on.
- E reader or a tablet- instead of carrying on a hard cover book or even a few paperbacks. You can get a myriad of reading materials in one spot. Just don’t drop it in the pool.
- Empty water bottles— this is one I do all the time. I’ll take an empty water bottle with me through security and fill it up at the water fountain in the terminal. I also pack an insulated water jug with a strap in my luggage. Since I drink a lot of water, I’ll fill it almost completely with ice and a bit of water. By the end of the day, there may not be much ice left but I’ve probably saved $5 daily in buying bottles of water.
- Laundry detergent in powder or sheet form— while you may not do a full load of laundry, this will help rinse out bathing suits and more so you might be able to reduce the amount of clothing you pack. Honestly, I will typically use the hotel’s shampoo to rinse out bathing suits.
- Zipper plastic storage bags– I use these all the time from packing snacks for during day trips to packing wet bathing suits. You never know when a ziplock storage bag will come in handy!
If you have some great packing tips, let us know! My Vacation Lady is a top rated vacation and honeymoon specialist located in New Jersey and we are always looking out for money saving travel tips!
