Dorm/Apartment Hacks for your College Student

DORMS:

Sending your child away to college is one of the most expensive things you can do. I have a Freshman at college and a Senior that is seconds from heading off to school as well. We were concerned about our expenses before, but with adding another student and all of the associated college costs that come along with it, we need to be extra diligent with our finances. Clearly there are many expenses related to going off to college, but today we are going to focus on the costs of setting up a dorm room or apartment.

If this is your oldest child moving away from home “on their own” for the very first time, we know that not only do you have money concerns, but just the normal concerns about your baby leaving the nest away from your watchful eyes. Each college/university has their own housing system and vary quite a lot by college. Some have community style bathrooms, suites, or even apartment like rooms. The type of housing that your student chooses will depend on their personal needs and your finances. There can be quite a large difference between the most expensive and cheapest options.

When I went to college, we only had community and suite options and you didn’t even get to choose in which dorm you would be placed. Every room was priced the same, so no one chose location based on price or style. There wasn’t a big concern of parents in what to bring to college or spending a lot of money to decorate the room. It seemed we just wanted a place to sleep, sit, put our clothes, and a desk for studying. Other than that, we weren’t really concerned about dorm decorations. A lot has changed since 1988.

I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that DORM ROOMS ARE SMALL. This is incredibly important for your child to remember when packing and buying items. More is not always better. You just want to purchase items that they will truly use on an ongoing basis. This would be a good time to downsize wardrobes and those piles of shoes that may be in their closet. It’s likely that the dorm closets and dressers will not hold as many items as your own personal home. My first born told me that she didn’t end up wearing a lot of the items that she thought she would. College is a time for lots of sweatshirts and sweatpants.

The first step you need to take is to find a list of “needed” items for the dorm room. It’s likely that your college of choice will have a list of items recommended for dorm living on their housing/dorm website page. Finding a friend who has already lived on campus at that school can help you go through the list to determine if you will actually use all of the items listed.

Before we talk about the finances, let’s discuss some of the universal items that you probably will find on most college lists:

· Bathroom cleaning supplies (apartment style/suites)

· Trash can

· Broom/dust pan or small vacuum

· Toilet paper (apartment style/suites)

· Laundry basket, detergent & fabric softener (many universities include laundry as part of their tuition, but clarify if you’ll need to have change)

· Towels-bath, hand, washcloth

· Personal toiletries

· Shower shoes

· Bathrobe

· Bedding, mattress cover, topper, sheets, pillows, blankets

· Storage bins

· Clothes hangers

· Place to sit—futon, chair, bean bag

· Personal decorations-posters, calendars, pictures, etc.

· Push pins, sticky tack-depending on what is present in room

· Reusable water bottle

· A few dishes-bowl, plate, flatware

· Can opener

· Flashlight & batteries

· First aid kit

· Lanyard/key/ID holder

· Umbrella, rain boots, coat

· Television

· Lamps

· Coffee maker

· Hair dryer, flat iron, etc.

· Power strip/Surge protector

· Extension cords

· 3M command strips

· Alarm clock

· Micro fridge

· Calendar, note pads

· General class stuff-pens, pencils, paper

· Bicycle with lock

· Calculator

· Carpet/rug

· Computer

· Fire resistant curtains

· Small ironing board

· Small fan

· Microwave

· Storage containers

· Go bag

· Chargers

· Some items may also be prohibited such as candles, dart boards, hot plates, toasters, etc.

With this list in hand, my husband was always on the lookout for items on Facebook marketplace for special deals to keep our costs low. For my oldest, they were not allowed to bring their own microwave (due to wattage issues), but you could supply your own fridge. Before purchasing any large items, please clarify what you can and cannot do with items such as these. We almost bought a micro fridge before we discovered the situation. If you are looking at common items that could be shared by other students, I would recommend that you wait until you connect with the other roommate(s) or you may end up purchasing duplicate items. My oldest used the roommate matching program and found a roommate. They spoke over the summer and arranged the general color scheme and common items that they’d split. Apartment style dorms may have some seating supplied, so check on that too. On marketplace, we found the vacuum (hand held/stick), backpack for the go bag, and a technical calculator. All at major discounted prices.

So, now that you have a list, how can you get what you need without breaking the bank?? That is always the question, isn’t it? The first thing I would recommend for packing is purchasing the IKEA storage bags for packing to move. Great for college students because they’re reasonably priced and they fold up nicely to store in their rooms. Make sure that you purchase in advance because this is a college student “secret” that everyone ends up trying to buy at the last minute, so they typically sell out. Plan ahead. IKEA now ships straight to your home, so you don’t have to miss out if you don’t have one nearby. Here’s the link: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/frakta-storage-bag-for-cart-blue-90149148/ Not only can you get some awesome packing bags, but IKEA also has great options for many other dorm items and storage solutions for reasonable prices. If you are going in person, IKEA has a room specifically for discounted items, so definitely check that out first. We personally purchased the bags, a mini dresser to fit in the closet, a shoe organizer, power strips, storage bins, and a cart for snacks.

