What to do with all those freebies...

If you have been collecting freebies, playing the CVS game (for tips on how to play the CVS game, visit this post or this post, both on MoneySavingMom) or otherwise shopping wisely, then you probably have a bunch of cool free or nearly free stuff hanging around.

I love freebies, but I also love organization and detest needless clutter, so when I started looking for freebies and shopping for deals, I swore to myself that I would only buy items that our family would use, that would be donated or that I would use as gifts.  Here is a perfect example of using freebies for a gift that is thoughtful and creative.  Oh, yeah, and frugal, too (but no one needs to know).

We have four graduation open houses to attend.  If we gave each, say $25 in a card (standard for our area), then we would be spending $100 that I did not budget for this month.  In fact, that is more I am budgeting to spend for a week's worth of groceries and household items for the month of June.  Rather than panic, I decided to think outside the box.  Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.  

We love and are proud of our graduates, so we wanted to find a way to share in their special day without blowing our budget.  I decided to put our freebies to use and stick to a budget of $10 a person.  All of our graduates this year are girls.  Here is the result:

The College Survival Kit!  It lists out all the fun things included in the bag (except for the cash, these are all things I have accumulated for little or nothing, including the Starbucks card).  As one is being shipped out of town, it has the Starbucks card instead of the nail polish (lighter and less risk of breakage).   I included a fun Dr. Suess quote and signed our well wishes and names to the bag.  For goodness sake, you don't even need a card for this gift!

In case you can't read the bag, this is what it says:

COLLEGE SURVIVAL KIT

 - 10 $1 bills - to pay for your share of pizza at 3 AM

 - Deodorant - to keep your cool when you are called on in class, but were too busy daydreaming to pay attention.

 - Toothbrush - so you can flash a beautiful smile while trying to come up with an answer

 - Tums - to settle your stomach the day after eating pizza at 3 AM

 - Emery boards - to shape your nails and resist the urge to bite them during tests

 - Nail Polish - good excuse to put off studying (and see above)

 - Pencil - so you can be stylish while taking notes or tests

 - Water flavoring - to perk up your water bottle

"You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.  You're on your own.  And you know what you know.  You are the guy (girl) who'll decide where to go." - Dr. Seuss

Good luck - we are thinking about you and keeping you in our prayers!

The Schahns - Steve, Michelle, Chandler, Alex, Max & Will 

I stayed within my budget of $10 - the 10 $1 bills; I used items from my freebie stash and recycled gift bags received from other events - if you do this, make sure that any old tags are removed and the bag is in good shape.  I used ribbon I had around the house to tie the emery boards and the Tums Quikpaks.  I made the note on the bag on my computer.  You don't even need a card, plus this "card" is less likely to get lost.  This is $60 less than I would have spent just writing out checks.  Less to squeeze out of our budget, friends and relatives who know we are proud of them and wish them well.  Check and check!

If you would normally give less or have bigger and better freebies to share, you could omit the $10 and give more freebies.  I have only been freebie hunting for one month, so I have a smaller selection to choose from right now.  Other fun ideas would be pizza coupons, body wash (for a luxury treat), toothpaste (to go with the toothbrush), laundry detergent, quarters for laundry), a hat or sunglasses, a razor, a deck of cards or other games, some food items, pop, a list of websites that can help them budget their limited college dollars - be creative!

Need some freebies?  These are the sites I regularly check out to score my freebies and keep up with the good deals:  MoneySavingMom, Freebies4Mom, MomIsBroke, MomAdvice (look for Freebie Friday on Amy's blog), Northern Cheapskate and Centsible Savings.  

If you do this, send me a picture - I'd love to see what others come up with!