My aunt recently reminded me of a great way to save money on shipping.

She made a really awesome photo collage with childhood photos of my dad and my sons for my dad’s birthday.  Just one problem:  The 16×20 photo collage was going to be incredibly difficult and somewhat expensive to ship from her home in Texas to my dad in Minnesota.

Since I live near my parents, my aunt enlisted my help.  She ordered the photo collage and had it printed at my local Walgreens.  She paid for the collage, and all I had to do was pick it up at the store and wrap it up for her.

She saved money and hassle, and I got to feel good helping her give my dad a special gift.

This trick is a good one to keep in mind for printing photos, as both Walgreens and Snapfish will often offer great photo deals and photo freebies.  You can upload your photos, and then have the recipient pick them up at their local store.

You could also use this trick with other gifts at stores like Walmart or Target that offer free shipping to the store.  For example, if you ordered your grandson a new bike for his birthday, you could have it shipped directly to the store in the town where he lives and then his parents could pick it up.  Of course, if you are able to get free shipping to begin with, you could just have it shipped directly to your recipient.

Gift giving from a distance can be challenging, but when you get creative, you can get those gifts to their destination without spending a fortune.

Check out our other cheap tricks to help you save time and money and be sure to share your own cheap trick with us.  You just might see it end up in a future Cheap Trick post!

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