How else can you look for deals with a list so long? The key to saving money for almost everything is planning ahead. If you wait until the last minute, you most likely will have to purchase items at full cost. In addition, to IKEA and marketplace, some other places to find deals are Costco, WalMart and Mercari. A very frugal option if you live close to a college/university is to see if they have a sale at the end of the school year. For example, Coastal Carolina University has a sale to the public with all of the items that the students don’t want to take with them at the end of the year for whatever reason. There are lots of items ranging from storage, electronics, decorations, school supplies, etc. They are extremely low priced. You just have to get there EARLY and make sure you have a vehicle to take whatever you may need. It gets pretty crazy so I would come prepared with helpers.

I get it, there are some items on this list that you would want to purchase new. Walmart is always a cheap option and even Amazon depending on the item you’re looking for. What we found is that for some of the items, the University itself offered us better deals than we could even find at Walmart. Because they deal with such volume, you may be able to find reasonable prices. We ended up purchasing bedding, some storage, and bathroom towels and toiletries directly from the school. The great thing is that my daughter and her roommate decided on a color scheme that would work together and chose coordinating their bedding colors together.

Dorms today can be decorated to the nines or very simple and anywhere in between. You have to decide what works best for your child and your family. My daughters are very simple and aren’t interested in excessive decorations, wall coverings, etc. We were able to “decorate” their dorm simply with the list above. However, if your child is more interested in having more of a show room, I would recommend searching “dorm room designs” on Pinterest as they have lots of cool idea. Have you child put their own twist and style on it. Regardless if you and your child decide to go low key or full out, planning ahead can keep your costs low.

From the list above, I would say some of the most important items (per my daughter) are the shower shoes, lamp, microwave, mattress topper (very uncomfortable mattresses), fridge, small fan, warm “comfy” (not on list), extra-long chargers, and surge power strip/protector.

** A special tip she did say is that if you have carpet in your room, you don’t need an additional rug as they’re constantly tripping over it.

**When moving in, make sure you bring along tools, a mallet, lots of commando strips, and lots of patience.

APARTMENTS:

So, we’ve talked about dorms, but what if your child is getting ready to move into an apartment on their own or with roommates? Many of the same items will be needed for their space as listed for a dorm room. A lot will depend on what is offered by the landlord. Some will come furnished (partially or fully). With others, you may have to supply everything.

If you need large furniture, I’d definitely recommend marketplace, your local thrift store or consignment store, Mercari, Craig’s List, neighborhood Facebook Groups and a great site called www.freecycle.org. You can sign up locally where people are looking to get rid of items and are ABSOLUTELY FREE. All you need to do is go and pick it up. I got a lot of things on this site when my husband was in school and we were living on student loans with no income. Just be aware that they don’t just want people getting in the group to get a bunch of free stuff, but don’t offer anything themselves. So, I would recommend looking around your own home and getting rid of some of your own stuff using the site. You give and get. Great concept.

There are endless items that you could purchase for your apartment and kitchen, but this is not the time to be setting them up with the best of the best, if you’re looking to save money. Over the last year, as I got some new items for our kitchen, I set the old things aside in a bin for them to use when needed. The items aren’t new, but they work and are perfect for a college student. And when shopping and we find cheap items, we add them to the bin.

Some basic items include:

· Dish soap and sponges

· Frying pan, pots

· Oven mitts

· Dish towels

· Cutlery

· Measuring cups and spoons

· Cooking utensils (ladle, spatula, whisk, etc)

· Food storage containers

· Bottle opener/corkscrew

· Cutting board

· Plates and bowls

· Glass/coffee mugs

· Knife set

· Cookie sheet

· Microwave

· Toaster/toaster oven

· Aluminum foil, plastic wrap

· Strainer

· Paper towels

· Garbage bags

· Trash/recycling cans

Again, Goodwill, thrift stores, and some of the other places listed above are great ideas to find many of those items for reasonable prices. Before buying items for college apartments, always clarify what items come with the apartment. For example you’ll need to know if you need a shower curtain and liner or it has a glass door.

The bottom line with sending your child off to college to a dorm or to an apartment is that there are considerable expenses. Your best option is to try to cut corners in every way possible. Trust me, ten years from now, you and your child won’t be wishing that you’d spent more money on a dorm or an apartment. The one exception would be to make sure that it is a safe space/area. Beyond that, it only benefits everyone to try to furnish and supply on a dime. I would love to hear YOUR IDEAS if you can think of some dorm/apartment hacks that you’ve used and you love!!