The 5-4-3-2-1 method allows you to pack months worth of stuff in your carry-on luggage

PACKING for a trip is hard enough, but cramming everything into one carry-on suitcase can seem nearly impossible.

Luckily, there’s a handy tip for anyone packing that will help you avoid over- or under-packing, running out of space, or having to pay for a piece of checked baggage.

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The 5-4-3-2-1 packing method was first popularized by blogger Geneva Vanderzeil when she posted about it a few years ago and recently she reshared it on TikTok.

The approach is simple: you need to pack five tops, four bottoms, three pairs of shoes, two dresses and a set of accessories.

If you do the math on the original formula with five tops, four bottoms and three pairs of shoes, you can make 60 different combinations.

So, if you are really determined, this trick would even work for a two-month trip.

In her series of videos she enthusiastically shows that the method can be adapted in countless ways.

An accessory set can consist of jewelry, sunglasses and a hat. The composition can of course be adjusted depending on the location, occasion and weather.

For example, if you are going to the beach, you should also take a swimsuit. And if you are going to a cold place, you should wear two coats instead of two dresses.

On a recent occasion, she replaced the accessories with a jumpsuit, as she demonstrated with gusto in a clip showing off the stylish alternative.

The goal of the method is to keep a capsule wardrobe minimalistic, so it’s important to make sure that the different garments can be combined with each other.

One content creator showed how she used this method to style 19 different summer vacation outfits.

If you stick to the basics, the possibilities for what you pack in your suitcase are virtually endless.

This article was originally published on NY Post and is republished here with permission.