Putting together a college care package for your son or daughter? There are plenty of great freebies out there, and you can find lots of stuff that college kids will love. It may take a little bit of research to find the stuff for free, but once you do, you’ll be in for double happiness (for the college kid and for your wallet)!

First off, college kids are always running out of socks. Perhaps it’s because they lose them in the mayhem of those communal laundry rooms? Socks always make a helpful addition to the closet. Sometimes you can find fun socks with silly designs for free, but sporty socks and plain socks are also very useful.

It’s easy to find free personal products (like shampoo, deodorant, and soap), and college kids can often use that kind of thing. Busy with classes, they forget to buy razors and hair conditioner and stuff that everyone needs. Even if they remember to get those sorts of products, it’s always nice to have extras on hand.

If you want to really make your kid smile, get some snacks! You can often find free candy, free chips, and other free stuff to send. Kids love to get sweets and other goodies, especially because they probably don’t eat all that well generally! Cafeteria food, ramen, and the occasional pizza isn’t enough. You can usually get free sample packs of snack foods to put in your college care package.

Sometimes you can get pens, notebooks, post-its, tape, and other school supplies for free. In the modern day, of course, your kid might only use a computer in class, but that doesn’t mean those supplies won’t come in handy some of the time. See what you can find for free, and your kid will likely be happy with it!