How to Make a Back-to-School College Care Package #SchickSummerSelfie

Back when I was at the height of my couponing game in 2008, I had built an impressive stockpile of day-to-day household items. I often gave them out to houseguests who had forgotten their own toiletries, to family who had one of the items on their shopping list, or local shelters. It’s great to be able to stock up on useful things and share the wealth!

So one day, as I was preparing to have dinner guests over, I thought about putting a few care packages together. My sister-in-law and her friends were getting ready to head off for their first year of college, so I had invited them over to a celebratory dinner before school started. I considered putting some of my coupon stockpile into little packages for them to take along to school, but dismissed the idea, thinking that teens would probably think that was really cheesy.

As we finished a lovely dinner, my guests were noticing my cabinet full of soda pop bottles. They asked me about my coupon deals and said, “Wow, that’s so cool! You got all that soda for FREE!” As they talked about my frugal skills, I said, “You know, I was thinking about making you guys little back-to-school care packages with some of my stockpile stuff, but I was afraid you’d think it was nerdy.”

“Are you kidding?! That’s the COOLEST THING EVER!!” they enthused. So after dinner, I got up and grabbed a few bags and filled them with supplies, to the utter delight of my guests.

The moral of this story is, teens can appreciate a good deal as much as anyone else – and in my experience, tucking a gift basket full of everyday necessities is an appreciated gift for any young person heading off to college!

With school about to start once again, I thought it would be a good time to whip up one of these baskets and give a quick tutorial on how you can create one for the students on your list:

Start with a simple basket, like this cute one I found. Not only is it a fun way to present your gift, but it’s practical, since teens moving into a dorm room will need things like this to store paperwork and other daily items.

For the contents, I go with everyday items that everyone needs, and that are on great sales:

Schick Hydro 5 Disposable Razors: As I mentioned last month, you can snag great deals on Schick Disposable Razors at Walmart! Schick Disposable Razors are such great quality and always a great price too, which is how I’ve ended up with a stockpile of them that’s lasted 7 years. This was the first thing I put in the teens’ care packages all those years back, because shaving is a part of the everyday grooming routine and everyone wants to be confident on the first day of school. Schick Disposable Razors are so nice because they give you a smooth shave without nicks and cuts, so you have one less thing to worry about when you’re getting ready for class!

Air freshener: I always seem to have this around, and after I sent the teens off to school with various air freshening supplies, the boys reported back to me during Christmas break that they had been using it to keep their dorm room smelling good!

Shampoo/Conditioner and soap: Daily cleaning essentials are always a hit, since everybody needs them.

With most college kids living on a tight budget, creating a care package like this is a really thoughtful way to help them check some basic staples off their list and prepare for school looking and feeling their best! And speaking of college kids on a budget – could the student in your life use $10,000 towards tuition? Then tell them to snap a summer selfie for the #SchickSelfieSweeps, and they could enter to win cash prizes towards college and more. Now how’s that for stretching your budget!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Schick®. The opinions and text are all mine.

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