Wednesday, March 13, 2013

My first official care package!

Hi there!

I am very excited for 2 reasons. First, tomorrow we get to go visit lovie!!! One last goodbye before he's off to Afghanistan. I'm feeling a whirlwind of emotions, and know that they will only increase as we see him tomorrow, but as I am choosing to make this deployment positive, I shall embrace the excitement!

Secondly, since he is so close to leaving he has his address for shipping overseas so I can now start sending stuff over there! I am excited to share my first care package:

I saw over on Army Wife & Company her Welcome to Afghanistan package and fell in love with the graphic she made, and since my lovie is also going to Afghanistan I wanted to use it for his Welcome Package as well.

I also lined the two other flaps with pages I ripped out of an atlas (fitting, no? lol) and put some cutouts of an airplane and some cute lovey dovey quotes on there.

(Sorry the lighting is so bad, I didn't realize how yellow it was until I put the picture on here) But the package is in fact yellow, so that's accurate).


Inside the box are:
  • Various Meds from the $0.88 section at Walmart
  • Pens (from home)
  • Sharpies (from home)
  • Notebook (from home)
  • Cracker Variety Box $3
  • 1 pkg Baby Wipes (I have a lot around the house, but if you get them in a big pack it's around $10)
  • 2 Generic MIO Water Enhancers ($2.50 ea on sale)
  • 2 Kleenex mini packs (bought 8 for $3)
  • 2 rolls of Tums On the Go - ($0.50 clearance at Target)
  • 1 GoGo Squeeze Apple/Peach 6 pack ($3)
  • 1 box Nature Valley Granola Thins ($3)
  • 1 Buddy Fruits Raspberry Tartlets ($3) - I've never had these but they looked really good!
  • 3 pkgs Tuna ($3)
  • 1 Sunflower Seed Jim Beam BBQ (had at the house) His FAV!
  • 1 Beef Jerky ($3)
  • 1 Sour Gummies ($2)
  • 2 sets of Toe Warmers ($2)
  • 1 Hand Warmers double pack ($1)
  • 1 Heating Patch ($1)
I was surprised how much I could fit in there! And I still have some room leftover, but I'll save that because I'm sure there are things I'll have to send to him that he doesn't have room for now. I also will add a card/note.

I added the prices of everything mostly so I can keep track of how much I spend on them, and so you can see too. When other people list what goes in their care packages I rarely find the price breakdown and it always interests me. I was really bummed this time because I went wayyyy over budget on things and half the stuff I don't even know if he will like, but I was very excited to be sending him a care package so I guess it's ok this time lol.

Obviously I would send him anything he asks for, but I spend like $70 at Walmart this trip and I can't be spending that much twice a month on stuff for him (some of the stuff I bought is for future packages). Although, yes he is absolutely worth it, but we are both minimalists and work with what we have and are working on a single (military) income, so I have got to do better next time =).

I also can't wait to find out if he will have access to a microwave as that will open my options a bit and once he gets there he can tell me more of what he needs so that will be nice.

From here on out though I will only be buying things when they are on sale (unless he specifically needs something) and I will look into making homemade snacks and treats to send. Hopefully I can get it down to maybe $30 or $40 per box.

How much do you usually spend on care package fillings?

xo JC

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