My Daily Dollars

I’m in DC for a professional development conference.  It’s a great time to get some new ideas and meet some new people, but I’m also putting my frugal habits to good use.  In our new era of paying for checked bags, I came across an excellent tip on how to pack efficiently in Money magazine.

I love a good packing tip, and back in my spend-y days, invested way too much money in those little cubes and packing systems to keep things organized and wrinkle-free.  Now, those languish in the basement.  Now matter how careful I was, things still wrinkled.  However, this new method works like a charm.  I was able to pull out my suit this morning and step right into without hauling out the iron.  That was a first for professional travel!  

So, what do you do?  Start with your longest piece of clothing, for me it was my slacks.  Lay them out on a flat surface, folded lengthwise, but not in half.  So, they should stretch out their full length.  Then, lay another item crosswise in the middle (I used a long skirt).  Keep layering your pieces, full length in the form of a cross, working from longest, like pants, to shortest, like t-shirts.  Then, place something solid in the middle.  I used my toiletries bag.  Now, start folding each half of an item around the bag, working around the points of the cross.  You’ll end up with a bundle that you can drop right in your suitcase.  Here’s a diagram if my description is confusing.  Tuck shoes, belts, and odds and ends in the corners and you’re all set.

The bundle doesn’t shift because everything is layered; since there’s no friction, you don’t end up with any wrinkles.  It worked perfectly, and I got to sleep in an extra fifteen minutes this morning.  My new system is simple and efficient.  That’s exactly what I love when I travel!